“This is the new normal in terms of responsible tourism and travel,” said South African Tourism’s UK head Tolene van der Merwe, of the guidance and restrictions put in place on residents and visitors over the festive period, at a time when the city was concerned it did not have enough water to last its summer.
Avoid flushing the toilet, no baths, keep showers to three minutes (later cut to 30 seconds).
Re-use your towels instead of asking for a new one daily Try to flush the toilet as little as possible.
Just make sure you only run it when it is full.
Use this water calculator to make sure you’re helping to save water.
Back from the Western Cape, it’s clear staying in Cape Town at the height of the drought in January has left an indelible impression on my own water usage, at home and abroad.
Cape Town’s Water is Running Out https://t.co/idg6DJIKL8 #NASA pic.twitter.com/FwBbrlcvFw — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) January 30, 2018 Since returning home, I’ve become much more aware of the length of my showers, the water it takes to fill a bath, and, yes, thought twice about flushing the toilet.
Indeed, the ubiquity of plastic in hotels featured in Telegraph Travel’s very own campaign to improve the way we travel.
“For decades, the travel and tourism sector has been trying to make sustainable and responsible practices more mainstream,” the WTTC said.
Prior to travelling to Cape Town I struggled to believe what I read about the city’s crisis, assuming that Day Zero could never happen in such a global city, such a key tourism destination.