Tourism Planning Environment: Impact of Climate Change on Tourism Industry

This report analyzes the impact of climate change on the tourism industry and proposes strategies for adaptation and mitigation. It highlights the need for national policy initiatives and stakeholder engagement for sustainable tourism.

Running head: TOURISM PLANNING ENVIROMENT
Tourism Planning Environment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Total Position Statement..................................................................................................................2
Background Context........................................................................................................................3
A statement of need.........................................................................................................................6
The scope of the proposed plan.......................................................................................................8
The proposed process....................................................................................................................11
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................12

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Total Position Statement
The industry of tourism contributes majorly to the global development of the economies
of the world. Two major factors, the climate and the weather are important in case of the
decision making among the tourists (Jaiswal and Dhar 2015). Climate is defined as the
conditions and the situations that are prevailing that are observed as a long term average in some
situations. The tourist and the business of the tourism are affected by the conditions of the
weather that deviate the substantial average conditions (Bujosa, Riera and Torres 2015). It
furthermore influences the success execution of the business of tourism. Along with the current
trends, the public and the political interest in the field of climate change has increased by
considerable rate in the current years. The assignment focuses and reviews the international
literature on the interaction among the weather and the tourism in the current era. The tourism
industry is closely and clearly dependent on the climatic conditions of the region and can be
illustrated as a two way relationship. Various activities of the tourists are dependent on the
condition of the weather and the natural resources (Hall et al. 2015). The report assignment
focuses on the analysis on how tourism and the economic activity are connected and affect the
green house gas emissions with the use of the fossil fuels. Indirect impact with the use of the
products and the electricity in the production chain is furthermore stated in the assignment. The
study furthermore analyses the changed climatic policies such as the Australian emissions
trading schemes and the impacts on the sector of tourism. The relevant complexity of the
understanding of the perception of the tourism and the reactions towards the effect of the climate
change for the anticipation and the alteration in the market of tourism are highlighted in the
report assignment.

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Background Context
Climate change is one of the most negative factors for the tourism industry. This is
because the attractions that the tourists generally come to visit are getting destroyed with the
relevant loss in the experience quality of the international tourist, thus affecting the overall
tourism industry of the region (León and Araña 2016). Some of the natural attractions like the
Great Barrier Reef tops the tendency of being mostly affected by the climate disasters. Beach
resorts, some of the major costal icons like the opera house of Sydney have the highest tendency
of getting affected (León and Araña 2016). The impact of the changes in the climate on the
tourism industry is mostly negative in the country of Australia. Some of the benefits and the
costs that are potentially associated with the changes in the climate that is actually harming and
affecting the tourism industry are the following.
The loss of the attraction - Some of the spot of interest or attraction tends to cease functioning
for the tourists. Furthermore, the tourist who initiated the visit to the coastal reef in the nearby
town may get disappointed with the view of the unattractive reef that got rendered by the
changes in the climate. Some of the ski fields may also be forced to close (Petitpierre et al.
2016). Furthermore, the relevant cost for the loss of the required benefits to the tourist in the
domestic market and a related negative economic impact to the region are some of the resultants
of the effects. Besides these issues, the international tourist may also stop visiting the places
(Bujosa, Riera and Torres 2015). This low visit of the international tourist will definitely hamper
the profit margin and the expansion of the tourism industry. The whole economy and the loss in
the expenditure of the tourism with the related economic cost is a factor of major downturn for
the tourism industry.

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The loss of the quality attraction – Though many of the attractions and the spot of interest may
survive but the quality of the experience of the visitors both national and the international will
definitely decline. The rate of the tourist attraction in the domestic market will tend to lose
together with the loss of the visit form the international visitors due to the poor tourism
experience and the damaged natural resources due to the climate disasters.
The costs of adaptation – For many of the attractions in the tourism spot, it will be more feasible
towards the preservation of their appeal and the structures by successful adaptation (Mowforth
and Munt 2015). The process of adaptation will be cost effective and the process is not always
feasible since it gets too much costly some times.
Better and new attractions – The change in the environment and the climate does not always gets
affected in the same direction and level (Goldberg et al. 2016). Some places get better off like
the Victoria’s beaches in case of Australia, while some other natural resources and the tourist
spot gets worse off and inaccessible to the tourists.
It is essential to understand the effects and the changes due to the climate change in the
tourism industry. Due to the alteration and the consequences in the change in the climate, the
natural capital of the industry will be devalued (Hall et al. 2015). The climate change directly
impacts the industry of tourism and the profit it creates via the degradation and the loss of the
attractions, the adaptation cost and the replacements of the infrastructure of the capitals. In case
of nature-based tourism and eco-tourism like the country of Australia, the negative effects of the
climate changes are likely to be a net loser from the altering business patterns in the international
basis.

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Another important effect to the tourism industry is the carbon footprints and the GGEs.
The industry of tourism either towards or from the international platform includes economic
activities. A visitor to a tourist place may create GGEs and also create emissions on other parts
of the world. The global GGEs will increase as compared to the tourist place or the place of
interest (Dillimono and Dickinson 2015). If the tourism industry imposes policies of GGE
mitigation, then there lie high chances that the price for the products of the tourism will rise
drastically which will result in the consequence that the international tourists may shift their
preferences to visit other tourist locations at some other different countries.
To summarize all the relevant issues, the changes in the climate and the environment has
been a long and a sustained issue and a major global problem. The effects of the changes in the
climate are totally dependent on the global emissions also (Vitousek, Loope and Westbrooks
2017). In case of the Australian tourism, the impacts of the carbon footprints are an important
concern since the industry of tourism in Australia has some of the specific GGE targets and the
commitments in the international level.
The carbon footprint is not strictly related to the carbon. This is because the carbon
dioxide is not only the greenhouse gas that causes harm. Apart from this, nitrogen oxide plays a
very important role in the destruction of the global environment. For some parts of the tourism
industry, these gasses are significant (Font and Hindley 2017). The issues of tourism related to
the increasing concern of global warming is not only connected to the quantum of the green
house gases but also affected by the damaging carbon emissions that causes damage in the
tourism industry. Carbon footprint is thus one of the recent and dangerous measures of damage.
These issues are connected to the lack of the preservation of the wild animal and the sea
mammals who gets equally affected due to the climate change and the emission of the poisonous

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gases (Mowforth and Munt 2015). The tourism industry faces a major challenge in the
preservation of the migratory animals and the birds and these are furthermore disrupting the
nature and its living creatures. Apart from the tourism expenditure and the economic activities,
the changes in the climate is disrupting the general equilibrium of the tourism industry as a
whole.
A statement of need
It is important for the tourism industry to maintain the natural attractiveness. Thus, proper
action plan for the enabling of a wide range of marketing strategies and promotions needs to be
implemented and analyzed for the protection of the tourism industry from the climate disaster.
The prevention of the impacts of the climate can be successfully accomplished via the
introduction and implementation of the mitigation and the adaptation procedure. These strategic
measures are consistent with the process of risk management (Char-lee, Becken and Watt 2016).
With the procedure of adaptation, the reduction in the rate of consequences that are linked with
the climate change can be controlled and monitored (Higham et al. 2016). The process of
mitigation helps in the reduction of the GHGs from the activities of the human thereby initiating
decrease or reduction in the rate of the change in the climate towards which both the natural
systems, the environment and the tourism industry together with the human beings are exposed
(Rosselló-Nadal 2014). Apart from the possible adaptation and mitigation strategies, the
engagement and the communication of the stakeholder constitute as one of the major factors of
action towards the tourism industry for addressing the issues of sustained changes in the climate
and the natural disasters.

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In context of the recommended strategical measures, effective engagement and a wide
consultation is currently requited or needed across all the levels of the government and also with
the stakeholders of the industry that includes participants from the finance, common wealth,
transport, agencies of the local government, organizations of the regional tourism and the
members belonging to the general community (Becken, Zammit and Hendrikx 2015).
It is thus recommended for the tourism industry to develop and form a communication
strategy for the promotion of the awareness and the engagement across the industry of tourism.
The key group of the stakeholders needs to be recognized. It is furthermore recommended that
the key organizations play an essential role for taking forward the measures of adaptation and
include the local government and the tourism industry associations.
The tourism sustainability report needs to be developed for the provision of all the
information and the tools of support that concerns the climate change across the countries
(Bradley, van Putten and Sheaves 2015). With significant investment and involvement by the
government and its support, a platform is thus needed to be formed and developed for the
presentation and the maintenance of the industry of tourism.
Packages of targeted information and the tool kits are thus needed to be prepared for the
assistance of the industry and the resource managers for the effective execution of adaptation and
the mitigation actions (Hall et al. 2016). Furthermore, development of sustainability workshops
and the training programs with the support of the common wealth government needs to be done.
Adaptation climate change and the mitigation initiatives – The adaptation strategies are
essential in complementing the efforts of the mitigation of the tourism industry. The formation
and the implementation of the strategies of adaptation will furthermore require active

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involvements of all the categories of stakeholders (Mason 2015). Detailed research towards the
effect of the global warming is also required for the fruitful adaptation capacities. Most of the
research studies claim the scenarios of the climate change highlighting the range of changes in
the temperature or any of the natural disaster. The research studies furthermore illustrate the
potential effects on the natural systems the health and the interest of the human, the infrastructure
and the integrated analysis.
There lies several actual and proposed essential or mandatory needs that have their
effects on the tourism industry. The objectives of the strategic measures related to the
degradation of the climate and the environment is to reduce GGEs and recommendations to
avoid furthermore damage to the industry of tourism which contributes a large share to the
economy and the gross domestic product and development of the economies in the world.
Factors such as the need for the minimum use of the renewable resources for the supply
of the electricity, the sale of the incandescent globes of the light, the reduction in the emission of
the standards for the vehicles, the green fleet requirements and the limits on the air travelling
tends to affect the tourism industry directly (Barnett et al. 2015). The impact and the size of these
essential requirements on the tourism industry is comparatively huge for the sectors that affects
the industry on a direct basis.
The scope of the proposed plan
A multiple number of national policy initiatives are required for the establishment of the
tourism industry before the industry can move forward with the strategies and the tools of
development and the response of the policies to the change in the climate at the sector level. The
national policy initiatives include agreement by the stakeholders like the government for the

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preferred strategies for the proper address of the national obligations that concerns the change in
the climate and will initiate reduction in the emissions of the green house gases. Furthermore, the
initiatives include desired decision on the sectoral measures and the wide economy mix for the
voluntary and the regulatory measures. Introduction and the implementation of the national
modelling framework is required for the identification and mapping of the carbon footprint and
the placement of the issues in the international context. These are furthermore followed by
development of the emission reduction goals for the proper assessment of the impact of the costs
towards the competitiveness of the tourism industry. Finally, the development of the individual
management planning for the proper address of the adaptation and the mitigation goals.
Some of the national actions by the government and the stakeholders in the context of the
regulatory and the legislative measures are the following.
The development of the national climate change steering organization - The establishment can
furthermore advance the action plan by conducting meetings of the tourism and environmental
departments of the government. These include representatives from the green house office, the
CSIRO, and other governmental agencies.
Development of national climate changes research platform with the use of STCRC and the
CSIRO resources of research - This is an essential measure for the address of range of the
uncertainties revolving around the tourism and the issues of global warming and the impact of it.
The development of carbon footprint for the tourism industry – Development of a advisory group
and mapping of the current carbon footprints of the tourism industry is necessary. It is
furthermore needed for the establishment of the base for the further analysis and the monitoring
of the industrial improvements over the time.

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Introduction of the national carbon calculator - An agreed national calculator is essentially
required for the sustainability portal of the tourism.
The economic modelling - Models for the maintenance of the general equilibrium and the
incorporation of the green house gas emissions is required for the enabling of the external shocks
and the changes of the assessed policies. Some of the recommended measures for economic
modelling includes assessing of the CGE implications in the market of tourism that are either
national or international.
The mapping of the climate – Great awareness and the taking up the adaptive strategies are
required to analyze the potential impact of the climate changes on the tourism industry.
The maintenance and the watching of the brief alternatives of the scientific explanations of the
factors and the drivers of the changes in the climate – The never settling climate and the nature
challenges the tourism industry .It is thus necessary to develop some of the strategic measures
and alternative hypothesis for the testing of the strategic responses for the successful adaptation
of the changing knowledges.
Apart from the national legislator measures by the government some of the destination based
actions and recommendations are needed for addressing the issues of climate change in the
tourism industry. These includes proper risk management, dedicated management plans for the
tourism destination, tackling and proper measurement of the industry performance analysis tool.
For balancing the effect of the changes in the climate to the development of the industry
of tourism, it is thus important for the government and the policy makers to initiate potential
changes in the climate together with the development of the climate and the plans of sustainable

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tourism. The climate change adaptation policy in the tourism sector is thus essential for building
a new market of tourism.
The proposed process
The recommendations and the tourism model have multiple objectives that targets
towards the fulfillment of the promotion of the awareness, enhancement of the process of the
planning and the effective cultivation of the setoff the factors of investments. The proposed
procedure for the implementation of the above stated recommendation for the addressing of the
climate changes and the natural disasters on the tourism industry includes the following.
The setting up of the organization for the community-based tourism development,
national sustainability committee, development of the technical group for consultation and
training of the project , the initiate of climate changing finding and the project development are
some of the process for the achievement of the goals. Some of the major policies that aim
towards the reduction of the emissions incudes abatement program for the references of the
reduction in the level of GHG emissions, the carbon tax for the use of the fossil fuels that targets
to reduce the emission of the carbon dioxide, the introduction of a market based approach for the
trading of the emission.
To summarize, the climate change has been one of the most long term issue in the case of
tourism industry and proper implementation of the mitigation strategies and measures with the
implementation of the policies and the regulatory measures must be ensured for the development
and acceleration of the tourism industry business.

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