TY - JOUR
T1 - Tourism destinations’ vulnerability to climate change
T2 - Nature-based tourism in Vava'u, the Kingdom of Tonga
AU - Van Der Veeken, Suzanne
AU - Calgaro, Emma
AU - Munk Klint, Louise
AU - Law, Alexandra
AU - Jiang, Min
AU - de Lacy, Terry
AU - Dominey-Howes, Dale
AU - Reis, Arianne C.
PY - 2016/1
Y1 - 2016/1
N2 - Tourism plays an important role in economic and human development in the Pacific. These benefits are at risk from the impacts of climate change, threatening the sustainability of the Pacific tourism sector. We assess the vulnerability and resilience of nature-based tourism in Vava'u, Tonga, using the Destination Sustainability Framework of Calgaro (2014) modified for a climate change focus. Our empirical assessment indicates that the following factors increase vulnerability levels in Vava'u: strong seasonality, dependency on air access, remoteness, limited connectivity of Vava'u from national decision makers and limited human and financial resources. Resilience levels in Vava'u are heightened by a high awareness of climate change, the resilient nature of Tongans and strong family and social networks. In conclusion, we recommend a set of adaptation strategies to further improve resilience levels, namely improving climate change education, increasing product and market diversification, strengthening institutional capacities and mainstreaming adaptation in national policies.
AB - Tourism plays an important role in economic and human development in the Pacific. These benefits are at risk from the impacts of climate change, threatening the sustainability of the Pacific tourism sector. We assess the vulnerability and resilience of nature-based tourism in Vava'u, Tonga, using the Destination Sustainability Framework of Calgaro (2014) modified for a climate change focus. Our empirical assessment indicates that the following factors increase vulnerability levels in Vava'u: strong seasonality, dependency on air access, remoteness, limited connectivity of Vava'u from national decision makers and limited human and financial resources. Resilience levels in Vava'u are heightened by a high awareness of climate change, the resilient nature of Tongans and strong family and social networks. In conclusion, we recommend a set of adaptation strategies to further improve resilience levels, namely improving climate change education, increasing product and market diversification, strengthening institutional capacities and mainstreaming adaptation in national policies.
KW - adaptation
KW - climate change
KW - island tourism
KW - nature-based tourism
KW - resilience
KW - Tonga
KW - Vava'u
KW - Vulnerability assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962509425&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1467358415611068
DO - 10.1177/1467358415611068
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84962509425
SN - 1467-3584
VL - 16
SP - 50
EP - 71
JO - Tourism and Hospitality Research
JF - Tourism and Hospitality Research
IS - 1
ER -
