Cost of Adaptation to Climate Change in Tourism: Methodological Challenges and Trends for Future Studies in Adaptation

Abstract

Considering the increasing impacts of climate change on nature-based winter tourism, this paper examines the challenges related to assessing the costs of adaptation and the emerging cost-related trends. The survey-based case study was conducted in Finnish Lapland and included 70 local entrepreneurs. The questions focused on the costs occurring during the increasingly important Christmas season. The methodological challenges were related to the diversity of the businesses and to potential difficulties in understanding the concept of adaptation. Five cost-related adaptation trends emerged from the study: large investments may decrease the flexibility to respond to changes quickly; small businesses seem to be most affected in terms of financial costs; strong seasonality may affect the ability to absorb the occurred costs; some of the costs could be decreased with effective mitigation; and finally, the occurring benefits can be equally important as costs.