Influences of Climate Change on Tourism Development in Small Pacific Island States

Franziska Wolf,John Telesford,Ivana Božić Miljković,Walter Leal Filho,Priyatma Singh,Dirk Reiser,Chunlan Li,Peni Hausia Havea,Dinesh Surroop,Nicolai Scherle,Marina Kovaleva

doi:10.3390/su13084223

Abstract

Tourism-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a central driver of anthropogenic climate change. At the same time, climate change has both direct and indirect impacts on tourism, varying from damages of tourist assets due to extreme weather events, to losses of biodiversity. Small island developing states (SIDS) heavily depend on international tourism as a source of revenue and income. Therefore, much could be gained by assessing the vulnerability of the SIDS tourism sector and by identifying measures that may assist these islands in their sustainable adaptation efforts. Against this background, this interdisciplinary paper provides a review of tourism development and the implications of its emissions on the global climate, linked with observed and projected influences of climate change in the Pacific region, to explain the growing vulnerability of the overall sector, with a particular focus on SIDS tourism. A description of the effects of COVID-19 on international tourism and its consequences for SIDS complement the analysis. Case studies of two Pacific islands present some evidence of current climate impacts, underscoring the multiple risks small island nations and their tourism sectors face. The paper concludes by stating that some measures may be prioritized by decision-makers, so as to increase the resilience of a transforming tourism sector in SIDS.

Highlights

This study addresses the need for more research on climate change and tourism with a focus on developing countries that heavily rely on tourism as source of national income, i.e., small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific region
As this paper has shown, tourism plays an ambivalent role for touristic destinations, not just in Pacific SIDS; a decoupling between economic growth and environmental pollution, at least in the context of the tourism industry, has not yet been proven
Tourism-related CO2 emissions will continue to drive anthropogenic climate change, from which SIDS, those that are vulnerable, will suffer, and island nations remain in a quandary as to how to alleviate the harmful environmental effects of tourism-related GHG emissions whilst maintaining an attractive tourist destination

Summary

Introduction

Even though tourism science has been dealing intensively with the topic of climate change for about 25 years, there remains a pressing need for further research to support the necessary transformation of the tourism sector to a sustainable undertaking [1]. Counteracting the geographical bias by its focus on small island developing states (SIDS), this interdisciplinary paper aims to provide a review of tourism development and the implications of its global emissions on the global climate, and links it with possible and already seen influences of climate change in the Pacific region to explain the growing vulnerability of the overall sector, with a particular focus on SIDS tourism in the Pacific region. Case studies of two Pacific Islands present some evidence of current climate impacts, grounding the multiple risks small island nations and their tourism sectors face in the literature

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Discussion

Conclusion