Thursday, February 8, 2018
Australia tourism industry is not yet prepared to deal with the climate change and the global warming, despite the fact is already its effect. The major drawback is that the government of Australia lacks the plans and programmes for the further development of responsible and sustainable tourism.
The report by the Climate Council, based on 200 source documents and articles, says while tourism is growing at an extraordinary pace, which is an 8% jump in visitors last financial year and not enough is being done to prepare for damage to the country’s greatest drawcards.
The five biggest attractions as reported by Tourism Australia are the pristine sea beaches, wildlife, the Great Barrier Reef, unspoilt natural wilderness, national parks including rainforests and other forests. These are all considered threatened by climate change.
The report says that the federal and state governments of Tourism Australia have mostly underplayed or ignored the risk to tourism.
The National Tourism 2020 plan by tourism Australia makes no mention of the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions or improve sustainability in the travel and tourism industry.
Last month, the head of Queensland’s Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, Col McKenzie, called the climate scientist Terry Hughes “a dick” and urged the federal government to cut research funding due to his public comments about rising water temperatures harming the reef. McKenzie said it had turned tourists away. The ecologist and report co-author Prof Lesley Hughes said it should not be controversial to discuss the threat climate change posed to the travel and tourism industry of Australia.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
