Mountain Adaptation Outlook Series - Synthesis Report

Policy response and gaps The policy analysis provided in the outlooks shows that the way countries consider climate change impacts on the tourism sector is limited and there are significant gaps in approaches to adaptation in existing policies. There was no policy analysis done for the tourism sector in the East Africa, Central Asian or Andean outlooks, but examples of good practises were given for East Africa. The potential negative impact that tourism can have on biodiversity and ecosystems is the main concern in existing tourism policies in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. For instance, Bhutan operates a High Value, Low Impact Policy, which controls the volume of tourists allowed to enter the country through financial mechanisms, and thus limits impacts on fragile local environments. The impact of climate change for high mountain tourism, however, is only beginning to gain attention in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, and the issue is not adequately addressed in existing policies. Conversely, sustainable tourism is widely promoted in existing policies in the Carpathians. Climate change is understood to generate both negative and positive impacts on the sector. Romania and Slovakia, for example, promote a diversification of activities to make mountain resorts attractive for tourists all year round. Mountain tourism in the winter season is still important, and as an adaptive measure to address the negative consequences of a shorter season, Slovakia promotes increased production of artificial snow. In the Western Balkans, all the countries have tourism strategies in place, but they do not consider climate change. However, several stakeholders in the tourism sector do acknowledge the importance of considering climate change impacts, and there is a recognition of the need to include this in future policies. Of the three countries in South Caucasus,

only Armenia had a tourism policy in place for analysis when the outlook was produced. The policy considers climate change impacts on the tourism sector, but primarily as a problem to be considered in the future when impacts can be observed. Furthermore, the policy mainly considers lower elevations as current tourism destinations, and mountain areas as potential destinations for further development. In East Africa, ecotourism is widely promoted in national parks and on mountains such as Mt. Kilimanjaro. Key Recommendations • While many countries seek to promote mountain tourism further, there is a great need to develop strategies that consider the risks of extreme events, and to put in place policies and regulations that promote the safety of tourists and the industry itself. This is especially important in areas with limited infrastructure and inaccessibility, such as high mountain areas. • The tourism sector is closely interlinked with other sectors such as infrastructure, energy, water and human health, and adverse impacts on these will also affect tourism. There is thus a great need to generate more attention to the linkages and inter-dependencies between sectors.

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