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<p>Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is widely recognised as an important decentralised water supply strategy, particularly for remote tourism destinations. However, in practice, both adoption and sustained operation remain uneven. This study investigates the operational challenges experienced by RWH adopters and the reasons for non-adoption among ecotourism premises located in hillside, coastal, and riverside landscapes in Sabah, Malaysia. Eighty premises (30 adopters and 50 non-adopters) were assessed using semi-structured interviews and on-site observations. Reported challenges were organised into thematic barrier families and examined using chi-square association tests. Adopters commonly identified three overarching constraint domains: supply pressure and variability, operational and financial capacity, and water safety and technical know-how. Non-adopters most frequently cited reliance on abundant alternative water sources, installation and maintenance costs, and perceived contamination risks. Chi-square analyses showed no significant association between landscape type and either adopter barrier <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\:{\chi\:}^{2}\left(4,\:N=40\right)=2.72,\:p=0.61\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation> or non-adoption reason <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">\(\:{\chi\:}^{2}\left(4,\:N=76\right)=5.89,\:p=0.21\)</EquationSource> </InlineEquation>. These results indicate that premise-level operational conditions exert significantly stronger influence on RWH decisions than geographical setting, as confirmed by small and non-significant landscape effect sizes. Overall, the findings demonstrate that RWH often remains supplementary rather than primary in ecotourism operations due to concerns about reliability, maintenance burden, and water quality. Strengthening design guidance, routine maintenance frameworks, and operator training should therefore be prioritised to enhance the practical relevance and long-term performance of RWH systems in humid tropical tourism regions.</p>

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Operational challenges and non-adoption drivers of rainwater harvesting in ecotourism premises in humid tropical regions

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月4日

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  • Sezee Gorotop,
  • Janice Lynn Ayog,
  • Jodin Makinda

摘要

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is widely recognised as an important decentralised water supply strategy, particularly for remote tourism destinations. However, in practice, both adoption and sustained operation remain uneven. This study investigates the operational challenges experienced by RWH adopters and the reasons for non-adoption among ecotourism premises located in hillside, coastal, and riverside landscapes in Sabah, Malaysia. Eighty premises (30 adopters and 50 non-adopters) were assessed using semi-structured interviews and on-site observations. Reported challenges were organised into thematic barrier families and examined using chi-square association tests. Adopters commonly identified three overarching constraint domains: supply pressure and variability, operational and financial capacity, and water safety and technical know-how. Non-adopters most frequently cited reliance on abundant alternative water sources, installation and maintenance costs, and perceived contamination risks. Chi-square analyses showed no significant association between landscape type and either adopter barrier \(\:{\chi\:}^{2}\left(4,\:N=40\right)=2.72,\:p=0.61\) or non-adoption reason \(\:{\chi\:}^{2}\left(4,\:N=76\right)=5.89,\:p=0.21\) . These results indicate that premise-level operational conditions exert significantly stronger influence on RWH decisions than geographical setting, as confirmed by small and non-significant landscape effect sizes. Overall, the findings demonstrate that RWH often remains supplementary rather than primary in ecotourism operations due to concerns about reliability, maintenance burden, and water quality. Strengthening design guidance, routine maintenance frameworks, and operator training should therefore be prioritised to enhance the practical relevance and long-term performance of RWH systems in humid tropical tourism regions.