Abstract
Tourism is a climate-dependent industry, and many tourism industry players owe their popularity destinations to their pleasant climates during holiday seasons. This study explores the knowledge of the Malaysian hoteliers and travel agencies on the impact of climate change risks. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the perceptions and preparedness of hoteliers and travel agencies in resilience to climate change challenges. The study employs a mixed of close- and open-ended questionnaire survey directed to managers in the hotel industry and travel agencies in Malaysia. The findings show that the selected 100 hoteliers and travel agencies have high awareness of global warming and are willing to take climate actions. Majority of the respondents are willing to work together with local and international projects by offering eco-friendly activities to mitigate climate change. Nevertheless, the respondents are slightly optimistic of the tourism industry under the climate change risks and perceived that the hotels are somewhat ready for the climate crisis. The need of an immediate action to raise awareness of climate change risk and to implement climate change action are recommended to secure the future tourism industry.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Tabari, H. (2020). Climate change impact on food and extreme precipitation increases with water availability. Scientific Report, 10, 13768. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70816-2
IPCC, Allen, M. R., Dube, O. P., Solecki, W., Aragón-Durand, F., Cramer, W., Humphreys, S., Kainuma, M., Kala, J., Mahowald, N., Mulugetta, Y., Perez, R., Wairiu, M., Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, K., Abatzoglou, J. T., Adamowski, J. F., Prestemon, J. P., Chittoori, B., Akbari Asanjan, A., & Sadegh, M. (2022) Increasing heat‐stress inequality in a warming climate. Earth’s Future, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002488
Purnomo, E. K., Ramdani, R., Agustiyara, Nurmandi, A., Trisnawati, D. W., & Fathani, A. T. (2021). Bureaucratic inertia in dealing with annual forest fires in Indonesia. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 30(10), 733–744. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20168
Fossell, E. (July 13). Hurricanes on the Rise. (Huntington, WV) Herald Dispatch. Accessed August 21, 2005. http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2005/July/13/LNspot.htm
NOAA. (2016). State of the climate: Global climate report for annual 2015. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201513
Hii, Y. L. (2013). Climate and dengue fever: Early warning based on temperature and rainfall. Umeå University Medical Dissertations New Series No. 1554, Umeå, Sweden.
Carey, I. (2019). The existential climate change fears hit major hotels and airlines. Skift Report. https://skift.com/2019/01/24/major-hotels-and-airlines-itemize-their-worst-climate-change-fears/
Moreo, A., Demicco, F. J., & Xiong, L. (2009). Towards a model to measure the quality of environmental sustainability: The hospitality environmental scorecard. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 44–58.
Wilkins, E., de Urioste-Stone, S., Weiskittel, A., & Gabe, T.: Weather sensitivity and climate change perceptions of tourists: a segmentation analysis. Tourism Geographies, 20(2), 1–17
Scott, D., & Lemieux, C. (2010). Weather and climate information for tourism. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 1, 146–183. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878029610000125
Green Hotel Association. (2013). Why should hotel be green? Retrieved Feb. 15, 2013 from Green Hotel Association database on the World Wide Web: http://greenhotels.com/index.php
Blennow, K., Persson, J., Tome, M., & Hanewinkel, M. (2012). Climate change: Believing and seeing implies adapting. PLoS ONE, 7(11), e50182. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050182
Kettle, N. P., & Dow, K. (2016). The role of perceived risk, uncertainty, and trust on coastal climate change adaptation planning. Environment and Behavior, 48(4), 579–606. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916514551049
Yeoman, I., & Postma, A. (2014). Developing an ontological framework for tourism futures. Tourism Recreation Research, 39(3), 299–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2014.11087002
Tourism Malaysia. (2019). Malaysia's 2019 tourist arrivals grow 4.9%. Retrieved from Tourism Malaysia: https://www.tourism.gov.my/media
Munyiri, E. K. (2015). Vulnerability and adaptation of the tourism sector to climate change in Nairobi, Coast and Central tourist circuits in Kenya. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, School of Hospitality and Tourism, Kenyatta University, Nairobi. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3772/d17950570e8c6f926bf6e3b6535e15da2400.pdf
Questpro.com. (2020). Available at: www.questionpro.com/survey-templates/climate-change-awarenesssurvey-template/
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the financial support given by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, FRGS/1/2020/SS0/MMU/02/5.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Tan, CH., Lee, SN., Ho, SB. (2023). Perceptions on Climate Change Challenge Among Hoteliers and Travel Agencies in Malaysia. In: Gartner, W.C. (eds) New Perspectives and Paradigms in Applied Economics and Business. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23844-4_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23844-4_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-23843-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-23844-4
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)