Water consumption patterns of hotels and their response to droughts and public concerns regarding water conservation: The case of the Barcelona hotel industry during the 2007-2008 episode

Water supply is a constraining factor in many mass tourist destinations, such as those of the Mediterranean region. Intensifying and increasingly frequent droughts in the context of climate change raise concerns about the sustainability of the tourist sector. Does the hotel sector respond to such concerns, and if yes, how? How do drought episodes affect the adoption of conservation practices and how may adaptive responses differ according to the characteristics of hotel establishments? We survey hotel managers in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona and analyze the annual water consumption of the hotels in the city over a period of 10 years, including four drought events. We find that droughts act as drivers of technological and behavioral change, with the effects being more pronounced in higher star hotels. Drought regulations issued by the government appear to send important signals to the hotel industry, and trigger the adoption of conservation measures. Hotel heterogeneity should be taken into account in future analysis and policy design.