Potential impacts of climate change on tourism; a case study for Spain

Despite an increased scientific understanding of the magnitude and regional variation in climate change in the coming decades, the societal costs of climate change remain difficult to quantify. This is mainly due to uncertainty surrounding future climate change and economic projections, as well as the complexities of linking physical impacts to economic processes. One of the sectors for which it has been particularly difficult to assess the impacts of climate change is the tourism industry. It is nevertheless likely that tourism will be strongly affected by climate change, as many tourist activities are dependent on weather conditions. This paper reviews recent advances in modeling the impacts of climate change on the tourism sector and presents a case study focusing on the impacts of climate change on tourism in Spain, where the tourism sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.