Abstract
By 2030, the average water demand will have jumped globally by 50 per cent of the current water usage; however, the majority of water users of simply assume that water is in abundant supply and availability will remain unhindered. When water outages occur, for many it does not trigger panic about scarcity and the underlying magnitude of distribution, purification, pollution, and maintenance challenges, which come at a price amidst limited financial resources. Only when water sources dry up will humankind realise the value of water; scarcity is further worsened by rain patterns, which continue to deteriorate as a result of climate change (King & Lessindrenska, 2009:77-79). This research has been undertaken to establish the extent of awareness and implementation of green water management practices in guesthouses in the former Transkei area, which now forms part of the Eastern Cape. Although the research focused on guesthouses, since water is one of the major cost drivers in the guesthouses, the relevant stakeholders like the OR Tambo District Municipality, being the water authority, and the Department of Tourism were included to highlight the current and proposed roles in water management within the hospitality business. The King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality, although not a water authority, was included as a stakeholder because it was established that uncollected refuse and waste chemicals were primarily responsible for water pollution. It was therefore recommended that both municipalities work hand in hand to alleviate such discrepancies. Based on the data collected from one-on-one qualitative interviews conducted, it was found that the majority of the purposefully selected guesthouses did not practice green water management principles as they pertain to water as a business resource. The findings showed that the majority of guesthouses continued to depend on an unreliable municipal water supply, even though it affected the quality of their customer experience, which has long-term negative implications for the business sustainability, simply put, customers do not return. The findings indicated that guesthouses did little to reduce their water usage in amenities like toilets, baths, and showers. Furthermore, although most guesthouses had water storage tanks, rainwater was not used as an environmentally friendly alternative water source; instead, such tanks were...
M.Com. (Business Management)