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Tourism and Climate Change: How is the future?
Since the beginning of the financial crisis, last fall, tourism has been suffering like many other industries the consequences. Tourism demand is decreasing and companies are cutting expenses, beginning with reducing workforeces. Investments are also suffering from the crisis and this means that green policies may be also in the agenda of reductions or even cancellations.
The question is: Can Tourism Industry pospone the greening strategies to become more sustainable and to fight Climate Change? It is not easy to say what's first if sustainability or survival, because CEOs have their own priorities. For most tourism companies, survival means to reduce costs, whilst for very few, crisis means opprtunity to become more competitive and to innovate.
After the strong market shaking of web 2.0, the economical crisis has brought more confusion to an industry, which in normal conditions has always been strategically conservative. "No news, good news" was the best strategy. For the leading tourism destinations like Spain or France, a slowing market growth granted the sustainability of the industry. In most destinations, green tourism was growing strongly and public funds were pushing this new activity to spread over the continent out of the mass tourism areas. City tourism has grown also and for many cities, this has become the main industry. Now the demand cannot grant a sustainable growth for all of them.
The present situation does not encourage the companies to think in investments that don't have a short term RoI. On the other side, governments are adressing their efforts to help the industries that have suffered the most from the crisis, like the car industry. Tourism is a flexible industry, due to its saisonality and to the strong capacity to absorb big changes in the demand. So it looks like governments will concentrate their efforts in other industries rather than in tourism.
What is the solution? Does it make sense to suspend for a while the actions in making tourism industry more sustainable? How long should this last?
This is a debate that tourism organizations and governments should have in national and internationl level. Thinking that economic priorities to survival should left out greening strategies may cause much harm to an industry that has in Climate Change a big threat.
We'll see how things will run in the next months.
The question is: Can Tourism Industry pospone the greening strategies to become more sustainable and to fight Climate Change? It is not easy to say what's first if sustainability or survival, because CEOs have their own priorities. For most tourism companies, survival means to reduce costs, whilst for very few, crisis means opprtunity to become more competitive and to innovate.
After the strong market shaking of web 2.0, the economical crisis has brought more confusion to an industry, which in normal conditions has always been strategically conservative. "No news, good news" was the best strategy. For the leading tourism destinations like Spain or France, a slowing market growth granted the sustainability of the industry. In most destinations, green tourism was growing strongly and public funds were pushing this new activity to spread over the continent out of the mass tourism areas. City tourism has grown also and for many cities, this has become the main industry. Now the demand cannot grant a sustainable growth for all of them.
The present situation does not encourage the companies to think in investments that don't have a short term RoI. On the other side, governments are adressing their efforts to help the industries that have suffered the most from the crisis, like the car industry. Tourism is a flexible industry, due to its saisonality and to the strong capacity to absorb big changes in the demand. So it looks like governments will concentrate their efforts in other industries rather than in tourism.
What is the solution? Does it make sense to suspend for a while the actions in making tourism industry more sustainable? How long should this last?
This is a debate that tourism organizations and governments should have in national and internationl level. Thinking that economic priorities to survival should left out greening strategies may cause much harm to an industry that has in Climate Change a big threat.
We'll see how things will run in the next months.
Tags: crisis, destinations, greening, sustainable, tourism
2 Comments
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Comment by Ram Chandra Paudel on October 1, 2009 at 12:46pm -
Dear Sir Oriol,
Read your article, really like it, now i am in Bangkok attending BANGKOK CLIMATE CHANGE TALK 2009. Also i am doing my Thesis on "TOURISM AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND IT'S IMPLICATION IN DEVELOPMING COUNTRIES"
Looking for your kind support nad help.
with kind regards,
Ram Chandra Paudel
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Comment by Oriol Miralbell on October 1, 2009 at 2:02pm -
Thanks Ram Chandra Paudel,
The topic of your Thesis is really crucial to the future of tourism and I wish you much success in yiur research.
Check at The Ecotourism Society (TIES) http://www.ecotourism.org/site/c.orLQKXPCLmF/b.4832143/k.CF7C/The_International_Ecotourism_Society__Uniting_Conservation_Communities_and_Sustainable_Travel.htm
Megan Eppler is a member of TIES who is working in Asia and Latin America.
Best regards,
Oriol
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