Climate Change Threatens Major Tourist Attractions and Tourism in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Abstract

Serengeti National Park is famed for its wildlife migration tourism for decades. The park contributes substantially to country’s revenue and is a major employment arena that is based on tourism activities. Wildlife migration is the major tourist attraction in Serengeti and climate-dependent. There is a growing concern that climate has changed significantly with potential influence on wildlife migration. However, the knowledge of the consequences of climate-change on Serengeti’s tourism are poorly known. This paper analyses the consequences of rainfall and temperature variability and change, and associated land-cover changes on major tourist attractions and tourism over the past four decades. The results show that natural climate is an important factor shaping tourism seasonality and tourist attractions in Serengeti. Key impacts of increasing rainfall and temperature variability, and associated land-cover change include disruption of tourism seasonality, wildebeest migration patterns, and reduced diversity of tourist attractions. Both negatively affect tourism by reducing the park’s attractiveness. Adapting tourism to climate-change impacts requires active and integrated management approaches that improve the park’s attractiveness. The results can be used to develop climate-change adaptation strategies and inform conservation and tourism planning.