Tourism is one of the world’s important industries. For countries in the Global South it is also one of the main income generators. In the last few decades, tourism industry has explosively grown and as a labour intensive industry there consequently increased employments. But on the other hand, the huge infrastructural and resource demands of tourism can have severe impacts upon local communities and the environment if it is not properly managed.

Climate related impacts of tourism include transport (road, air and train travel), tourism’s high per capita consumption of water as well as energy and the effects that tourism has on flora and fauna. Problems with waste as well as rising food prices in tourism destinations have also been described.

Major changes in the pattern of demand, which include a loss of demand for a given destination or type of destination may well lead to increases in demand for alternative destinations. Changes in travel destinations will affect the economic, social and ecological situation in current and new destinations.

Economic impacts will probabely include less income as destinations degrade, tourism decreases and as tourism related services become more expensive and travelling becomes more expensive. This will minimize employment and self-employment opportunities.

Social impacts of climate change on tourism will presumably include migration away from previous destination areas and migration towards new region. 

Environmental impacts of climate change on tourism will probably include negative effects on natural attractions. Rising temperature, for instance, can turn destination areas into unattractive ones, while an increasing number and severity of extreme weather events make destinations unsafe.

Gender Dimension

There are numerous, significant linkages between tourism and gender. Gender aspects affect women’s employment in tourism, women’s participation in planning and management, gender roles, women’s rights and sexual objectification just as migration.

Child labour as a well-known problem in the tourism sector affecting both - girls and boys. Girls are additionally impacted by the risk of sexual harassment and abuse. In much tourism destination areas spreading prostitution caused an increase of severe and often life-threatening diseases, in particular for women. Prostitution also implies often abuse and violence against women and severe consequences for social integration.

In case women have not been members of the paid workforce outside the home before tourism was established at a destination area, their entering the workforce can cause changes in family structures due to changes in the economic balance in the family. But not only rearranging family structure could impact women, their working conditions may too. Often the standard of conditions is lower for unlearned employees, who are mostly women and children. The working time often collide with women’s responsibilities for family and home. Additionally women receive significant lower wages than men as studies pointed out.

Tourism also impacts those people in destination areas who are not directly or indirectly involved in the sector. Existing researches specify that production and consumption of freshwater, food and fuel, land use and transport have gender differentiate responsibilities and gender differentiate economic effects. Due to the lack of financial resources and women’s role as a provider for food, water and energy women may be more impacted than men by increasing food-, water- or energy prices.

Response

There is an absence of gender disaggregated information. In the context of climate change it will be important to address impacts of decreases in tourism in specific destinations. Linkages, e.g. with agriculture, health, education and other sectors help to understand the complexity of women’s impacts.

Opportunities to use tourism development in favour of gender equity should be used and discrimination of women through the course of tourism development should be avoided. Participatory strategies of tourism planning and development, including gender sensitive indicators, are key to achieve these goals.

Women’s organisations, consumer associations, tourism companies, media and marketing experts should be engaged when developing tools for raising consumer awareness about the climate related impacts of travel and tourism, so as to design them in a target group, and particularely gender specific manner.

In order to address reduction of GHG emissions by travelling properly, it is important to undertake research related to the travellers themselves: Who travels for which purpose and how? Are women and men making different choices when they travel?