Percepción de los expertos sobre las implicaciones del cambio climático en las regiones turísticas euromediterráneas

The climate is changing as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. There are many unknowns regarding the scale of climate change but there are reasons for believing that it will have wide-ranging regional impacts. The Tourist Industry is heavily dependent on climate and must prepare for the consequence of climate change and draw up strategies for dealing with it. Seventy European experts in the planning field were interviewed using the Delphi method to ascertain the likely impact of climate change on tourism management. The experts consulted considered that climate change was already under way and that it would produce behavioural changes that would affect the industry. They also felt that this would occur, even though tourist numbers would continue to rise. The experts believed these two factors would require better-integrated management of tourist destinations. Interestingly, they also felt that climate change would not be wholly negative for Spain given that the country is less exposed than some to its effects. Nevertheless, climate change means a more complex, uncertain future. Hence the need to anticipate its impact now.