New Study Examines the Effects of Climate Change on the Adventure Sector and Offers Recommendations for Businesses and Policymakers
(Santa Fe, NM) February 12, 2009: Xola Consulting recently released a research report entitled “Exploring the Effects of Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the Adventure Tourism Industry.” The report provides an in-depth look at how climate change is predicted to affect global tourism traffic patterns and discusses these changes in the adventure industry context.According to the report, adventure destinations and tour operators, with their reliance on natural resources and product offerings including trips in extreme environments, are experiencing the effects of climate change already, well before many mainstream tourism businesses. As such, they are well positioned to begin anticipating and preparing for the effects of climate change on their businesses. The free report provides recommendations for modifying adventure tourism business models to incorporate sustainable practices and reviews new industry methods for measuring sustainability and quantifying tourism’s economic benefits.
Which countries will be affected?
As our climate changes, travel patterns will too. Popular tourist destinations such as Greece, Jamaica, and Thailand, for example, all of which are largely dependent on tourism, will face rising temperatures and water shortages, requiring new approaches to adventure product development and resource management.
Research provided states that tourism in Northern-Hemisphere countries is likely to increase while Southern-Hemisphere countries will need to start anticipating and shaping their tourism policies and products to manage the effects of climate change.
Will people continue to travel?
It is unlikely that climate change will affect the amount of tourism in the future – but it will affect where people choose to go and what they choose to do. Anticipating changes to adventure tourism resources and laying the foundation for new markets with new policies and adventure products will allow the adventure industry to continue to thrive as traditional tourism markets evolve.
What is being done to mitigate these issues?
Governments seeking to create adventure markets as well as adventure travel media are applying sustainable market development practices and recognizing companies and destinations taking a sustainable approach to adventure tourism. The adventure industry is uniting around a set of market development standards, discussing climate change issues and mitigation tactics at annual gatherings such as the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s World Summit (ATWS), scheduled this year for October 19-22 at the Fairmont Manoir Richelieu in Quebec, Canada. For more information on the ATWS visit www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com.
Take an in-depth look at these challenges by downloading the report for free at http://www.xolaconsulting.com/industry-research.php. For more information: www.xolaconsulting.com or 202-297-2206.
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About Xola Consulting, Inc.
Xola (www.xolaconsulting.com) specializes in consulting and research services for the adventure tourism industry, providing technical assistance to both adventure tour operators and government tourism boards and destination management organizations. Xola also publishes Off the Radar (www.travelofftheradar.com), an online newsletter and website providing information to adventure travelers about the best sustainable adventure travel destinations and trips.