Climate change a 'potentially devastating' risk to tourism sector
New Zealand's multibillion dollar tourism sector is at risk of "potentially devastating" effects of climate change and there is no strategy to address it, a new report warns. A research paper released on Thursday by Waikato University academics cautions that climate change poses a threat to the country's thriving tourism sector, a sector worth 6.1 per cent of GDP and employing more than 200,000 people. The problems lie with a lack of national planning, large numbers of small businesses without the funds or ability to tackle the issue and a concentration on short term gains. An example was addressing glaciers retreating up alpine valleys by launching helicopter tours to them instead, despite them adding to greenhouse gas emissions and potentially only being viable for a limited time. READ MORE: * New Zealand tourism sees threat if climate change deters long-haul flyers * New Zealand tourism gets climate change warning from Helen Clark * What is the carbon footprint of international tourism in NZ? * How climate change is killing Alpine skiing as we know it The 48-page paper, authored by Debashish Munshi, Priya Kurian, Sandy Morrison, Lyn Kathlene and Raven Cretney is entitled 'Cementing Culture in Public Engagement on Climate Change Adaption: Re-shaping the future of the NZ Tourism sector.' "This economic powerhouse of a sector is, however, extremely vulnerable to rapidly advancing climate change," the report said. "For a sector that relies on the country's fragile natural assets such as its beaches, mountains and stunning landscapes, the impacts of climate change are potentially devestating." The authors note that while signs of climate impact on the sector are already visible, citing examples of flooding and extreme weather closing roads and walking tracks , droughts, less snowfall , higher temperatures and rising sea levels, a number of factors have stymied sector change. "Progress on climate change adaption has been slow in the tourism sector because of both the immediate business priorities of the sector and a lack of a coherent national strategy on how to respond." The authors note too that the Maori economy, with a reliance on land and fisheries-based industries as well as tourism, is especially vulnerable. Another factor identified as hampering climate change action is the disparate nature of the businesses operating in the sector. "A large number of small and medium businesses that do not have the financial resources for infrastructure development or any form of long term planning." A lack of centralised funding for climate change adaption, confusion between central and local government, the high cost of infrastructure and uncertainty about where long term investment is needed are also acting as a brake on climate action, the authors claim. "Although tourism is a key industry in New Zealand, there is no clear strategy in place to future proof the industry in the face of advancing climate change. . . from out interview data, for many in the tourism sector, the default setting is to prioritise economic values and focus on short term economic concerns, profits and business saurvival." The report acknowledges many in the tourism sector are aware of the role the country's natural landscapes and resources play as a "tourism magnet", but have still failed to prioritise considering a future where these assets are under threat. "While tourism is a key industry in New Zealand, there is no clear strategy in place to future proof the industry in the face of advancing climate change." The authors make a number of recommendations, including calling on policymakers to increase communication of climate change data to the sector to boost awareness of adaption needs and to "investigate the development of a national strategy for climate change adaption in the tourism sector". Operators themselves are urged to explicitly incorporate climate change adaption into a New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment within the sector, increase collaboration with iwi and local communities and investigate adaption strategies for a diverse range and scale of operations.