Tourism and climate change in Africa: informing sector responses

Abstract

Informing Africa’s tourism sector responses to the IPCC-AR6’s projected climate change impacts remains paramount. This study reviews the evolution of knowledge on climate change and tourism in Africa, examining gaps, scholarship trends and policy issues since the IPCC-AR5 in 2014. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline is used to gather and synthesise the relevant literature. The study observed increased tourism climate change risks, including higher temperatures, more severe droughts and floods, sea level rise, snow melting, coral bleaching and more frequent tropical cyclones. While knowledge of the impacts of climate change on tourism has increased, critical sector gaps remain in some regions and thematic areas. The study, therefore, makes a modest contribution to the literature on tourism and climate change in Africa.