Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE

Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations Responding To Climate Change
A Practical Guide For Decision Makers
BOX 2.1: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
The 2004 tsunami caused the death of over 270,000 people and injured
also great devastation of physical infrastructure mainly in Indonesia. Coastal
resorts in India and Malaysia were hit but the most severely damaged tourism
this resulted in a great exodus of tourists and cancellation of bookings. January
2005 recorded an 85% decline in international tourists. Hotel occupancy rates
2005 and approximately 500 tourism enterprises (employing over 3000 people)
collapsed in 2005 (Henderson, 2007).
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This highlights the need for improving the resilience of coastal destinations to natural
disasters. Coastal and marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, beaches, dunes
and mangroves, which have been altered, weakened or removed altogether by
chronic pollution, cleared for land development or through unsustainable uses, will
consequently be more susceptible to climate-induced disaster events. Rises in sealevel
due to climate change makes these areas even more vulnerable.
Integrated coastal zone planning should also not be neglected; coasts are very fragile
and have always been subject to strong population pressures causing urbanization and
pollution. The traditional marketing and development approaches to selling a “sand, sea
and sun” product have resulted in the concentration of tourist facilities in coastal areas.
This has contributed to the degradation of the coastal and marine environments and to
disruptions in the social fabric of many traditional communities.
Box 2.2: Coastal Development Issues in the Media
In its March 2007 edition, National Geographic Traveler magazine’s Geotourism
Editor, J.B. Tourtellot authored an article on Belize entitled, “A Reef Takes
a Dive”. The article described impacts on the country’s Mesoamerican reef
ecosystem from an overabundance of cruise visitors and lack of controls. Here
is an excerpt (reprinted with permission):
”Global warming is threatening the reef waters that are literally too hot for coral
to handle, causing bleaching and seas that could rise faster than the alreadystressed
reefs can grow taller. Piling on, Hurricane Mitch in 1998 delivered a
devastating blow, destroying much of the southern reef. Local activities add
Belizeans) thrive in a country too disorganized to enforce its own rules.”
Climate risks therefore can and should be mitigated for their short and long term
effects. The IPCC risk scenarios provide an opportunity for destinations to engage
in proactive planning against anticipated disaster risks rather than repeatedly being
caught reacting to events as they occur.
However, few tourism destinations have a track record of integration and
collaboration between tourism agencies and local disaster management agencies to
address disaster vulnerability and risk. For many countries, this remains a challenge
yet an imperative for maintaining a resilient industry.
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