1. The Impacts of Tourism on Potable Water Supply An Investigation of the South West Water Region Abby McMillan Centre for Sport Leisure and Tourism Showcase, th June 2011, Exeter

2. Provides drinking water and waste water services to 1,648,800 customers in the South West Private company owned by Pennon Group Regulated industry Annual audit called `June Return’ Periodic Review every five years

3. Rationale for Studentship Develop a deeper understanding of the demand for potable water generated by tourism within SW England With South West Water (SWW), this project will examine the use of potable water among accommodation providers and visitor attractions in SW England. The second aim is to predict likely water usage using regression models with historical data of part usage in this important sector Part of SWW Water Resource Management Plan which will require a forecast of likely demand until 2039/40 Climate effects from the UKCIP09 dataset will be considered to assess the impact of climate change on tourism and water usage.

4. Objectives Identify current level of, and temporal variations in, demand among accommodation providers Investigate variations in demand based on operating attributes of businesses (size, grading, whether metered). Examine the extent to which climate change has had, or will have, an impact on water demand in the tourism sector. Produce a model of tourism water demand and use this model to forecast future demand (based on major current sector scenarios).

5. Methods: Stage 1 Stage 1: Secondary Analysis by GIS (Objectives 1 and 2) A GIS (Geographic Information System) regional database has been created and has combined: Metering data on individual properties thorough postcodes Information on size, grading, and other business attributes Merged SWW billing data with SWT accommodation provider data Will add: Future climate predictions provided by the latest UKCIP09

6. Methods: Stage 2 Primary research with tourism enterprises (Objectives 3 and 4) Postal survey of 250 businesses Follow-up interviews (20-30 businesses) Survey will also look at: – The perceived image of climate change on water use – Water saving measures, water monitoring, reasons for water management

7. Tourism and Climate Change Futures Plan different scenarios Account for longer drier summers Extreme weather events Higher visitor numbers Will higher visitor numbers mean higher water usage or will this be offset by businesses implementing water efficiency measures? Run Climate models Surveys of tourism businesses to calibrate models.

8. Thank you – any questions? Research presented here was conducted during an ESRC Studentship under its Capacity Building Clusters Award (RES-187-24-0002) in partnership with South West Water For more information about this project and the work of the Centre for Sport, Leisure and Tourism research, see www.ex.ac.uk/slt. Contact Abby McMillan on aid201@exeter.ac.uk