Ecotourism resilience to climate change in Dana Biosphere Reserve, Jordan

ABSTRACT

Increasingly tourism destinations worldwide have to face the threats associated with climate change. Because of these threats, there is a growing need to develop and reinforce the adaptive capacity of tourism systems to cope with current and future challenges. In tourism studies, resilience assessments are a relatively new approach used to ascertain stakeholders’ opinions regarding the human and natural conditions that are likely to increase the capacity of the tourism system to successfully cope with disturbances. This study examined local communities in and around Dana Biosphere Reserve (Jordan), specifically perspectives regarding the social, environmental, governance and economic dimensions of resilience that theoretically support the capacity of the ecotourism system to withstand or adapt to climate change. The results indicated perceived moderate resilience to climate-change-related threats in the environment dimensions of the study, and scope for further development of resilience in the social, economic and governance dimensions. Ultimately, further adaptation planning and policies appear necessary, to ensure robust and proactive measures are in place to respond to climate change threats and to protect the ecotourism socio-ecological system in Dana Biosphere Reserve.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecotourism
• climate change
• Dana Biosphere Reserve
• local communities
• resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Malek M. Jamaliah

Malek M. Jamaliah is an assistant professor in the Department of Tourism Management at the University of Jordan at Aqaba, Jordan. He received his PhD in parks, recreation and tourism management from Clemson University, USA. His research interests focus on ecotourism, sustainable tourism, climate change adaptation, and protected area management.

Robert B. Powell

Robert B. Powell is the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Endowed Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University. He is also the Director of the Institute for Parks, which is an interdisciplinary institute focused on providing research, training, and outreach to support park and protected area management. His research and outreach program focuses on ecotourism, environmental education/interpretation, and protected area management.