The climate crisis requires the urgent dissemination of solutions and timely action to mitigate this immediate threat to the tourism sector and the planet. CREST works hard to bring accessible resources to the sector on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and decarbonization, among other topics.
COVID-19 and Climate Change: A Double-Edged Sword for Tourism in Cuba & Beyond
The Greater Caribbean region, a dispersal of nations bound together by one interior sea, provides researchers with an optimal microcosm to study the relationship between the tourism industry and today’s most pressing threats. Drawing upon trends and research throughout the Greater Caribbean, this CREST study places particular emphasis on the case of Cuban tourism. An industry historically marked by high volatility due to foreign dependence, US policy, external shocks, and limited market diversification, Cuba’s tourism industry today now faces the greatest existential threats to industry success and societal health: the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis. Throughout this eBook, we explore the impacts of and linkages among COVID-19, climate change, and the Cuban tourism sector.
Tourism in a Climate Crisis: Taking Practical Action
Humanity’s contributions – including those of the travel industry – to our warming planet have put everything at stake. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that global temperatures will exceed 2°C beyond pre-industrial temperatures during the 21st century, exceeding the 1.5°C limit put forth by The Paris Agreement, unless we collectively and drastically start reducing our greenhouse gas emissions now and in the coming decades. But what does this mean and how do we get there?
To answer these important questions, CREST is partnered with Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency to host our fifth annual World Tourism Day Forum. The virtual event focused on helping key sectors bridge the disconnect between the goals destinations, accommodations, and tour operators are told they must meet when it comes to mitigating the climate crisis, and the action steps needed to take.
The Case for Responsible Travel: Trends and Statistics 2020
Our 2020 Trends & Statistics report has a special focus on the two major crises facing our world today: climate change and COVID-19. Sharing cutting-edge research and examples, the report describes how travelers, tourism businesses, and destinations are implementing workable, sustainable solutions to support our planet and its people.
Prepared in collaboration with more than 30 organizations, the report also provides an overview of what consumers, businesses, and destinations are experiencing during COVID-19 and offers sustainable solutions that can help the tourism industry on the road to responsible recovery.
The Case for Responsible Travel: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 for Tourism in a Changing Climate
Lessons Learned from COVID-19 for Tourism in a Changing Climate: In recognition of the 2020 World Tourism Day, we offered the webinar “The Case for Responsible Travel: Lessons from COVID-19 for Tourism in a Changing Climate.”
The webinar revealed the findings of our annual Case for Responsible Travel: Trends & Statistics report and brought together experts to discuss consumer, business, and destination trends in the context of recovery. Distinguished speakers explored the unprecedented opportunity to mitigate two existential threats, climate change and COVID-19, with one coordinated approach, truly making the world a safer, more equitable, and more resilient place for all.
Coastal Tourism, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Caribbean, Volumes I & II (Business Expert Press, 2017)
In 2017, CREST released two volumes entitled Coastal Tourism, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Caribbean. Volume I is focused on Hotels and Beaches and Volume II on Supporting Activities, including Golf, Sustainable Food Sourcing, and Airlines & Airports.
The volumes contain essays and case studies by 33 different experts that look at how various tourism sectors both contribute to and are impacted by climate change. The twin volumes also highlight innovative tourism businesses that are providing solutions to addressing climate change. Two additional companion volumes on marine tourism round out the series. These four volumes grew out of the 2015 Think Tank on Climate Change and Coastal & Marine Tourism, which CREST and the Grupo Puntacana Foundation hosted in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Marine Tourism, Climate Change, and Resilience in the Caribbean, Volumes I & II (Business Expert Press, 2017)
As the island and coastal nations of the Caribbean respond to and prepare for the effects of climate change, tourism has the potential to both exacerbate and mitigate these efforts. In 2017, we released two volumes entitled Marine Tourism, Climate Change, and Resilience in the Caribbean.
Volume I focuses on Ocean Health, Fisheries, and Marine Protected Areas and Volume II on Recreation, Yachts, and Cruise Ships. Edited by CREST Academic Affiliate Dr. Kreg Ettenger of the University of Maine, with assistance from CREST’s Samantha Hogenson Bray, the books feature essays and case studies from thirty different authors. These books complement two volumes titled Coastal Tourism, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Caribbean.
Grenada Climate Change & Coastal Tourism Workshops
Building on data shared at the 3rd Symposium for Innovators in Coastal Tourism, held in Grenada in 2014, our staff researched and compiled information on linkages between climate change and tourism in Grenada and created a one-hour comprehensive presentation with fact sheets to share with the larger Grenadian community. Thirty locals from public, private, and civil sectors were trained in 2015 with the information so it could be dispersed throughout the islands.
Food Waste Reduction & Prevention Opportunities for the Caribbean Hotel Sector
This report, prepared for World Wildlife Fund, provides an overview of current tourism trends, food insecurity, and food waste reduction efforts, challenges, and opportunities within the Caribbean region. It focuses on six countries, including Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and St. Lucia. Through this research, it became clear that most hotel sector engagement with the issue of food waste management in the Caribbean takes place on a property-by-property basis. Although there have been some small-scale initiatives to address food waste, there are few locally-specific resources to help guide properties on their food waste management, and the policy landscape, particularly around food donation, is either insufficient or not widely understood. There is an opportunity to share and build upon the practices of and lessons learned from hotels that are managing their food waste at a property level and scale this nationally and regionally.