Speaking to Lusa, the president of RTA said that the proposals, agreed with business associations in the sector and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), join a diverse range of actions that are already being adopted in tourism and hospitality to reduce water consumption.

“We have sent measures that address various areas of activity in the tourism sector, in particular the hotel industry, because the golf courses are already being worked on, course by course, with the Portuguese Environment Agency, as a result of a work that we started in 2020 with the [Algarve] Water Efficiency Plan”, stated João Fernandes.

The RTA proposal was “based” on “four areas”, such as “management, in which tourist developments propose to carry out regular audits of water consumption”, and the “involvement of customers and staff in the detection of losses”, allowing the “adoption of more responsible practices in the use of water”, he said.

Reinforcement of information to customers on “procedures for changing sheets and towels, establishing a minimum period of use of towels of two days”, as well as training workers in specific sections, such as laundries, to adopt behaviours that promote water savings are other aspects of the RTA proposals, he added.