Vulnerability Of Tourism Assets To Climate Change -A Scoping Review

Abstract

Tourism infrastructure is currently being impacted as a consequence of steady variations in rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, sea level upsurge, and a variation in the frequency of severe activities, which are some concomitant manifestations of climate change variation. These changing and intense meteorological conditions particularly affect tourism operations and assets and are clear markers of climate change uncertainty. As a result, there is a fast-growing corpus of quantitative and qualitative studies documenting the sensitivity of the hospitality sector to the impacts of climate change, although the impact of this vulnerability has not been well-evaluated in available studies, thus requiring a scoping review. This study looks at how vulnerable and resilient the tourism industry is to changes in climate. This was done by creating illustrations that concentrate on the impact of climatic elements on outdoor tourism assets, construction materials that accommodate the tourism exhibits, and the level of patronage during extreme weather conditions caused by unexpected alterations in the natural habitat. This scoping review collates and analyses global literature on the proneness of tourism growth to climate change. The findings show that the infrastructure and assets used in the tourism industry are far more vulnerable than resilient. In comparison with the rest of the economic system, the tourist sector is more susceptible to climate change but also more able to adapt to it. Societies with income disparities exhibit varying degrees of vulnerability and resistivity; those with fewer resources are more susceptible and less adaptive, whilst those with greater financial resources are the least fragile and most adaptable. Thus, this study contributes to the existing literature on the vulnerability of tourist resources to climate change; points out the shortcomings of past investigations, and offers suggestions for additional inquiries.