Consumer Behavior Change Marketing & Communications

More Travel Offerings Highlighting Interinfluence of Climate Change and Tourism

Climate-focused tour operators are learning to balance bringing travelers to fragile destinations to learn about the effects of climate change while not exacerbating the negative impacts of the tourism industry.

By JoAnna Haugen | Published 6 days ago | About a 6 minute read

Image: Hotel Husafell

Walking across a sea-level glacier in Iceland, a tour guide points out how the landscape has changed in recent years. The population of cheeky puffins on a cliff’s edge has dropped by 20 percent since the start of the century due to rising ocean temperatures, the guide notes. Over a meal with fellow travelers that same day, the conversation turns to alternative energy sources helping the country curb its environmental footprint — a pertinent topic, given the meal takes place in a geothermal greenhouse.

In Iceland, like many places around the world, signs of the climate crisis abound. Some visitors see the country’s landscape as a single snapshot in time; they remain oblivious to global warming’s impact as they take in the waterfalls, wildlife and wide-open vistas. But for visitors traveling with the Transformative Adventure to Iceland to Inspire Climate Action tour, global warming frames the entire context of the trip.

“Iceland’s unique landscape and fragile environment of glaciers, volcanoes, and geothermal features serves as a living classroom for participants to learn about climate change,” said Jennifer Spatz, founder and CEO of Global Family Travels, which hosts the trip.

Not so long ago, using the climate as an overriding theme for a guided tour would have been unheard of. Tourism has historically shielded people from “the real world,” but it can no longer deny the reality in which it operates. And the reality is, the impacts of climate change can be seen and felt everywhere.

This has precipitated the question of not if but how travel service providers should communicate with tourists about the climate. Several solutions have surfaced — including developing incentive programs encouraging climate-positive behaviors, incorporating voluntary and mandatory responsible travel pledges, and publishing carbon labels alongside other relevant tour information.

Climate-focused trips are yet another communication tool. They are intended to convey the urgency of the crisis through hands-on activities; in-person conversations; and encounters with the people, places and wildlife most impacted by a warming planet — and trip designers hope travelers will take these lessons home with them.

“Whether it is local or global, travel experiences like this Iceland trip offer a powerful opportunity to educate people about climate change by immersing them directly in environments and communities that are impacted by, and actively responding to, global environmental challenges,” Spatz said.

Image credit: Neom

This tour is only one of a growing selection of climate-focused experiences. Natural Habitat’s Climate Change & Our Wild World series of trips, for example, take place in the Arctic and the Amazon. Conducted in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the trips offer insight into WWF’s conservation efforts and how the organization is protecting “humanity from the worst effects of climate change,” according to Natural Habitat’s website.

Similarly, Earthwatch offers several such trips — including its 11-day Climate Change at the Arctic’s Edge trip and five-day Recovery of the Great Barrier Reef, in which guests help scientists with coral recovery. The active, 9-day Wildlife in the Changing Andorran Pyrenees tour entices travelers with the promise that they can “help discover and protect this delicate Alpine environment from climate change, and from ourselves.”

Therein lies one of the uncomfortable truths as it relates to the intersection of tourism and the climate: Climate change is not only affecting tourism — it is, in part, caused by tourism. By encouraging people to travel to fragile destinations specifically to learn about the climate, is the tourism industry exacerbating its negative impacts? Additionally, is the decision to run climate-focused tours in fragile destinations contributing to last-chance tourism, or the need to “see it before it’s gone?”

“Visiting places like the melting glaciers in Iceland, coral reefs in Hawaii or the Caribbean, or the disappearing coastlines of island nations makes the effects of climate change real and tangible,” Spatz said.

This may be true, but according to various research studies, that doesn’t necessarily equate to action. Research published in 2023, for example, notes tour operators to Antarctica have been effective at enhancing public awareness and conservation concerns but have failed at creating transformative memories — which are more likely to produce significant impacts on a person’s life.

Arguably, it’s far better to offer climate-specific tours that place the topic front and center versus shielding this reality from travelers — even if these experiences take place in fragile destinations. However, other companies are adopting other communication strategies — including naturally integrating climate-related topics into all offerings. Further, they’re empowering local frontline providers to share their own experiences in these places they call home.

Ruth Franklin, co-founder and director of Secret Paradise Maldives, noted both the importance of tourism in the Maldives (a low-lying island nation) and the need to point out the impact of the climate crisis to tourists.

“The starting point is generally connected to either seagrass or mangroves when we visit as part of an activity; or during an island tour where it can be highlighted through observation of beach erosion, removal of shoreline vegetation, (and) only the roots remaining from palm trees,” she said. “By showing the surroundings and explaining the effect of climate change through personal observation over a period of time, we aim to make it a personal connection.”

Tourism’s recovery has been robust, and there’s no sign of it slowing down. Similarly, though unfortunately, the climate crisis is also moving full speed ahead. The two can’t be separated, so it is important that the climate be addressed within the tourism industry. This may be through the act of travel, such as with climate-specific tours. But this can also happen more holistically and even subtly along all touchpoints with travelers, by highlighting the broader picture of how tourism and the climate impact each other.

“Even if travelers are initially drawn to the trip for the chance to visit Iceland, which receives more than 1.5 million visitors a year, I do hope that seeing such a trip offered would raise awareness about the profound environmental changes happening,” Spatz said. “It's not just about visiting a popular destination, but about fostering a deeper understanding of the issues that affect these iconic places.”

Franklin agreed: “By educating guests about the impacts of climate change, and how tourism helps the country economically and aids in the development of locals, we are using our voice to encourage greater awareness wherever they may travel in the world.”

JoAnna Haugen

Founder
Rooted

JoAnna Haugen is a writer, speaker and solutions advocate who has worked in the travel and tourism industry for her entire career. She is also the founder of Rooted — a solutions platform at the intersection of sustainable tourism, social impact and storytelling. A returned US Peace Corps volunteer, international election observer and intrepid traveler, JoAnna helps tourism professionals decolonize travel and support sustainability using strategic communication skills.

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