“We are a growing company and had to identify partners that could quickly and seamlessly integrate into our architecture and culture. We are a fast and dynamic team so needed a good fit, and Mitrais has proved itself on all fronts”

Darren Langley, EC3 Global’s Software Development Manager

Tourism Industry Threatened by Water Scarcity

Does your holiday accommodation checklist resemble this – Location, Number of Beds, Transport, Meals, Water? Yes water. The Asia-Pacific tourism industry is threatened by water scarcity so it may be an idea to include it on your next list.

In March this year at the Eaton Hotel in Hong Kong, sustainability experts called on Asia’s Hospitality Industry to act fast before the water crisis leads to conflict. As part of the lead up to the UN World Water Day, a prominent research consortium supported by the EarthCheck Research Institute, together with Ecolab and Griffith University, released its second white paper on water, calling on the tourism industry, a heavy user of water, to act fast.

The paper titled, “From Challenges to Solutions: Providing the Business Case,” shows that water and its combined effect with energy use could become the most contested resource of the future.

At the release, Dr Susanne Becken a Professor of Sustainability from Australia’s Griffith University said the tourism industry is at risk. “Tourism in the Asia Pacific region is growing at five percent per annum. At the same time, more than 75% of the countries are experiencing water stress at least at some critical period throughout the year,” Dr Becken said.

“The quality of the available water supply is diminishing, while the demands on volume and the costs to use are increasing. Layer into this the inequity of water use by large hotels where the consumption of water by guests can outpace that of the local population by up to eight times, and the potential for conflict becomes a significant new business risk,” she added.

EarthCheck Research Institute Chairman, Professor David Simmons (from New Zealand’s Lincoln University) said the tourism industry has to make swift changes to meet the new risks, including introducing responsible design and operational practices before hotel developments are approved.

“Developers have to look beyond the box that they are building and see if it fits in with the existing environment. If we destabilize destinations by developing a ‘giant box’ in the middle of a village, one that soaks up precious resources for the rare few, then we are bound to face issues,” commented Professor Simmons.

EarthCheck’s CEO Mr Stewart Moore believes water is currently undervalued relative to its true environmental cost. “There’s a nexus between energy and water – water forms part of the production process, and energy is required to produce water. The two are inextricably linked and this puts strains on both resources. We’ve all become accustomed to carbon footprinting. Next, it will be about water footprinting. That completely changes our thinking and makes us realize that hotel and tourism businesses need to have dedicated water management plans; plans which are actually implemented,” said Mr Moore.

EarthCheck, managed and owned by EC3 Global, is an internationally recognised environmental management and certification program with members in over 80 countries. The program improves operational performance of member organisations and reduces costs. Recent studies show that six million people a week are impacted by EarthCheck’s branded solutions. The company takes a scientific and systematic approach to risk mitigation and legislative requirements and is regarded as one of the world’s best practice environmental sustainability leaders. Interestingly EarthCheck have helped realise over $100 million dollars in savings for their clients.

EC3 Global believes that the sustainability message needs to be kept simple and achievable for both small and big business. Tourism as an industry has a tendency to over complicate what is a very simple concept. That is taking incremental steps to reduce the amount of energy, water and waste we create and learning to protect and respect the social settings in which we operate. The outcome is about delivering clean, safe prosperous and healthy destinations to visit, live, work and play.

If we are to address sustainability we must build actions on sound measurement and metrics. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it. This is true for business and sustainability. If you can’t measure where you are now you can’t track your performance overtime against your own business plans and those of your competitors and partners.

EarthCheck has developed the world’s most comprehensive database on the operational performance of hotels reaching back some 15 years. This allows organisations to benchmark and baseline facilities around the globe.

In December last year, the EarthCheck Research Institute added to the stockpile of data when it surveyed 181 hotels globally and found that water consumption varied considerably, ranging from around 200 litres per day in Europe to more than 900 litres in the Philippines, Malaysia and China. The survey highlighted that hotels deploy different initiatives to minimize water usage.

“With this data we can help facilities understand how much water they are using, understand their footprint, and provide benchmarks, monitoring tools and practical insights to guide them toward improved operational performance,” said Mr Moore.

EC3 Global engaged Mitrais as a captive team to assist in the development of their next generation of EarthCheck’s Web Based Application. My EarthCheck is an innovative sustainability online platform giving clients analytical capability of their operational performance from any web connected device, anywhere in the world.

Mitrais utilized Microsoft C#, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft .NET, Dapper, HTML5, CSS, JQuery, High Chart and Lean Modal applications and technologies to develop the My EarthCheck software.

Darren Langley, EC3 Global’s Software Development Manager describes My EarthCheck; “My EarthCheck is an online sustainability platform that puts transparency into sustainability management. Our clients benefit from over 15 years of market intelligence to benchmark their operational performance against their industry and region, delivering clarity and injecting confidence. Our platform is trusted by organisations worldwide ranging from Bed & Breakfast accommodation to Airports and major hotel brands.

Presenting the information in a clear, concise and compelling way My EarthCheck helps our clients drive business decisions and achieve their sustainability outcomes.”

When asked why EC3 Global selected Mitrais to develop the next generation of My EarthCheck, Mr Langley commented, “We are a growing company and had to identify partners that could quickly and seamlessly integrate into our architecture and culture. We are a fast and dynamic team so needed a good fit, and Mitrais has proved itself on all fronts.”