The Connection between Phuket’s Water Supply and the Hotel Sector’s Water Use for Assessment of Tourism Carrying Capacity

Thunyapat Sattraburut, Kritana Prueksakorn (), Thanchanok Kitcharoen, Teeraporn Amattayakul, Papaporn Pinitsuwan and Chitsanuphong Pratum ()
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Thunyapat Sattraburut: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
Kritana Prueksakorn: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
Thanchanok Kitcharoen: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
Teeraporn Amattayakul: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
Papaporn Pinitsuwan: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand
Chitsanuphong Pratum: Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: For tourism development in areas where there are frequent problems with water shortage, it is important to assess water use potential from a geographic perspective. This study investigated the relationship between water use in the hotel sector and the amount of available water in Phuket for tourism carrying capacity assessment. Geographic information system (GIS) was applied to support spatial analysis. The studied hotels were in the size required to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA), totaling 178 hotels. There would be a total water use of 24,275 m 3 /day and 40,457 m 3 /day in the low and high seasons, respectively. In terms of annual water use, in the cases of lowest, normal, and highest possible consumption, there would be water consumption amounts of 8,860,021 m 3 /year, 11,303,606 m 3 /year, and 14,766,699 m 3 /year, respectively. From evaluating the capacity to support tourists in terms of water adequacy in Phuket Province, our results reveal that the amount of water in the province is insufficient to meet the needs of tourists. This is because the number of tourists coming to travel each year is ordinarily more than 10 million people, and there is a plan to accommodate 12 million tourists in 2023, but the amount of water that the province can procure is sufficient to support a maximum of not more than 8,986,600 tourists per year only if the water that EIA hotels store and produce themselves is included. This amount of water is still insufficient for the targeted number of tourists and other sectors, and the province’s water demand is likely to increase. In this regard, Phuket should hastily prepare a plan and measures to increase the amount of available water within the province.

Keywords: environmental impact assessment; hotel; Phuket; tourism carrying capacity; water demand; water supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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