Iterative Impacts of Climate and Tourism: Policy, Practice, and Pathways for Sustainable Development
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Kayode ALESHINLOYE Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA
Tourism is both a contributor to and a casualty of climate change. This paper explores the bidirectional relationship between climate systems and tourism industries, offering an interdisciplinary review of their dynamic interactions. It analyses how climate change alters tourism destinations - such as mountain, coastal, and heritage sites - while tourism, in turn, significantly contributes to environmental degradation through carbon emissions, infrastructure development, and consumption patterns. Drawing on global examples, the paper examines the vulnerabilities of small island economies, alpine regions, and coastal heritage sites, providing empirical support for climate-related risks in the tourism sector.
The paper also discusses sustainable policy and adaptation strategies including green aviation fuels, eco-tourism practices, smart technologies, and sustainable infrastructure. Framing tourism within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the paper emphasizes the need for multi-stakeholder governance, climate risk disclosure, and regional adaptation measures. It concludes by proposing policy directions and future research priorities aimed at aligning tourism growth with global climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
This study contributes to sustainability science by integrating climate resilience and tourism management into a coherent development narrative, offering actionable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to enhance sustainability in tourism-dependent economies.
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by RITHA Publishing under the CC-BY 4.0. license, allowing unrestricted distribution in any medium, provided the original work, author attribution, title, journal citation, and DOI are properly cited.
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