It's hard to believe it as France is currently drowning in incessant rain. However, climate change shows no pause. With a new temperature record broken in March, the last twelve months have been the hottest on record in the world. A situation which has consequences on different territories, including the Pyrénées-Orientales. For two years, the department has experienced a historic drought, which has forced hotel and restaurant operators to increase initiatives to save water. The latest: the signing of a charter between the Pyrénées-Orientales prefecture and the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih), this Tuesday, April 9.
This document contains around thirty short and medium term commitments for professionals in the sector. Customers will, for example, no longer be able to take baths in hotels.
“We have made a decision that has caused a lot of discussion: we are removing the bathtub plugs
,” announces Brice Sannac, president of the Umih des Pyrénées-Orientales and hotelier in Banyuls-sur-Mer and Collioure. A measure above all symbolic.
“You should know that less than 10% of rooms in France have bathtubs. But it's a commitment. It serves to tell professionals that they will have to remove the bathtubs when they renovate their rooms.”
Cooling “socks” for wine bottles
Swimming pools, jacuzzis and spas are not prohibited, but their use is conditional on the reuse of the water. The swimming pools will be covered at night to prevent water evaporation. As for their cleaning, there is also no waste.
“We clean the water filters and send the filtration water to recuperators. We use this water to, for example, irrigate our land.”
They can also be used as a strategic firefighting reserve.
On the catering side, there are also no more ice buckets for serving wines, champagnes and bottles of water. From now on, cooling “socks” will be used to keep the bottles cold. A measure which should produce real economies of scale.
“We estimated that ice buckets represented between 1 and 1.5 million liters of water per week consumed in high season in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It’s simply enormous
,” warns Brice Sannac.
Green rate for hotels
Other measures have also been taken, such as adopting a green rate for hotels. Voluntary establishments can offer promotions to customers who ask when booking not to change bath towels every day. In fact, the charter is not binding. It still commits the union professionals morally.
“It’s the desire to bring a different kind of tourism to life
,” continues Brice Sannac.
This charter commits us all until 2030, when we will be able to take stock, even if this can be done beforehand.”
These measures are far from being a surprise for hotel and restaurant managers in the Pyrénées-Orientales, who are already used to restricting themselves in water.
“Last year, we had already made a commitment in the form of a directive to members, which made it possible to make prefectural decrees more readable
,” adds the president of the Umih des Pyrénées-Orientales. And hoteliers are not the only ones tackling the problem head on. The camping sector is also showing its credentials on issues of water saving in the department.
“We made strong commitments last year by reducing water consumption by 30% in a few weeks during the summer. There was no longer any watering of green spaces, we collected the water from the swimming pools... These commitments will be made again this year
,” Nicolas Dayot, president of the National Federation of Outdoor Hotels, recently told us. (FNHPA). Measures which have already received very positive feedback from customers.