Tourism and Climate Change: Proposals for a Research Agenda (original) (raw)

Tourism is one of the world's largest, fastest growing and most climate-dependent economic sectors, yet in 2003 the interactions between this industry and climate change had been subject to only sparse and scattered scientific investigation. There was a lack of scientific networks and frameworks to guide future research and make it more efficient. To start filling these gaps, a scientific workshop was held in Warsaw in November 2003 with the following aims: 1. to strengthen the network of scientists and stakeholders working in the field of climate change and tourism; and 2. to develop an agenda for further research, e.g. on impacts, vulnerabilities, adaptation options, emissions, and mitigation potentials. This book is a collection of the best papers from among the more than thirty-five contributions presented to the Warsaw workshop. The selected papers reflect the complex and interdisiplinary nature of the issue, and cover a broad range of topics, including: • tourism's con...

This was the final draft of the first overview chapter for a UNWTO publication on tourism and climate change in the Asia-Pacific. For the authoritative version please see the publication.

Introduction: This paper reviews English-language tourist adaptation to climate change literature. Climate change will plague the 21st century and beyond. Climate change hits tourism hard. Because of this, tourism experts have continued to study tourism's impact on climate change and stakeholders' reaction options. Tourism industry climate change study may stretch back to the 1960s. Over the past 15 years, specialised climate change and tourism study has increased. This review maps tourist adaptation knowledge domains from the early 1960s to 2014. Methodology: This article uses English tourist industry secondary sources for the review. Results-Before 2010, tourism adaptation literature advanced in five theme areas: business adaptation, consumer adaptation, destination adaptation, adaptation policy, and frameworks for adaptation. After 2010, tourism academics began studying "sustainable adaptation" in tourism. This report is the first to highlight sustainable adaptation as a new theme in tourism and climate change adaptation research. When we say this paper is unique, we mean it. Despite a lack of consensus on sustainable adaptation in tourist research, the report finds a growing interest in the knowledge area. So, academics must agree on a definition of "sustainable adaptation" to conduct comparative study and discussion.

The integrated effects of climate change willhave far-reaching consequences for tourism andthese impacts will vary substantially by market segment and geographic region.Without doubt, climate is one of the essential parameters influencing tourism. Changes in global climate are beyond the control of the tourism industry and may have far-reaching consequences for many current tourist destinations as well as for places contemplating involvement in tourism.

The relationship between tourism and changing climate has been discussed and studied for a relatively long time in tourism research. Over the past 15 years, more focused studies have begun to appear, and especially recently, the issue of adaptation and mitigation has been emphasized as an urgent research need in tourism and climate change studies. This paper is based on the review of selected articles which discuss the several forms of tourism and climate change and provide recommendations for mitigation and adaptation measures. This review paper assesses the impacts of climate change on the popular forms of tourism such as; mountain tourism, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism, sun/sand tourism; last chance tourism, and describes the extent of tourism vulnerabilities and their implications. The paper concludes that the appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures have to be followed to minimize the risk of climate change while trying to save all forms of tourism. The initiative o...