Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE

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Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations Responding To Climate Change A Practical Guide For Decision Makers Box 2.3 Case Study: Phuket Province Tourism Risk Management Strategy, 2007-2012 Phuket Island and province is located 852km south of Bangkok in the Andaman Sea. At 590 km2, it is the largest of 39 other islands and the most important tourism centre in the country. Its resident population is approximately 250,000 increasing to 500,000 during the tourism high season. The island receives over 3 million visitors annually seeking varied pleasures from its stunning beaches, mountainous landscapes, and its array of hotels, restaurants and other attractions. Phuket is affected by natural and man-made disasters. Over the past 10 years it has suffered the effects of major local and global disasters ranging from Flu and most notably, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, with high mortality among decline in tourist arrivals immediately following these events. The overall impact on its economy was devastating along with the loss of its reputation as a safe and enjoyable tourism destination. In response, the Royal Thai Government, in association with provincial agencies, local private and community-based organizations collaborated together over the years following, to recover especially from the tsunami devastation. This included: Development of a Phuket Tourism Risk Management Strategy, the main objectives of which are to unify, educate and improve cooperation and resilience of the tourism industry; Integration of the Risk Management Strategy into other operational plans e.g. the National Development Plan, Sub-Regional Development Plan, and To develop a culture of prevention and preparedness in the Phuket tourism industry involving well established partnerships and working relationships between the public and private sector. As plan implementation continues, the Phuket tourism industry is also learning valuable lessons related to involving vulnerable communities in the planning process and overcoming traditional barriers against preparedness and response, in particular the opinions of many on the island who believe that preparedness is mainly a government responsibility. Source: “Phuket Province Tourism Risk Management Strategy, 2007-2012, Road Map for a Safer and Risk Resilient Phuket as a Tourism Destination”. 2.4 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies Climate change mitigation strategies may involve technological, economic and social changes, use of alternatives and changed behaviours among tourists, with objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation strategies may also involve shifts in patterns of behaviour and development planning within countries, for example, repositioning vulnerable communities away from disaster prone areas Mitigation and adaptation strategies are not mutually exclusive and together provide improved development options for local populations. 24 | Climate Change, Disasters And Tourism
Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations Responding To Climate Change A Practical Guide For Decision Makers Mitigation activities can include reduced energy use, for instance in airline travel carbon-offsetting schemes; or through tour operators’ choices of sustainable destinations and packaging of responsible travel products. While behaviour changes and technological innovation have considerable potential to achieve reductions in accounting for absolute reductions in emissions (UNWTO-UNEP-WMO 2008). For coastal tourism destinations, adaptation to the consequences of climate change will need to be the primary strategy. 2 Behavioural changes (tourists) as well as structural changes (industry-wide) will thus be of increasing importance for reversing the growing trends of greenhouse gas emissions from tourism. Given the great interest in ‘green’ holiday options, it seems clear that for those actors embracing industry mitigation strategies, there will be new business opportunities. Current societal trends have already created new markets for low-carbon tourism products, and these markets can be expected to grow in the future. With debate on the veracity of climate change data and evidence now essentially over, the need to shift towards mitigating the anticipated impacts through national adaptation programs is now paramount. The intent and purpose is to drive destinations and tourism businesses toward urgent actions that will attenuate greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere (mainly carbon dioxide, CO2). Adaptation strategies could also limit the potentially disastrous consequences of climate change impacts on tourism assets, vulnerable ecosystems and their related services, community livelihoods, infrastructure, and property. Given the climate change events predicted to impact coastal tourism communities, ecosystems, critical livelihoods and production systems, mitigation of impacts is an increasingly urgent imperative. Climate change adaptation is rapidly morphing into a “mainstream development issue”. The concern here is for the marginalized poor and particularly in developing countries, who suffer disproportionately from the effects of disasters. The “adaptation” landscape is evolving towards linking its programs to development strategies in order to reduce chronic poverty, the temporal and spatial dimensions of vulnerability, and to address the management of climate risk at destinations and within organizations. This is now the main focus of the development agenda. Recent studies undertaken by the World Resources Institute (WRI) examine links between climate adaptation and the development agenda. The report discusses and those which are part of the national development agenda. It reports that this continuum comprises four (4) types of ‘adaptation’ efforts: 25
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The sustainability of coastal touri
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