Western Cape Minister of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, launched the world’s first water-offset tool on Wednesday (April 18), My Water Foot Print, as part of a bid to boost water-wise tourism in Cape Town and the Western Cape.

The offset tool was created by Wesgro, in conjunction with For Love of Water (FLOW), as part of its campaign to encourage tourists to continue to visit the Cape, and be water conscious when doing so.

The My Water Footprint Tool, allows visitors to the Cape to calculate their daily water usage, and then to offset this usage by donating money to water conservation projects.

By doing this, visitors to water-scarce destinations, such as Cape Town will not only be incentivised to check their usage when making use of this tool but will also play a part in the water-wise solution.  

Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris commented: “Cape Town and the Western Cape - Africa's leading tourist region - is coming back stronger from its severe drought, and the joint response from government, business and the tourism industry is emerging as best practice for promoting ‘water-wise tourism’ in the face of climate change. This new online tool is yet another way our destination is leading in this effort."

The new  reality of climate change will increasingly affect cities around the world in the coming years, says Harris. “The ‘Cape Town Model' for dealing with climate change shows how tourism can be  an important part of the solution, and we look forward to sharing some of our initiatives with many other places around the world."

United  Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General, Zurab Pololikashvilli, said: “We recognise the huge efforts that South Africa,  especially the Cape Town local authorities, is undertaking in addressing the  water situation and the inclusive approach that has been taken throughout the  campaign in raising awareness for the end users and tourists in becoming more  responsible."

Through an interactive interface, visitors will select how many showers they plan on taking, how many water-based beverages they will consume and how many times their room will be cleaned, as well as declare and quantify any other water consuming practices that will take place during their visit to the Cape.

Based on the information given, a calculator built into the tool will generate 'flowcoins' - a currency created around water usage.

Visitors can then use these ‘flowcoins’ to offset their usage  to water-saving projects, thereby supporting  local water initiatives.

These water conservation initiatives include: the Greater Cape Town Water Fund - which removes alien invasive plant species to save billions of litres of water and the Smart Water Meter Challenge - a special campaign aimed at saving water at schools across Cape Town through the installation of a water monitoring device, called the Dropula. The system monitors water usage and flow and provides information that can help inform opportunities to save water.  

Winde concludes: “The world is looking to Cape Town as the example for reducing water usage and the My Water Footprint initiative is just another way we’re innovating around water usage to ensure that each and every citizen, and each and every visitor, has the tools they need to reduce and save. Water wise tourism efforts like these are putting Cape Town and the Western Cape on the map as a leading responsible tourism destination, securing thousands of jobs in our hospitality industry.”

Visitors to Cape Town and the Western Cape can visit the micro-site here, and to see a short video on how it works, click here.