Representations and adaptation to climate change

Abstract

Tourism representations evoking stable and pristine landscapes are increasingly challenged by environmental degradation, exacerbated by climate change, as well as tourists’ use of online travel networking sites. This study examines this statement by juxtaposing brochure content produced by 12 hotels located in Playacar, Mexico – a coastal tourism enclave devastated by biophysical changes in the natural landscape – to online tourists’ co-constructions of the same landscape. The findings reveal that despite the biophysical changes, the industry continues to promote essentialist representations and tourists are increasingly using online networking sites to counter these dominant promotional narratives. It is argued that promoters will need to embrace non essentialist frames that portray landscape dynamism and the inextricable co-evolution between humans and the environment.