Visitor knowledge and actions related to climate change and sustainability in protected area destinations: The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia

This research addresses the role of tourists and tourism in protected area destinations under threat from climate change and other sustainability challenges. Specifically, the study focuses on a world heritage protected area of strong economic, social and cultural significance: the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) World Heritage Area (WHA). Enhancing the adaptive capacity of social systems in destinations vulnerable to climate change is an important social agenda, requiring concerted action by the destination’s multiple stakeholders. Visitors, including area and regionally based residents, plus domestic and international tourists are key stakeholders in the complex tourism system. Their motivations, experiences, perceptions and actions as related to these destination places and landscapes are vital to informing marketing, conservation and planning decisions. Yet, troubling information gaps exist on visitor characteristics, knowledge and behaviors in the context of climate change and tourism. Theoretical and methodological directions to tackle the complex eco-cultural and heritage landscapes that visitors perceive and experience are only just beginning to emerge in the context of climate change and tourism. This conference paper reports survey research results on visitor knowledge and action related to sustainability and climate change at the Great Barrier Reef (WHA. Over the period 2007 to 2010, 4,672 self-completed surveys were collected from tourists in the departure lounge of the Cairns Domestic Airport, Cairns, Queensland. These addressed a range of issues including motivations and activities of visitors to the GBR WHA (Thompson and Prideaux, 2012). The current 2012 survey was also administered at the Cairns domestic airport; during the July–September time period, questions on climate change and sustainability oriented choices made (e.g. choosing ecotourism certified reef operators) were incorporated into the survey. The paper discusses the results in relation to visitor knowledge, perceptions and social actions in the context of climate change and sustainability at the Great Barrier Reef WHA.