A GOOD CITY FOR A TOURIST IS A GOOD CITY FOR ITS INHABITANT: CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION FOR THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN SALVADOR DA BAHIA

Abstract

Objective: This article suggests possible adaptation measures to climate change in order to mitigate physical and economic impacts on Salvador's tourism industry, as well as on the city as a whole. In fact, tourism and urban dynamics are tightly bound. Method: The chosen method to identify the adaptation measures was characterized by a bold participatory process that allowed the co-creation of a climatic impact chain that involved representatives from Salvador's academy, municipal administration, civil society, and the tourism business sector. The 5th Assessment Report (AR5), developed by the 2nd Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), provided the conceptual framework of the research. Originality/Relevance: The impact chain allowed the identification of climatic signals that threaten Salvador's tourism, which touristic attractions and services are more exposed to those threads, which local vulnerabilities contribute to making some risks real, and which capacities are already settled in the City or need to be developed in order to prepare the tourism industry to cope and adapt to climate change impacts. Results: The results of this research confirmed that any adaptation measure for tourism activity is inseparable from the adaptation measures for a city as a whole, reaffirming the maxim that "a good city for a tourist is a good city for its inhabitant." Social/management contributions: Demonstrates how urban interventions which improves thermic wellbeing, shade, storm shelter, efficient drainage (and so on) in public spaces guarantee benefits to both inhabitants and tourists.