Based on the articles you have read for this week, please discuss the interrelationships between tourism and the following: a. population, b. peace, c. prosp

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Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 860e869 www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Technical approach for a sustainable tourism development. Case study in the Balearic Islands

Marc Fortuny, Roger Soler, Catalina Cánovas, Antoni Sánchez*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain

Received 29 June 2006; received in revised form 21 March 2007

Available online 5 July 2007

Abstract

In this study, the possibility of transforming the current status of tourism in the Balearic Islands (a region in Spain which has been under an enormous environmental pressure from conventional and massive tourism) to a sustainable tourism model is explored. Firstly, a general meth- odology for the conversion from standard to sustainable tourism is presented. The methodology consists of an initial audit, the selection of ob- jectives and solutions proposed, the application of the selected solutions, an economical evaluation and a review of the obtained results. This methodology is then applied to the conversion of a real case study (‘‘Sa Cova’’) and a complete evaluation of the transformation to sustainable tourism is presented, showing an important reduction in the environmental impacts associated with tourism development (especially in areas such as energy consumption, water and waste management). The results presented here can serve as an example for the application of sustainable tourism plans to other similar regions in Spain or other traditional tourist destinations with similar problems. � 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Renewable energies; Composting; Sustainable tourism; Waste prevention; Water conservation

1. Introduction

Nowadays almost everyone has heard about sustainable de- velopment. One of the most referenced definitions of this term is that given by the Brundtland Report [1] in 1987, but since then, the general definition of sustainable development has been formulated for each specific topic in which it has been applied.

Tourism has developed into one of the world’s most impor- tant industrial sectors, growing faster than the world’s gross domestic product for the last 30 years [2]. Such a rapid devel- opment has been coupled with the negative impacts on the so- cial and environmental aspects of the communities where tourism has developed. Also, tourism has not always produced a direct economic gain for local residents, who have claimed

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ34 935811019; fax: þ34 935812013.

E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Sánchez).

0959-6526/$ – see front matter � 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2007.05.003

for a compensation for such negative impacts. Moreover, tour- ism has a potential high impact generated by its supporting sectors [2] such as infrastructure construction (roads, harbours, buildings, etc.).

For these reasons and because ‘‘sustainable or green as- pects’’ have acquired a significant importance in commercial development, the tourism industry has been trying to define the sustainable tourism development (STD) term since the early 1990s. At present, there has not been a universal agree- ment about this definition [3], which makes it difficult for leg- islators and other stakeholders to move forward in the same direction. The term depends on the perspective of the stake- holders (mass tourism industry, small-scale tourism industry, governments, non-governmental organizations, environmental activists, etc.), who change the objectives to achieve and the time necessary to achieve them [1]. Nevertheless, everyone agrees today that tourism development should be sustainable [4] and considerable human resources and funds are being in- vested to attain this objective [5].

Table 1

General information of the Balearic Islands

Information Value

Population (2001) 955,045 (2.2% of Spain)

Extension (km2) 4992 (1.0% of Spain)

Population density (inh/km2) 169

Total tourism establishments (2005) 2619

Total rural tourism establishments (2005) 229

Tourism night stays (2005) 49,451,486 (21.3% of Spain)

Gross domestic product per capita (2004) 22,137 V

Services sector 72.4 (% of total economy)

Services sector electric demand 2,059,260 MWh

(83% of total demand)

861M. Fortuny et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 860e869

Although STD has not been strictly defined, there is an emerging consensus on the outline of the term’s definition. A general approximation to what STD may be, according to Weaver [6] is: ‘‘A tourism product that seeks to avoid or minimize environmentally irreversible impacts and preserves cultural heritage at the same time as providing learning oppor- tunities and contributing to the maintenance or improvement of local community structures, including positive benefits for the local economy’’.

It has been stated that a large number of studies have con- centrated on the developing forms of responsible tourism for small-scale tourism enterprises even though mass tourism has a greater lobbying power for the protection of nature and societies and represents a greater channel to extend the benefits of STD [2]. This can be explained mainly because STD is usually associated with the small-scale, nature-based tourism, whereas non-STD is usually associated with the large-scale, 3S (sand, sea and sun) tourism.

Nevertheless, some studies dealing with sustainability- related issues for mass tourism can be found. Trung and Ku- mar [7] report on a study concerning energy and water use and waste management in Vietnamese hotels. Both good and inefficient practices that are currently applied are reported and other possibilities and improvements not currently used are proposed. Also, an attempt for benchmarking in efficient resource use is done.

However, as there is still no consensus on a general defini- tion for STD, it can be stated that every effort and new contri- bution towards STD, for any kind of tourism, can help drive the tourism industry closer to STD objectives.

Other authors are already supporting the idea of the evolu- tion from ‘‘polar opposites’’ to ‘‘convergence’’ between the mass tourism and the sustainable tourism concepts [8]. From this point of view, the achievements obtained in small-scale types of tourism could be scaled up and adapted in order to be introduced to the large-scale tourism industry.

Hallenga and Brezet [9] reported on a study from 2000 showing that in 1996, in the European hotel and catering sec- tor, 94.4% of the enterprises had less than 10 employees, and the observed trends in tourism indicate an increased demand for small-scale, nature-related and rural tourism. These data suggest that the so-called low impact of the STD initiatives of the small-scale tourism industry may no longer be so low, at least in some specific areas.

Today, there are already some very well-known tools for sustainability improvement (i.e., EMAS, ISO14001, eco-labels, etc.) more suitable for large-scale tourism enterprises because of the high costs of implementation and because they are aimed at large companies with a totally different organizational struc- ture. As most of these tools are difficult to apply to small-scale companies, attempts for a sustainable-design-aimed method for small tourism initiatives have already been done [9].

The objective of this study is to provide a general method- ology for the conversion from standard to sustainable tourism of small-scale existing enterprises or enterprises-to-be devel- oped, giving an example of its application to an existing coun- try house (‘‘Sa Cova’’) located in the Balearic Islands.

2. Socio-economical background in the Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands (Table 1), one of the most important tourism destinations of Spain, are also one of the most impor- tant tourism destinations in the world [10]. Its tourism industry experienced a large expansion during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, transforming the Balearic Islands into one of the richest regions of Spain. However, as a mainly 3S mass-tourism des- tination, the economic benefits brought some obvious negative environmental impacts as well as some lesser known, negative social and cultural consequences.

As small Mediterranean islands, their natural water re- sources are very limited, almost exclusively to groundwater re- sources. Already in 1999, when the mean water demand was estimated to be 292 L/person/day, most of the groundwater re- sources were reported as revealing evidences of overexploita- tion or marine water intrusion symptoms [11], something that has forced the local authorities to seek other technological and more expensive solutions such as desalinization plants.

A similar effect has occurred with energy resources. The main power production plants depend on fossil fuels’ importa- tion and, as every year the total energy demand increases [12], every few years the capacity of the power generation facilities is exceeded by the summer demand peaks, which are directly related to the residential and the public service sectors as its energy consumption accounts for 80% of the total energy demand.

The tourism industry also has another great impact on the islands’ society. In 2004, 634,000 t of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) were generated in the Balearic Islands, implying a gen- eration coefficient of 1.82 kg MSW/person/day. However, this coefficient increases to 2.50 kg MSW/person/day in summer and drops to 1.50 kg MSW/person/day in winter. This means that a huge amount of the total MSW generated each year is produced by the tourism activities.

All of these negative impacts on the islands’ environment will compromise the tourism industry itself in the mid- to long-term. As stated earlier: ‘‘Tourists are mainly concerned with price and quality of the destination. If environmental deg- radation occurs at a destination, quality tourists are likely to change their visit to other destinations rather than pressuring the destination’s management to change its environmental practices’’ [13].

862 M. Fortuny et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 860e869

Some tourism destinations that already show signs of envi- ronmental degradation have been reported to have lowered their prices when the tourism pattern changed from tourists who seek uniqueness to the traditional 3S-packaged tourists [13]. The Balearic Islands tourism industry has been based on the 3S-packages and this has worked so far, but for some years voices have been raised claiming that the tourism indus- try has been substituted by the construction sector as the main driving force of the Balearic economy. This has not only caused a drop in the offered tourism packages and tourist’s quality but it may be the cause of the appearance, a few years ago, of a local opposition movement to tourism development and especially to some specific tourists’ nationality.

For all these reasons, either the tourism development in the Balearic Islands must move towards a different approach or the tourism industry will lead to its self-destruction, which has already been referred to as ‘‘too much tourism killing tour- ism’’ [2].

An increasingly demanded alternative to 3S tourism is rural tourism. It is a fast-growing holiday choice in tourist destina- tions, and the Balearic Islands are no exception. Such tourism alternative not only has a reduced environmental impact but also takes advantage of local traditions and environmental richness as a part of its tourism product, therefore, normally having an intrinsic commitment towards the environment and sustainability. This characteristic and its growing demand makes rural tourism a promising tool for STD spreading be- cause most sustainability improvement measures or good prac- tices [7] will probably be easier to apply, thus reducing the necessary vision, values and commitment for sustainability that a standard tourism enterprise would need to proceed the same way starting from scratch.

Moreover, apart from the reduced environmental impact of such tourism alternative, rural tourism increase can help to al- leviate the demand fluctuations characteristic of the mass 3S tourism [13].

3. General methodology for the conversion from standard to sustainable tourism

In this study, a general methodology is proposed for the con- version from a standard, small-scale tourism to a sustainable tourism alternative. The proposed methodology is relatively simple and it can be applied to existing tourism enterprises or to tourism enterprises-to-be developed. This requires the following steps.

3.1. Initial audit

An initial evaluation of the main issues that can cause an environmental impact is required. This covers three main areas: water, energy and waste. Data about water and energy consumption as well as about waste generation and manage- ment are necessary to assess the potential improvement that can be achieved by applying sustainability criteria. Usually, the best resources for collecting these data are guest surveys and existing registers.

The water area information should include (if possible):

(a) Water availability: amount and types (main water, well or river water, rainwater, etc.).

(b) Mean total daily water demand per best available unit (person or room).

(c) Water consumption in all the points of use (lavatories, kitchen, bathroom, showers, hosepipes, etc.).

(d) Estimation of water consumption in other existing points (electrical household appliances, swimming pool mainte- nance, crops and garden irrigation, livestock demand, etc.).

The energy area, which is usually the largest part of the ini- tial audit, should be divided into two subgroups depending on the type of energy considered:

Electricity: in this subgroup should be included (if possible):

(a) Electricity availability: amount and types (main electricity, available renewable energies, power generators, etc.).

(b) Estimation of the lighting demand: type and use (length and frequency) of each one of the light points.

(c) Estimation of the demand of electrical household appli- ances: type and use (length and frequency) of each of the electrical appliances.

(d) Estimation of the electricity demand from other possible points of consumption (heating/air-conditioning systems, swimming pool, land machinery, etc.).

Heat: this subgroup should include (if possible):

(a) Heating availability: amount and types (electrical, fossil fuels, renewable energies, etc.).

(b) Heating demand (conditioning of rooms and hot water): it can be either estimated by means of real fuel consumption or calculated by means of some of the available software packages that provide a theoretical heat demand from in- put data on building insulation and characteristics.

Finally, the waste issue should take into account two main areas:

Solid waste:

(a) Generation: types and amount per type (domestic organic and inorganic waste, livestock waste, hazardous wastes, etc.).

(b) Management (source separation, treatment, etc.).

Wastewater:

(a) Generation: types and amount per type (grey/black water, rainwater, swimming pool water, etc.).

(b) Management (public sewer or self-treatment system).

All this information should be obtained for different days (workweek or weekends), months or seasons. An improvement of the initial audit would be to obtain data from different time

863M. Fortuny et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 860e869

periods, in order to have a more accurate estimation of the sub- sequent future demands and requirements. This information must not be considered as the only source of impacts derived from the tourism activity. Much complicated issues such as the tourism activity impact on ecosystems or on human health and safety will probably not be included, on a regular basis, in this initial audit, otherwise the volume of needed and managed in- formation may turn so large that will hinder the relatively sim- plicity of the methodology proposed, which is thought to be one of its strong points.

However, for those particular cases in which an important and direct impact on such issues can be observed, they will have to be considered. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) meth- odology can be adequate for these cases where other potential sources of environmental impact such as soil occupation, de- pletion of natural resources associated to structural modifica- tions, etc. are to be considered [14]. Some recent papers provide a detailed methodology to consider these issues in ad- vanced LCA studies [15].

3.2. Objectives’ definition and solutions’ selection

It is important to clearly define the policy and objectives of the tourism model transformation. The best solutions’ set may differ considerably, for example, from an urban-environment tourism enterprise to a rural-environment tourism enterprise. Water and energy resources as well as waste management al- ternatives may be very different, thus, making the best solu- tions’ set, different. Also, within the general concept of rural tourism, there is a wide variety of offered services. This, again, will affect the solutions’ selection process.

Other parameters that must be taken into account for the potential solutions identification are the local resources avail- ability and the geographical and socio-cultural context.

There is no general rule towards the best solutions’ set and each case should be individually assessed. However, a general approximation to the priority of criteria to be considered could be the following:

(a) Application of internal management tools for the minimiza- tion of the consumed resources and waste generation. Some of the available tools or ‘‘good practices’’ that are currently applied can be found in the literature [7,16]. However, each particular case may differ considerably since depending on the enterprise’s social, environmental and economical con- text, some tools or good practices may not be suitable for all the cases considered. Such actions may dramatically impact the final sustainability improvement without significantly affecting the enterprise’s budget.

(b) Priority should be given to alternatives that take advantage of the local resources and knowledge. That is they should consider applying the traditional local solutions for en- ergy, water and waste generation savings and, afterwards, consider new technological options that may improve upon what has already been achieved. This may help to avoid the, sometimes, common situation of local commu- nities not accepting new enterprises.

(c) Economical viability and sustainability improvement must also be important criteria in the selection process. They must be balanced and thoroughly considered for each alternative.

The identification and prioritization of possible solution op- tions may require the advice from experts in each specific area. The final decision should be evaluated in terms of eco- nomic, ecological and ethical suitability for the relevant con- text before being implemented.

3.3. Application of selected solutions

Once the solutions have been selected, they need to be ap- plied to each particular situation. This step may require expert assessment for each area (water, energy and waste manage- ment). It is also important to quantitatively evaluate the water and energy savings and the waste reduction achievements that actually result due to implementation of the changes. This will make it possible to accurately quantify the magnitude of sus- tainability improvement. Also, it must not be forgotten that the applied alternatives, technologies or management tools should be visible or apparent, as far as possible, to the hosts, to the guests and to other relevant stakeholders, who will have key roles in its implementation journey. An environmental policy clearly and visibly stating all the tourism enterprise’s visions, goals, objectives and procedures will contribute positively to helping to ensure success.

3.4. Economic and environmental evaluation: investment, payback period and sustainability improvement

For the solutions selection step, the investment and mainte- nance costs of each selected solution have to be assessed, and the payback period should be estimated. The calculation of these parameters must be based on the savings achieved from each applied solution compared to the most common al- ternative. Obviously, besides the investment and maintenance costs, the total income that the tourism activity can produce also needs to be estimated. If the initial investment cost is too high, a time prioritization of the implementation of the proposed solutions may be considered.

Also, the achieved environmental improvement will have to be quantified. The environmental benefit of the applied mea- sures will impact a wide range of topics, thus making its quan- tification a difficult issue. The solution usually involves defining the limits into which the sustainability impacts (either positive or negative) will be considered and trying to reduce most of the impacts to a common unit, such as CO2 savings or toe (tons of oil equivalent) [17,18].

3.5. Follow-up and review of the obtained results

When the new economically and environmentally sound practices have been implemented, it is essential to monitor the results and to make further updates as needed. The guest’s

864 M. Fortuny et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 16 (2008) 860e869

role in this process is a key factor for the enterprise’s survival, but the enterprise’s management is a key factor for the guest’s attitude. Thus, the enterprise’s management must make sure the guests are connoisseurs of and actively participate in help- ing to implement the enterprise’s environmental policy. If these concepts and experiences are taken back home by the guests, it will make the investment in sustainability worth- while and will produce a real impact on society’s attitudes and practices towards helping to achieve sustainable societies.

4. Case study: ‘‘Sa Cova’’

The above-proposed methodology has been applied to an existing country house (named ‘‘Sa Cova’’) in the largest of the Balearic Islands, Majorca. This house is used as a second residence for the owner’s family during the summer. In August 2004, the initial audit data were obtained in terms of statistical data of water and energy consumption as well as MSW gener- ation; this was done by a group of 10e15 persons during one month. The rest of the necessary data were obtained via a sur- vey performed by the house owners.

4.1. Initial audit

Since the house is not connected to a water or electrical power distribution network, the water is obtained from rainwa- ter collection and accumulation and the electricity is obtained from a solar panel system supported by a diesel generator. Low-power demands (lighting and small household appli- ances) are supported by solar energy and high-power demands (the charger of the solar system batteries and the swimming pool pumps) are supported by the diesel generator.

A biomass burner (manually fed with wood and branches) heats the radiators inside the house and butane gas cylinders are used to provide hot water and the energy requirements of the kitchen (stove, oven and refrigerators).

Water and electricity demands were obtained from the sta- tistical and survey data, whereas heating demand was calcu- lated by means of the WICA 6.0 software package (Roca, Barcelona, 2005) in which all the structural characteristics of the house were introduced to estimate energy requirements.

In the initial situation of the house, no water saving systems were in use. Regarding the energy issue, it was estimated that 82% of the total energy consumed was provided by the solar sys- tem, whereas the rest of the energy came from the diesel generator.

Finally, MSW and sewage sludge generation and manage- ment were studied. The MSW management consisted of a se- lective separation (organic matter, paper and cardboard, plastics, glass and hazardous waste) resulting in a total produc- tion of 0.77 kg MSW/person/day. As no public sewer is available, sewage treatment consisted of a septic tank and subsequent land spreading.

4.2. Definition of objectives and selection of solutions

The objectives of the project were to transform the house into a sustainable tourism enterprise, by improving the house

characteristics related to the accommodation capacity, the wa- ter and energy systems as well as to the waste management. Economic aspects were considered in the scheme of proposed solutions. Moreover, for each selected alternative, its possible educational functionality was taken into account.

The enterprise accommodation capacity was set to 20 peo- ple, which required some architectural alterations. For this ca- pacity, the solutions selected were the following:

(a) Water area: optimization of the rainwater collection and the accumulation system and minimization of the water consumption in order to achieve self-sufficiency of the house.

(b) Electrical energy: increase of the solar panel system and minimization of the low-power consumption devices in or- der to increase the solar electricity efficiency. The high- power demands will continue being provided by the diesel generator.

(c) Heating energy: improvement of the house heating system by reducing the house heating demands and supporting the existing biomass burner with a propane boiler. The pro- pane boiler is also necessary to support the solar energy system intended for hot water supply.

(d) Waste management: two in situ treatment systems are pro- posed; a composting system for the organic fraction of MSW and a reed bed natural system for wastewater treat- ment and reuse.

4.3. Application of selected solution options

The adopted solutions are the following.

4.3.1. Water availability and demand Optimization of rainwater collection, increase of the accu-

mulation capacity and reuse of an existing accumulation tank. This new water system design allows collection and accumu- lation of rainwater in different tanks, from where it is pumped to a central tank and a subsequent pumping brings it to the fi- nal accumulation tank. Water from this final tank is treated by ozone disinfection and supplied to the house by gravity. The optimization of water collection and accumulation led to a 20% increase in the collecting area and to a 67% increase in the accumulation capacity. A final 29% increase in water availability was reached with the application of these solutions.

Water demand target was set to 72 L/person/day [19]. This was achieved by the installation of flow-reducers on faucets, double-discharge devices on lavatories, installation of water use efficient household appliances and the design and installa- tion of a grey water reuse system.

Finally, a water balance considering monthly rainwater col- lection and accumulation capacity as well as monthly estima- tion of water demand (using data of the Balearic Islands tourism occupancy for 2004, Ref. [20]) was carried out (Fig. 1). According to this balance, a surplus of water was ob- tained for all the studied period and a mean water demand of

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Fig. 1. Water annual balance (monthly basis). An initial accumulation of 60%

of the total capacity is considered. ‘‘Water demand’’ represents the total

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that can be collected per mon

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