Climate change, tourism and outdoor recreation in Europe

Abstract

Climate change is now firmly recognized by the majority of the world's scientists and governments as an issue of extreme concern for the global population. Outdoor recreation and tourism are likely to be impacted directly and indirectly by such change, as both the climate, and the natural environment associated with it, continue to alter. At the same time, however, tourism activity is itself a contributor to the problem of climate change due to its dependency on fossil fuel consumption. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the relationships between climate change, and outdoor recreation and tourism, in Europe through a review of the relatively limited empirical evidence on this subject to date. Topics discussed include the potential impacts of projected climate change on human health and comfort, possible shifts in preferred destinations, and potential alterations in current patterns of seasonality. Various avenues of future research are also proposed.