Exploring tourism businesses’ adaptive response to climate change in two Great Lakes destination communities

Abstract

Abstract Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the global tourism sector, and destinations around the world are increasingly coming to terms with changing weather. Within destination systems, tourism businesses have been encouraged to take proactive steps to prepare for climate change, but in many destinations, adaptation has been limited. In this Regional Spotlight, findings from a series of qualitative interviews with representatives from businesses in two Great Lakes destinations are used to highlight some of the major challenges facing the region's tourism sector in terms of climate change. Results support findings of existing research that tourism businesses are strongly aware of how they are impacted by weather and climate. Conversely, though many interviewees were able to discuss how their businesses could be affected by climate change, they showed little concern that it would present new challenges and expressed a belief that it could be beneficial in some cases. Common barriers to proactive climate change action include limited resources, lack of knowledge of options, and a belief that action is unnecessary. The results of this study suggest that future work focused on how to build stronger public-private partnerships between policymakers, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), researchers, and tourism professionals in the Great Lakes, and perhaps other destinations, could help: (1) build awareness of potential novel or nonlinear impacts of climate change among tourism professionals, and (2) increase the availability of scientific information that meets their decision-making needs; subsequently, also leading to more effective destination-based climate change management strategies.