“The progress recorded indicates a reduction in consumption of 12% in overall consumption and 9% in specific consumption. The water savings achieved contribute to mitigating the problem of water scarcity in the Algarve and will represent direct financial savings for tourism enterprises”, states the first monitoring report of the project, published by ADENE – Energy Agency.

Data reported by 62 of the participating companies show that total water consumption in the period from January to May 2024 was 311,860 cubic meters (m3), 12% less than in the same period of the previous year (354,937 m3).

Specific consumption, with data reported by 59 enterprises, reduced by 9%, from 0.40 m3 per night between January and May 2023 to 0.35 m3 per night in the same period this year.

According to ADENE, between 18 March and 31 May, 85 tourist enterprises, mostly hotels, joined the “Commitment to Water Efficiency” platform, out of a total of 650 registered in the region (13%), with more than 2,000 measures being implemented, half of which are “structural”.

Around 60% of members are concentrated in four municipalities (Albufeira, Loulé, Portimão, and Lagos), most are equipped with a swimming pool and irrigation system and 60% of members have a spa, while less than 10% have a golf course.

The report considers the improvement of information on consumption in the Algarve tourism sector to be “positive”, “enabling the formulation of more adjusted and targeted policies for the different sectors”, and recommends “intensifying the dissemination effort, with a view to increasing” voluntary adherence to the initiative.

“Based on the financial data from invoices, it will be interesting to assess the feasibility of calculating the financial savings achieved by tourism enterprises, initially by sampling and then exhaustively in a second phase,” the report also suggests.

The award of the “Save Water” seal is the result of the voluntary adherence of tourist enterprises to the “Commitment to Water Efficiency”, involving the adoption of an action plan for water efficiency that includes the phased implementation of at least 30 of the 60 water efficiency measures listed and the registration on an online platform of the progress in their implementation and the water consumption recorded in 2023 and 2024.

Algarve tourism enterprises have at their disposal a specific support line of 10 million euros to support the implementation of these measures.

The water efficiency seal applicable to hotels and other tourist establishments, a measure coordinated by the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA), in conjunction with Turismo de Portugal and ADENE, the agency responsible for various initiatives in the field of water efficiency, resulted from a February resolution by the previous Government, which recognised the alert situation in the Algarve due to drought.

A new resolution from the current executive, published on 21 June, revoked the previous one and, maintaining the alert situation, extended the scope of the seal to other activities: local accommodation, restaurants, tourist entertainment companies, and car rental.

Restrictions imposed on water consumption in the Algarve have decreased from 25% to 13% in agriculture, from 15% to 13% in the tourism sector and from 15% to 10% in the urban sector.