An AusAID International Development Research Grant has been awarded for a three year Pacific Tourism – Climate Adaptation Project (PT - CAP). The project aims to develop climate change adaptation policies and strategies to assist the Pacific Island tourism sector protect and grow local livelihoods.

• About the project
• Project activities
• Project partners
• Further information

About the project

Project background

Tourism is the largest export sector for most Pacific Island countries and offers great opportunity for economic growth and sustainable development. It has the potential to lift people out of poverty through the employment and entrepreneurial opportunities it provides.

With its close connections to the environment and climate itself, tourism is highly sensitive to climate change risks similar to agriculture, insurance, energy, and transportation. Pacific tourism is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to the climate sensitivity of the natural environmental assets upon which the industry is based, the industry’s reliance on a long haul travel market threatened by global climate change policy and changing consumer demands and the vulnerability of coastal infrastructure. It will inevitably need to adapt to risks from future climate change.

Research Questions

Within Pacific Island economies:

• What is the character of the tourism sector including its backward and forward linkages into the wider Island economies and global markets and how has it shown resilience to previous shocks?
• How might climate change impact upon the tourism sector and local livelihoods?
• What is the existing policy environment (tourism, climate change, environmental and disaster management) and how might a policy sciences analysis assist in addressing the challenge of climate change?
• What vulnerability/resilience frameworks exist in sustainability science and what are the most appropriate frameworks for use by the local tourism industry to adapt to climate change?
• How should such frameworks be incorporated into tourism policies, plans and strategies?

Project methods and research activities

• Step 1: Policy analysis in 10 Pacific Island countries (tentatively including policies in Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu)
• Step 2: Develop a vulnerability/resilience framework suitable for the tourism sector
• Step 3: Detailed case studies in 3 destinations (tentatively in Samoa, Vanuatu, and Fiji Western Island Group) commencing with understanding the destinations existing resilience to climate change, risk and disasters
• Step 4: Apply and modify the vulnerability/resilience framework to the case study destinations and propose a suite of possible adaptation strategies
• Step 5: Policy implications for Pacific Island Countries

Research team

• Prof. Terry DeLacy, principal investigator
• Assoc/Prof. Dale Dominey-Howes, co-investigator
• Prof. David Harrison, co-investigator
• Dr. Min Jiang, research fellow
• Dr. Emma Wong
• Dr. Emma Calgaro
• Ms. Louise Munk Klint
• Mr. Ryan Jopp

Steering Committee

• Prof. Terry DeLacy, VU (Chair)
• Mr. Rex Horoi, FSPI
• Mr. Sai Too Go, SPTO
• Adjunct Prof. Steve Noakes, PAT
• Prof. David Harrison, USP
• Assoc. Prof. Dale Dominey-Howes, UNSW
• Other Pacific Island stakeholders

Project activities

Visit the project activities web page for updates and reports on the project progress. On this page you will find:

• Updates on the latest news and activities
• Steering committee notes
• Selected publications

Project partners

PT - CAP will be led by Victoria University Centre for Tourism and Services Research (CTSR) in collaboration with the following:

University of New South Wales, Natural Hazards Research Laboratory

 

University of the South Pacific’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, together with

 

Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI)

 

South-Pacific Travel (SPTO)

 

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd (PAT)

 

Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance

 

Further Information

Dr. Min Jiang
Research fellow
Centre for Tourism and Services Research
Victoria University
Footscray Park Campus
PO Box 14428
Melbourne VIC 8001
AUSTRALIA

E: min.jiang@vu.edu.au
P: 9919 5269

Alternatively contact the Centre for Tourism and Services Research at ctsr@vu.edu.au.