Climate change and local awareness: A comparative study on tourism stakeholders in Zandvoort (NL) and Costa del Sol (ES)

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses the findings of two researches that investigate the translation of the global debate on tourism and climate change into the discourses of different categories of local tourist stakeholders (policymakers, private entrepreneurship and NGO) in order to assess the respective perceptions and stands upon the matter. Although there are existing differences between the two research geographical settings, the destinations can be associated on the basis of significant similarities; firstly they are both traditionally established mass tourism destinations mainly relying on the sun and beach offers and, secondly they are both situated in the maturity phase of their respective lifecycles. The body of primary data is made out of 26 in-depth interviews realized throughout the summer of 2007. The comparison of the two different cases is commented on in an attempt to highlight the insights relative to the perceptions and feelings associated to climate change and tourism at local level.