Wednesday of World Water Week so time for two more water saving tips for travellers.

Tip 5

Report any leaks to your accommodation provider immediately. It could be a leaking tap or a toilet cistern constantly dripping water, but the water wastage over time is significant.

Tip 6

Do not support golf courses, theme parks  or ski resorts that consume excessive amounts of water. You as a consumer have the final say as to whether or not a business thrives or fails. Golf courses are often an oasis in a desert. This is because they consume vast amounts of water keeping their greens and fairways irrigated. Often this is at the expense of local agriculture and inhabitants. Golf courses  regions with a water scarcity should be looking at using strains of grass that do not require much water. Sure they may not look as attractive or be as soft to walk on, but they can be sustainable, whereas some of the oasis type golf courses certainly are not sustainable. The same applies to landscaped gardens in attractions such as Theme Parks. Finally ski resorts now increasing use snow cannons to supplement natural snowfalls with artificially made snow. An additive is used to stop the snow from melting as easily. This all ends up in the mountain environment. The process also consumes vast amounts ‘of water potentially straining local water supplies. Mountain-riders.org produce a booklet that compares the eco performance of many of the world’s ski resorts.  Check whether your resort relies heavily on snow cannons.

Place Flagey, here in Brussels has had an extensive makeover. The square was repaved and a new covered tram stop erected. It was reopened in July 2008.

Now there is a good market held here every Saturday and Sunday morning. There is a choice of stalls offering locally produced organic produce, so it is a good option for me to source some in season organic vegetables, organic cheeses and some bread. I made a video of the shopping experience as an experiment. Hopefully future videos will be better produced.

ACCOR the world’s largest hotel chain, owner of Formule 1, Ibis, Novotel posted their results today and recorded a 35% fall in profits. Their report identifies the global economic downturn as the major reason.
Business travel is being curtailed and hotel chains are suffering. The good news is that there are some excellent deals now being offered by the hotels to travellers and surveys show that the price of hotel rooms is starting to fall.
BAA the operator of seven major airports in the United Kingdom today revealed that it had made a loss of nearly £2 billion. Half of this was as a result of tax changes but the other half was due to a decline in passenger numbers through its airports which include Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow.