The Relationship between tourism and water in dry land regions

In 2003, the World Tourism Organisation recognised that fresh water is a critical element in tourism. Dryland tourism destinations, particularly those that focus on nature-based and ecotourism, rely on a healthy environment and therefore indirectly use water to create the original attraction for tourists. Once tourists start to visit a destination, water is utilised in both in consumptive and non-consumptive ways during their stay, thereby creating a direct use of water in tourism. At a destination level there are dryland regions where water is closely linked to a successful tourism industry through its role as an attraction. Water affects a wide range of environmental resources that can be the main attraction for tourism including wildlife, biodiversity, snow regions and health spas. This paper reviews the current literature concerning the relationship of water to tourism, water management initiatives in the tourism sector and the contrast between water demand and supply for sustainable tourism. The literature review revealed that the relationship between water and tourism becomes more critical when considering the nature and breadth of the ongoing drought situations along with the climate change issue. These findings inform future research aims, which are outlined in this paper