Track Chairs
- David R. Perkins IV, Department of Geography, Geology and Planning, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri USA davidperkins@missouristate.edu
- Cenk Demiroglu, Department of Geography, Arctic Research Centre, Umea University, Umea Sweden, cenk.demiroglu@umu.se
- Khairul Nizam Abdul Maulud, Institute of Climate Change, National Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), knam@ukm.edu.my
Goals and Objectives of the Track
In 2015, The United Nations 70th General Assembly designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The international year focused on several key areas including economic growth, employment, poverty reduction, climate change, resource efficiency, cultural heritage, and peace & security. Many projects globally have aimed at providing sustainable development solutions to regions through the tourism sector—which is particularly well positioned to serve rural communities, Small Island Developing States, and women.
As the success of the tourism sector is highly dependent on environmental conditions, consideration of the impacts of weather and climate on the sustainable development of the tourism sector are of utmost importance in the review of sustainable development projects and policies. The United Nations World Tourism Organization in 2008 took the connection further by stating that climate change was to be considered “the greatest challenge to sustainable tourism in the 21st century”.
Overall, this field (tourism climatology), connecting elements of climate, tourism, and recreation has evolved from an application of atmospheric principles on a particular industry or location, to a more comprehensive outlook. This comprehensive approach works within a sustainability framework as environmental data is subsequently connected through its network of impacts to economic development and cultural heritage. Tourism climatology, in an increasing applied reach now connects how present and future weather and climate scenarios impact both tourists and tourism-oriented communities.
In this session, we are seeking both applied and theoretical research to further the application of connections between the usage of weather and climate environmental data within the tourism development sector.
Contributions related to the following areas and fields are welcome:
- Tourism climatology as it relates to sustainable tourism development
- Methods or strategies for disseminating weather and climate information to stakeholders in the tourism sector
- The impacts of a changing climate on how an area may be developed within the context of tourism
- Case studies reviewing how local economies are dependent on particular types of climatic or environmental conditions (e.g., ski tourism, ecotourism, coastal environments)
- Development of indices or assessment tools to review risk considering tourism, weather, and/or climate change
- Review of how climate change may change the nature of the locations of sustainable tourism development
- Research considering how weather and climate factors may threaten the future ability to develop sustainably within the tourism sector
Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track
Each proposed abstract (in connection to one of the areas pointed out above) within 300 and 500 words
- shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g. intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
- does not need to, but can include references
- shall provide in a final section
a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
b. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference (“Half-way through Agenda 2030: Assessing the 5Ps of SDGs (people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership)”.
Abstracts which do not outline points 3.a.) AND 3.b.) might be considered less relevant in the Review.
Potential publication channels
With regard to potential publications, depending on the number and quality of contributions we will explore options for a dedicated special issue in a relevant scientific journal.