Travel & Tourism in the Age of Climate Change: Robust Findings, Key Uncertainties

7th International Symposium on Tourism and Sustainability

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

The quantitative data supporting the idea of climate change is beyond doubt. Natural scientists, climatologists and meteorologists have produced a series of reports detailing the science and the ways in which global temperature and weather patterns are changing as a response to greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity. Social scientists are needed to translate these grim warnings into understandable statements that we as citizens can act upon in terms of mitigation and alleviation.
At a time of increasing mobility, ease of travel and the emergence of new destinations, tourism is both a victim of, and contributor to climate change. However, this symbiotic relationship remains shrouded in fuzzy data, myths and mystery. Given that the industry servicing “people on the move’ is central to most economies and cultures, the option to ‘give up’ tourism is simply not tenable. Responsive actions must be identified to enable travel and tourism to deliver the peak experiences that tourists seek, but with a lower carbon footprint.