No more hotel baths: in the face of drought, a charter of good conduct for tourism in the Pyrénées-Orientales

2024-04-12 07:40:22

Yet not easy to impress, Christophe Béchu, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion of France, was himself amazed by Brice Sannac’s aims. It was on March 21 in Torreilles (Pyrénées-Orientales) when the Catalan president of hoteliers and restaurateurs (Umih) outlined the new measures to be taken to save precious water without damaging the sacrosanct comfort of vacationers. Fifteen days later, at the same time, the promise is a Save Water charter, signed by Thierry Bonnier, the prefect of the Pyrénées-Orientales. The document, which involves professionals, compiles around fifty measures which should, on paper, considerably reduce the consumption of drinking water in the 1,500 establishments which will receive, in this season which is starting, several million customers.

“We are not only in a defensive position to save the resource that we might run out of. We are here above all to offer our visitors an eco-responsible stay, the first in France, so that their vacation becomes a unique experience with the stated objective of reducing water consumption by 40% by 2030,” estimates Brice Sannac. , which expects its members (1000 out of 1500 operators in the hotel sector) to apply these new measures described as common sense and good family practice: no longer wash the terraces with plenty of drinking water, reuse water from the toilets or showers, remove bathtub plugs in rooms, exchange ice buckets for cooling socks, etc.

Green stays and discounts

Measures that go further by offering a green stay. “This formula provides for the systematic non-replacement of towels or the daily non-renewal of cleaning with a possible compensation, a 10% discount on accommodation”, announces Brice Sannac who hopes to involve the vacationers themselves in this virtuous movement. . In the Umih Save Water Save Water strategy, all operators are concerned: hotels, restaurants, bars, beach clubs, dance halls, nightclubs, music bars. Because the water challenge concerns everyone involved in summer. The swimming pools will be covered at night to limit evaporation. But this measure is regulatory. It is already included in the prefectural decree.