It is bank holiday weekend here and a stroll down past the beach was quite an eye opener. The large number of people both on the beach and waiting in line to get on the beach, with access being controlled by citizen security officers, was in sharp contrast to the “Marie Celeste” scenes we witnessed during lockdown.
Depending on your perspective visitors are Grockels-who-left-their-brains-at-the airport-so-stand-in-the-middle-of-the-road-and-almost-get-hit-by-a-car-taking-pictures-of-the-cliffs, or valued guests come to sample the delights of our island.
As in many other places in the world, our hospitality industry has suffered greatly during the Covid pandemic and although some hotels have still not reopened, it does feel like things are starting to move a bit more now, even if some of the tourism is down to staycation-ing.
July 2021 figures showed 20.7% of workers in the Canary Islands were still on ERTE (Furlough). Lives have been changed, forever in some cases, and I totally understand the need for economic/environmental balance as tourist numbers start to grow again.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report concluded that climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible.
The IPCC have issued a “code red” for humanity, but if you are one of the “little guys” dependant on visitor spend, you will know only too well the consequences of the catastrophic slump caused by the closures of the lockdown and maybe visitor impact on our environment is low down on your list of priorities right now.
As one acquaintance said “tree huggers don’t spend very much”: whether you agree with that sentiment or not, I believe our island has to find a way to make the tourism industry sustainable and still profitable.
The tourist board would have you believe that Tenerife is already focussed on the environment; quote “an expression of the balance between natural surroundings and sustainable development”, but I feel the reality is somewhat more prosaic.
More people means more pollution. First hand experience tells me noise pollution is on the up this month, as is the somewhat more unsavoury type of pollution – two beaches that I know of closed recently because of unacceptable levels of e-coli in the water. Unofficially locals believe one was as a direct result of sewage not getting out to deep water because of changes to tide patterns caused by the Granadilla Mega Port and now it seems another controversial port development at Fonsalia is on the cards.
There ARE companies on Tenerife that are dedicated to having a positive ecological footprint, but the “sun, sea and sand” holiday is by far the most popular option for visitors. For every rural hotel offering a base for walking tours there must be at least 20 times as many beach resort offers.
Of a total offer of around 190,000 places, almost 90,000 are in hotels, about 50,000 apart-hotels and another 50,000 or so in legal tourist apartment places.
Tenerife has the highest concentration of 5-star hotels in Europe (32 establishments) and of the 89,197 hotel beds, more than 82% are managed by a hotel chain. (source: statistica 2019)
According to the world tourism organisation it was estimated in 2000/1 that European hotels, which are reported to provide nearly half of the world total hotel rooms, would be responsible for emissions of more than 10 Mt of CO2 each year. Studies over the last decade have show that although consumers are beginning to consider environmental issues when choosing accommodation, small independent hotels are less proactive about the environment than large hotel chains, it is the chains which have made most of the energy efficiency improvements available in the hotel sector for example.
Doing away with complementary toiletry kits and replacing them with refillable dispensers are one way that hotels like to assert their green credentials, but are those same establishments lighting up the night sky in unoccupied areas, or being a bit sketchy in their recycling? Whether as suppliers or consumers we all have to make sure that an environmentally friendly “brand” really is doing what it says on the tin!
Tourist accommodation is only part of the problem. Many visitors prefer to self-cater, shopping and eating out locally – which should be a good thing, but the other side of that coin is the huge amount of plastic waste produced.
I know how much plastic my husband and I re-cycle every couple of days – and we are just 2 people really trying to cut down on plastic use.
The large supermarket chain Mercadonna says on it’s website that it is committed to sustainability and recently had a publicity drive to encourage their clients to recycle – unfortunately they chose a large plasticized fridge magnet as a marketing tool. I wonder how many of those will end up in land fill, plus don’t get me started on their individually wrapped leeks!
I suppose what I’m saying is don’t assume that a self-professed “green” company really is. Check what impact you yourselves, or the businesses you interact with, are having on the environment, don’t assume that any action or inaction is too small, or “not worth it”. As another supermarket chain likes to say “Every Little helps”.
Whether you are a local or visiting consumer, employee or proprietor, think about your own “green credentials” and as far as the tourists go, we really are going to have to find a way, because the truth is we can’t live with out them.
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