Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-11 (section)

==== 11.3.7.1 Observed Impacts ====

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Tourism is a major economic driver in the region, accounting for 3% (Australia) and 6% (New Zealand) of GDP pre-COVID-19 ( [[#WTTC--2018|WTTC, 2018]] ). Climate change is having significant impacts on tourism due to the heavy reliance of the sector on natural heritage and outdoor attractions (11.3.1; Box 11.2). Furthermore, because Australia and New Zealand are both long-haul destinations, a global increase in ‘flygskam’ (flight shame) will likely impact travel patterns ( [[#Becken--2021|Becken et al., 2021]] ).

Impacts of climate change are being observed across the tourism system ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Scott--2019a|Scott et al., 2019a]] ), most notably the GBR (Box 11.2) ( [[#Ma--2019|Ma and Kirilenko, 2019]] ). Australia’s ski industry is very sensitive to climatic change, due to reductions in snow depth and snow season length (Table 11.2) ( [[#Steiger--2019|Steiger et al., 2019]] ; [[#Knowles--2020|Knowles and Scott, 2020]] ). The 2019–2020 summer wildfires (Box 11.1) impacted tourism and travel infrastructure, affecting air quality, vineyards and wineries ( [[#CoA--2020e|CoA, 2020e]] ; [[#Filkov--2020|Filkov et al., 2020]] ). Global media coverage of the wildfires, alongside Australia’s climate change policy response, profoundly and negatively, affected Australia’s destination image ( [[#Schweinsberg--2020|Schweinsberg et al., 2020]] ; [[#Wen--2020|Wen et al., 2020]] ). In New Zealand’s South Island, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers have retreated approximately 700 m since 2008, with ice melt and retreat resulting in increased rock fall risks and negatively affecting the tourist experience ( [[#Purdie--2013|Purdie, 2013]] ; [[#Stewart--2016|Stewart et al., 2016]] ; [[#Wang--2019|Wang and Zhou, 2019]] ). The west coast of New Zealand is extremely prone to flooding events, impacting amenity values and access ( [[#Paulik--2019a|Paulik et al., 2019a]] ). Damage to tracks, huts and bridges have closed popular destinations, including the Hooker Glacier and the popular Routeburn and Heaphy Tracks during heavy rainfall events ( [[#Christie--2020|Christie et al., 2020]] ). Climate-driven damage is motivating ‘last chance’ tourism to see key natural heritage and outdoor attractions, for example, GBR ( [[#Piggott-McKellar--2016|Piggott-McKellar and McNamara, 2016]] ) and Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers ( [[#Stewart--2016|Stewart et al., 2016]] ).

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