Tourism is a tool for socio-economic development in Africa. Due to environmental and social impacts associated with tourism, there is an urgent need to embrace the concept of sustainable tourism. Sustainability issues undoubtedly have gained ascendancy over the past few years given the increased awareness of the importance of environmental management. More tourists worldwide now prefer staying in green hotels.
According to the Sustainable Tourism for Development DEVCO, sustainable tourism can be defined as tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, private sector, environment and host communities. Tourism has to be sustainable in all the three pillars of sustainability namely – economic, social and environmental.
Hotels are an important player in attaining sustainable tourism as they offer accommodation for the tourists or visitors. “A visitor is someone who is making a visit to a main destination outside his or her usual environment for less than a year for any main purpose [including] holidays, leisure and recreation, business, health, education or other purposes. This scope is much wider than the traditional perception of tourists, which included only those travelling for leisure” (UNWTO, 2010). Globally some hotels have started adopting sustainability practices in their day to day activities.
Regarding energy conservation; hotels are now encouraged to use renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and mini-hydroelectricity sources. In some remote locations some hotels rely on mini-hydro projects which generate less than 10 Megawatts and have minimal environmental impact. Clean energy can help offset the carbon footprint of hotel guests. Hotels like Portola Hotel & Spa at Monterey Bay has been able to significantly reduce its energy consumption and at the same time reduce environmental footprint by adopting solar energy.
Zimbabwean hotels can benefit from this concept as Zimbabwe is endowed with a lot of sunlight throughout the year. There is also an opportunity for hotels to save energy by using energy efficient lighting, motion sensor lights and solar geysers. The Manor Hotel, Amsterdam has motion sensor lights which automatically switch off when the guests leave the hotel rooms with access keys to their rooms. The hotel is also a proud winner of a “Green Key” green hotel certificate.
Global best practice is now discouraging use of single-use plastic as it takes more than 400 years to degrade. In this view, hotels can use glass instead of single-use plastic packaging. Glass can be recycled and hence save the environment from the detrimental effects of single-use plastic. The use of paper and bamboo straws is encouraged instead of plastic straws. Green hotels can also adopt recycled paper including toilet paper, print paper and paper used for advertising material.
Green transportation is another sustainable practice that can be embraced by hotels through use of electric mobility, bikes and buses that use clean fuels to ferry their guests from one point to the other. Water saving is also a critical sustainability practice that can be adopted by hotels to promote sustainable tourism. Hotel guests can be encouraged to have a choice to reuse towels and minimise water usage from the bathrooms through controlling the flow of showers and faucets. This has a potential of reducing water usage by as much as 30%.
Every economic sector has a pivotal role to play in sustainability and gone are the days where all focus would be on manufacturing industries only. The service sector can also contribute to sustainable development, hence the emergence of sustainable tourism.
Zimbabwe has a number of tourist destinations such as Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, Gonarezhou National Park, Nyanga Mountains, Vumba and Mutarazi Falls which attract a lot international tourists. Hotels in these destinations can benefit from implementing cutting-edge green measures as tourists take this into consideration when choosing a hotel.
Hotels in metropolitan cities of the country such as Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare should lead the way in adopting sustainability measures. As we head into the new decade beyond 2020, many tourists will demand sustainability at the destinations they want to visit. Through greening the economy, the tourism sector can soar high in the echelons of sustainable socio-economic development. Such a transition will help to drive a low-carbon, resource efficient and sustainable green economy.
