“The End of the Ice Age?”: Disappearing World Heritage and the Climate Change Communication Imperative

Last chance tourism: a decade review of a case study on Churchill, Manitoba’s polar bear viewing industry

“…People are drawn to places like Lake Salda, Turkey to see the degrading coastal area; to Australia to see the coral bleaching; and to Montenvers-Mer-de Glace, French Alps to see the melting glaciers (Coghlan, 2012;Eijgelaar et al, 2010;Kucukergin & G€ urlek, 2020). It is important to note that studies to date show little to no evidence that tour operators themselves are supporting the concept of LCT, nor are they marketing their industry as such (Denley et al, 2020;G€ ossling et al, 2012;Lemieux et al, 2018;Stewart et al, 2013). Promoting the vulnerability and potential disappearance of their attractions would seem contradictory for these industries (Dawson et al, 2011).…”

“…A study in Landmannalauger, Iceland found that overnight visitors decreased by 14% in a period of ten years in response to the accessibility of the destination (Saep orsd ottir & Hall, 2021). Another carbon intensive trend on the rise is tourists travelling to other destinations for similar experiences (Lemieux et al, 2018). If Churchill was no longer able to provide polar bear viewing experiences due to the extirpation of the regional population, polar bear viewing tourists indicated they would be willing to travel elsewhere to see the bears.…”

“…Research on LCT destinations has evolved since this first study, expanding beyond polar bear viewing to areas around the world (e.g., the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, cruise tourism in Antarctica, glacier viewing in Montenvers-Mer-de-Glace). In addition, these studies provide a better understanding of tourists' motivations to travel, as well as opportunities for LCT destinations to reduce the effects of climate change (Groulx et al, 2016;Lemieux et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2020;Piggott-McKellar & McNamara, 2017;Salim & Ravanel, 2020). Despite these efforts, few studies have quantified the carbon intensity of a LCT destination (see Eijgelaar et al, 2010 for an exception), and no known studies have examined a tourism destination on the longitudinal scale to identify how carbon intensity in these LCT markets may evolve over time.…”

Participatory Planning Under Scenarios of Glacier Retreat and Tourism Growth in Southeast Iceland

“…Many of the most popular glacier recreation sites are located in protected mountain areas (Wang and Jiao 2012;Lemieux et al 2018). Although such areas have management plans, management of protected areas is often hampered by the lack of proactive climate change adaptation planning and implementation by conservation and recreation practitioners (West et al 2009;Lemieux and Scott 2011).…”

Tourist perceptions and attitudes regarding the impacts of climate change on Victoria Falls

“…With this in mind, there remains very little understanding of how recent extreme weather events have shaped the perceptions and knowledge about climate change impacts on the tourism industry, especially on major global tourism attractions across Africa , including the Victoria Falls resort shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Negative perceptions may trigger last-chance tourism (LCT) as tourists flock to see destinations before they are permanently altered or disappear (Lemieux et al, 2018). Dube et al (2018) found that most tourists were worried that iconic destinations in southern Africa, including the Victoria Falls, iSimangaliso (St Lucia) Wetland Park and the Okavango Delta, were victims of the ongoing climate change and extreme weather events.…”