Tourism and climate change in Africa

Abstract

Tourism has been a long standing major economic activity for many African countries. However, research has shown how factors such as governance and poor planning could hamper the sustainability of the industry. Additionally, in recent years, one of the most significant threats to the integrity of tourism destinations has surfaced: climate variability and change. This chapter therefore reviews the tourism-climate change nexus as it applies to tourism development in the African continent. The tourism industry’s vulnerability to climate change in Africa emanates from the fact that it is largely nature-based. With soaring temperatures, erratic precipitation and rising sea levels, most natural capital which forms the basis for nature-based tourism will be highly affected resulting in changes in market demand, tourist flows and revenue streams. The systematic literature review method was applied to answer the following questions: what is the focus of tourism-climate change nexus research in Africa; which major tourism destinations have been affected; what climate policy responses exist? The review has shown that major tourist destinations in Africa such as wetlands and coastal towns have already shown signs of negative climatic impacts. Such negative impacts include increased temperatures, frequent droughts, coral bleaching, flooding, poor climatic conditions, extreme weather events. Policy responses to the effects of climate change vary across countries as some countries still have a long way to go in terms of climate policy and legislation. This owes to poor adaptive capacity and inadequate information for informed decision making. The long-term survival and preservation of tourism destinations are thus of paramount importance and appropriate action is now more urgent. We recommend a sub-regional approach to integrating issues of tourism-climate nexus into existing efforts towards the attainment of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals and associated targets.