Climate Sense

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Climate change and tourism:

facing the challenges

Luigi Cabrini, Director, Department of Sustainable Development of Tourism, World Tourism Organization

ompelling evidence indicates that the global climate

has changed considerably since the pre-industrial era.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

hange (IPCC): “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal”.

Furthermore, the climate is anticipated to continue changing over

the 21st century and beyond. The IPCC projected that the pace of

climate change has a greater than 90 per cent probability of accel-

erating if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue at or above

the current rates. As a consequence of this change, the frequency

and intensity of extreme events – such as heat waves, tropical

cyclones or heavy precipitations – is also very likely to increase.

Even if atmospheric concentrations of GHGs were stabilized at

current levels, the Earth would continue to warm as a result of

past GHG emissions and the thermal inertia of the oceans.

Due to its close connections with the environment the tourism

industry and tourist destinations are clearly sensitive to climate

variability and change.

The climate defines the length and quality

of tourism seasons as well as playing a major role in destination

choice and levels of tourist spending. As such, climate changes will

unmistakably affect the tourism sector. Indeed, the necessity for

awareness and preparedness at a local level – through systematic

capacity building and strategies for disaster risk – has already been

highlighted by numerous tourism destinations.

Tourism in the era of global climate change

The tourism community’s concern regarding the chal-

lenge of climate change has visibly increased over

the last few years. The World Tourism Organization

(UNWTO) and several partner organizations convened

the First International Conference on Climate Change

and Tourism in Djerba, Tunisia in 2003. The Djerba

Declaration recognized the complex inter-linkages

between the tourism sector and climate change, and

established a framework for future research and policy

making on adaptation and mitigation. Climate affects

a wide range of the environmental resources that are

critical attractions for tourism, such as snow condi-

tions, wildlife productivity and biodiversity, as well as

water levels and quality. Climate also has an important

influence on environmental conditions that can deter

tourists, including infectious disease, wildfires, insect or

water-borne pests (such as jellyfish and algae blooms),

and extreme events such as tropical cyclones.

There are four broad categories of climate impacts

that will affect tourism destinations, their competitive-

ness and sustainability:

Direct climatic impacts

– Climate codetermines the

suitability of locations for a wide range of tourist activi-

ties, is a principal driver of global seasonality in tourism

demand, and has an important influence on operating

costs, such as heating/cooling, snow-making, irriga-

tion, food and water supply, and insurance costs. Thus,

changes in the length and quality of climate-dependent

tourism seasons (‘sun and sea’ or winter sports holidays)

could have considerable implications for the competi-

tive relationships between destinations, and therefore

the profitability of tourism enterprises on the whole.

Indirect environmental change impacts

– A wide

range of climate induced environmental changes have

profound effects on tourism at the destination and

regional level. Changes in water availability, biodiversity

loss, reduced landscape aesthetic, altered agricultural

production, increased natural hazards, coastal erosion

and inundation, damage to infrastructure and the

increasing incidence of vector-borne diseases will all

impact tourism to varying degrees.

Impacts of mitigation policies on tourist mobility

– While

seeking to reduce GHG emissions, national and interna-

tional mitigation policies are likely to have an impact on

‘tourist flows’. They could lead to an increase in transport

mpacts

and

mplications

limate

hange

and

ariability

Coastal erosion and sea wall protection on a beach in Fiji

Image: Becken, S