Tourism Industry Financing of Climate Change Adaptation: Exploring the Potential in Small Island Developing States

Highlights

• Several promising revenue mechanisms in the tourism industry of SIDS exist that can be tapped to fund the industry’s CCA.
• Private adaptation financing initiatives presumed to be cost-effective and feasible for the tourism industry include investing in water efficiency and pooling resources in a targeted fund, which are then allocated by need.
• The biggest barriers to engage the tourism industry in SIDS to fund its own CCA are the government’s assumed economic dependency on tourism, consumer expectations and demands, and assumptions about costs and benefits.
• Varying incentive structures and price sensitivity suggest that government frameworks are needed to create substantive and effective action.