Position statement
It is crucial to understand the tourism trends. This report includes a plan to manage the effects of the climate change on tourism in the local government area of Australia. The climate change impacts Australian tourism and the economic benefits which generate through the loss of tourism attractions. The country relies on the nature-based tourism which is at the direct risk from the climate change impacts (Amelung and Nicholls, 2014). I have been working in CSIRO, Australia for the last five years. The CSIRO is an independent Australian federation which is responsible for the scientific research. The main goal of the agency is to improve the economic and social performance of the tourism industry for the benefit of the country. The climate change projections are used as a basis of this report which is prepared by the agencies such as CSIRO.
CSIRO is committed to delivering triple bottom line benefits to Australia such as, economic, environmental and social. The agency tackles national challenges with the government and the industries. It creates opportunities to increase competitiveness and reduce risks. The agency works to benefit economy, environment and the local community. The mission includes the tourism industry; it impacts on the world and prosperity. This report is going to address the climate change issue faced by the Australian tourism industry. A tourism plan is suggested and the need for its implementation. This plan considers the role of government, business, and stakeholders. The plan also considers the possible reasons for the government intervention (Bardsley, Palazzo and Pütz, 2018). Further, the scope of the plan is discussed along with the identification of possible approaches and instruments. The report also explains the outline of the proposed planning process comprising details of the consultation, implementation, and review.
Background context
Tourism is the second largest industry in the country which is valued at Aus $40 billion. The industry is employing more than 580,000 people in the nation. Australia’s tourism industry is under increasing threat from climate change.
The government is required to reduce carbon emissions harming the beaches and national parks. The popular destinations in Australia are at risk. The major cities located at the coastal areas such as Sydney, Hobart, Cairns, Melbourne, Darwin, and Adelaide are expected to face frequent flooding in the coming years. The most popular natural destinations comprising beaches can become no-go zones during peak holiday seasons due to an extreme temperature which reaches up to 50 degrees in Melbourne and Sydney. The nature-based tourist destinations in the country are beaches, wildlife and national parks which accounts for attraction in the country (Booth, et al, 2015). The impacts of the climate are extreme heat waves, rising sea levels, and coastal flooding. The world heritage site which is capable of attracting millions of visitors each year is revolving from insignificant bouts of coral bleaching. It is due to the warming sea temperatures connected to the climate change. The global warming has put the risk of serious consequences in the prime travel destinations of Australia. Out of which, some destinations are facing the prospect of vanishing entirely. The climate change is threatening Australia’s valuable and fastest growing tourism sector (Anwar, et al, 2015). The agency has focussed on the natural destinations such as beaches, wildlife, and national parks in order to know the effect of climate change which affects tourism in the country.
The number of visitors was 8.8 million in 2017. These international visitors spend $41.3 billion. The tourism sector supported 545,000 jobs in 2016. It fell by 3.8% in 2017. The direct contribution of the tourism sector to employment was indirectly supported by 12.5% of total employment that is 1,495,000 jobs. It fell by 2.6% in 2017. The tourism sector in Australia is extremely susceptible due to the reliance on the natural attractions. The federal and state government also ignored the climate change risks to the tourism in the government’s tourism 2020 plan. This plan did not mention any aspect of reducing emissions or growing sustainability of the tourism industry. The climate change has an enormous impact on the employment. Over 1 billion people are employed in the agricultural sector which is the 2nd greatest source of employment. The climate changes such as, droughts, famine, floods and variability in the rainfalls has an influence on the employment of agriculture. Many people working in the agriculture sector faces job insecurity, deteriorating working conditions and increasing level of poverty (Butler and Whelan, 2018). The hotel industry is one of the growing industries. The tourism sector is extremely affected by the climate change. The rising sea level in the many coastal areas has to address changes in relation to jobs. The employees like travel guides, workers in hotels and transport sector face difficulties due to the climate change.
The climate change effects to economic conditions in Australia as the adverse conditions in climate reduce tourism activities and trade cycles. The tourism sector is affected so badly that it influences the local taxes, interest rates, exchange, and the inflation rates. The climate change declines the tourism industry trends. The climate change also poses risks to the future economic growth. The reduction in GDP reduces the spending power of tourists. The climate change has an impact on the social organizations and it changes the lives of people in Australia. The plan is required to be implemented in order to reduce the changes in the climate. The lifestyle trends and the demographics of Australia are affected by the change in the climate. The tourism trends and lifestyle trends have been greatly influenced by the climate change (Capstick, et al, 2015). The preference of people changes related to tourism as the climate changes also they prefer to travel less to the coastal areas. The environmental factors comprise the weather and the climate change. The climate changes occur due to the global warming and it impacts tourism activities. The awareness of the environmental factors has become a significant issue. The desire to protect the environment is having an impact on the tourism and the government is taking environmental friendly approach towards tourism. There is political stability in Australia and it keeps on planning policies to face climate change challenges. The government provides funds, grants, and other initiatives. The technology has been implemented such as input-output model to estimate the impact of changes in the tourism expenditure. The technology is updated from time to time to know the impact on the organizations caused due to the climate change (Dragouni and Fouseki, 2018). CSIRO uses climate change modelling to predict what can be in store in the coming years for the tourism destinations in the country.
The climate change is putting Australia’s valuable and rapidly growing sector under threat. The extreme heat waves, coastal flooding, increasing sea level a wide-ranging coral bleaching are the impacts of the climate change. It makes the hotspots less attractive to the visitors (Dredge and Jamal, 2015). The beaches of Australia are the most popular tourist destination but as per the climate predictions coastal flooding is likely to become more frequent in the cities like Cairns, Sydney, Hobart and more. According to the survey, about 17 to 23% of tourists have switched destinations due to the beach damage. It caused Aus $56 million loss for the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The surf coast in Victoria also suffered from the loss of Aus $20 million every year.
The climate change is an alarming situation about the impact of coral bleaching in the Greater Barrier Reef. It can affect the tourism economy of the region in the long run. The saltwater is conquering the freshwater wetlands of the national park. The reports clarify that the five attractions of the country such as beaches, wildlife, national parks, the Great Barrier Reef and wilderness areas are not climate change proof (Frusher, et. al. 2014). The extreme temperature in the destinations makes tourist destinations uncomfortable for the visitors. It also poses health risks. These issues are important enough to have a new policy.
A statement of need
The plan is needed to improve the adverse climate changes in Australia. The climate changes not only affect the local residents and their profession but it also affects the GDP of the country overall. It reduces the worth of the tourist attractions. The plan can guide the tourists about the perfect time of visiting the destinations (Gang, et al, 2015). So that tourists can visit at appropriate timings and the tourism sector can also generate income out of it. The plan can assist the tourism industry and others in countering to the climate change through:
- The decision makers can be sustained with the practical guides, kits and the benchmarking tools to support in managing impacts of the climate change.
- The plan can provide climate change predictions and regional impact consequences targeted to the tourism sector. It comprises reliable and certified measurements.
- The plan generates the knowledge to recognize and manage climate change risks to biodiversity, coasts, human health, and infrastructure (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier 2015).
- The plan includes stakeholders to develop practical strategies to manage the risks and the impacts of the climate change. It also includes the prevention, mitigation, and the strategies.
- The plan assesses the possible adaption strategies for the high risk and high-value assets.
The government can take a number of policy initiatives for the tourism industry with developing suitable tools in response to the climate changes. The government can address the national obligations regarding climate change and reduction of the greenhouse emissions. It can also include national and sectoral qualification goals. The government decides the desired sectoral measures comprising voluntary, price based and directive regulatory measures. A national modeling framework can be undertaken to justify the carbon footprint and the placement of this (Greenslade and Slatyer, 2017). The government develops emissions to reduce goals for the tourism sector. It evaluates the impact of cost on the competitiveness of the Australian tourism industry flowing from their execution. The government also develops individual management plans to address modification and adaptation goals for the tourism sector.
The government, tourists, people involved in the tourism activities, tourism centers and institutes are the stakeholders. These stakeholders suggest the ways to face climate changes. They contribute efforts to build the destination image of Australia (Woodhead, et al, 2016). The engagement of the stakeholders can be understood by:
- A communication strategy is developed in order to promote awareness across the tourism sector. In the initial stage, the key stakeholders are required to be identified at different levels such as national, state and regional.
- The organizations are required to play an important role in taking adaptation measures. These organizations are regional tourism, local government and the industry associations like TTF, AFTA, AHA and more.
- A tourism sustainability portal should be developed to provide the option of a one-stop shop for the supporting tools concerning climate change across Australia. The STRTC has maintained a platform to maintain the site for the tourism industry.
- The information packages and the toolkits should be prepared to support industry managers to take mitigation and adaption actions (Vardoulakis, et al, 2014).
There are various trends in Australia which influences the climate. The sea surface temperatures have warmed by .9 degree Celsius. The global sea level has also increased in the twentieth century. It was 225 mm higher in 2012 than in 1880. The rates of sea level also vary in different regions in Australia. The higher sea level is observed in the north. The greenhouse gases affect the climate by altering incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation which is a part of the energy balance of the earth. The change in the properties of these gases leads to the warming or cooling of the climate change. The declining trend in the winter rainfall also persists in southwest Australia. It affects the climate and the sea surface temperatures (Head, Adams, McGregor and Toole, 2014).
The CSIRO faces challenges of the climate change. The agency improves the economic and social performance of the tourism industry. The climate change projections are used by the CSIRO for the further prediction. The agency takes action to prevent and minimize the worst consequences of the climate change. The agency can take strong action to cut the production of greenhouse gases at the local, national and international level (Schäfer, Ivanova and Schmidt, 2014). The agency can make sure that the vulnerable communities adapt to the certain changes which cause global warming. The agency relies on the efficiency of the businesses to provide best strategies for addressing climate changes.
The government can intervene if there is the possibility of any harm to the natural inheritance and public of the country. The plan can be modified by the government as per the predictions made by the tourism industry. An action plan can also be provided by the government. The government interferes in order to boost the economy. The government also makes use of the new technologies to evaluate the effects on the industry because of the climate change (Phelps, Boyce and Huggett, 2017).
The plan can bring the significant precautions that can be used to save from the harmful effects of the climate change. The predictions can be helpful in managing the natural destinations of the country accordingly. The plan assesses the possible adaption strategies for the high risk and high-value assets (Howes, et al, 2015). The plan creates the knowledge to identify and manage climate change risks to biodiversity, coasts, human health, and infrastructure. The plan also develops practical strategies to manage the risks and the impacts of the climate change. It also comprises the prevention, mitigation, and the strategies.
The scope of the proposed plan
The plan can provide a guide for the visitors according to which they can plan their trips. There is a national online strategy for tourism and it undertakes various options to make improvements in the tourism sector. The plan includes a goal to achieve the target of growth and undertakes measures to improve the performance of the tourism industry by pursuing opportunities. It aims to increase consumer spending and address supply-side factors. The predictions of the agency are helpful in the outcome and developing Australia tourism (Herring, et al, 2015). The competitive marketing campaigns used by the plan helps to engage customers and book visit to Australia.
The instruments appropriate for the plan are domestic policy and the international instruments. The domestic policy instruments enable individuals to achieve specific goals. The international instruments can be used by the groups (Penman, et.al. 2015). Both the instruments provide the benefits and address the climate change issues.
The instruments can be used effectively as it includes the consent of the government. The instruments follow the rules, laws, and actions of the government. It also includes implementation at the individual level as the precautions can be taken by the individuals such as controlling emission of gases which cause the greenhouse effect.
The resources required are both financial and human. The human resources are required to carry on the prediction process of the climate change. The financial resources are used to conduct the research work (Lew, 2014). The tourism education and training should be conducted for the residents and the visitors. Australia is one of the leading sectors and it contributes to the economic growth and employment.
The plan has various advantages as it is effective in reducing impacts of the climate change. It is helpful in increasing the contribution of the stakeholders by increasing responsibility towards the concern. The stakeholders develop practical strategies in order to manage the risks and the impacts of the climate change. It also includes the prevention and alleviation.
The policy can provide direction to the visitors, public and local businesses. The appropriate timing of visiting the places can sort out various problems. For instance, the coastal areas can be visited when the temperature is low (Malek and Costa, 2015). The plan also provides the guidelines to reduce the impact of global warming which is the human concern. The stakeholders show more concern than before and take all the required steps to face the climate change challenges.
Proposed process
The planning process is a specific process to achieve a desired goal to reduce impacts of the climate change. It includes various plans which aim to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. It also guides visitors to make decisions concerning their contribution towards the environment. It can be made possible by understanding the harmful effects on the environment which causes climate change. The various technologies can be used to consult visitors. The plan is helpful in resolving the queries of the visitors regarding the visit. The visitors can know about the appropriate time for visiting places (Pacifici, et.al. 2015). The plan can be implemented and the guidelines and the details can be uploaded on the government website, tourism website or CSIRO’s website. The plan can be reviewed tome on time by the government or the higher authority. The government can ensure the effectiveness of the plan. The government can carry all the programmes and process to check how effective the efforts are. The plan is successful as it brings positive changes in facing challenges of the climate change. The visitors like to visit the country when there are fewer climate changes. It is the effective plan to control the aspects of the climate change. Its outcome can be judged from the increasing number of the customers.
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