Mid Sweden University

Although there is now widespread knowledge of the impacts of climate change on tourism, progress in integrating this knowledge into tourism practice remains limited. This highlights the need for a better understanding of how existing knowledge concerning tourism and climate change is being applied. Building on Loehr & Becken's 2021 ‘Tourism Climate Change Knowledge System’ framework, the paper presents a meta-analysis of academic publications, grey literature, and policy-related documents (spanning from a coastal to a national context) to examine the tourism climate change knowledge system at the destination level. To further explore the factors enabling the practical implementation of this knowledge, the paper also incorporates insights from interviews with local tourism stakeholders on existing governance challenges. The findings show that, despite the availability of relevant knowledge, its effective mobilisation at the local level is still limited. Barriers include the use of vague language, a dependence on the availability of regional climate and emissions data, and difficulties in achieving integrated planning. Additionally, the study reveals how complexities in local governance and misalignments with national priorities can impede the practical implementation of knowledge. This paper contributes to the growing body of research addressing the knowledge-action gap in tourism and climate change.

Scholars have long paid attention to tourism’s impacts. Yet despite the considerable extant body of knowledge relating to tourism’s economic, sociocultural, and environmental effects in numerous destinations, similar mistakes are repeated on a regular basis in localities throughout the world. A downside when it comes to tourism’s effects is that scholars and practitioners commonly take these for granted and rarely examine these critically in a holistic, systems-based approach. After first examining the history of tourism impacts, this paper discusses trends that have influenced this study area before suggesting further research directions. Especially, it highlights the importance of better comprehending how tourism’s effects are shaped by contingent socio-spatial, economic, and regulatory frameworks. Rather than continuing to uncritically laud sustainable tourism’s potential for overcoming the phenomenon’s negative effects, the paper argues for a perspective that focuses on tourism’s role in in overall sustainable development. 

This collection of responses to Alan Lew’s 2024 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting Special Lecture in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Why Travel? (Lew, 2024), reflects his enduring influence on the field of tourism geographies and its growth as a vibrant community of practice. As the founding Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Geographies, Alan pioneered an inclusive, interdisciplinary vision for the field, shaping its trajectory for decades. Tracing his intellectual journey—rooted in a multicultural background and enriched by international experiences—Alan illuminates the deep interconnections between place, identity, and consciousness through the study of tourism. Authored by leading scholars in the field,1 the contributions in this collection respond to Why Travel? (Lew, 2024), celebrating both Alan’s legacy and the evolution of a paradigm—one in which tourism geography is expansive, critically self-reflexive, ethically grounded, and methodologically diverse. Rather than seeking a definitive answer, Alan’s enduring question—Why travel?—invites reflection on mobility, place, and purpose within an increasingly entangled world. This collection of responses stands as a tribute to Alan A. Lew—whose vision, generosity, and intellectual spirit continue to inspire new generations of scholars exploring the geographies of tourism. 

"Mountain-Bike (MTB) Tourism has experienced significant growth in European alpine destinations, including Sweden. This growing form of tourism sector’s contribution to climate change is exacerbated by MTB tourists' reliance on private motorized modes in their mobility behaviours, posing a significant threat to its sustainable tourism future. To encourage a modal shift towards climate -friendly mobility alternatives among MTB tourists, a consumer-centric behavioural approach is proposed, considering its limited application in tourist mobility studies. Accordingly, we examine how the concurrent influence of MTB tourists’ socio-psychological dispositions informs their intentions to engage in sustainable inter-destination mobility behaviours. Furthermore, we analyze the discrepancies that exist between the tourists’ socio-psychological dispositions and their intentions and the underlying reasons explaining such gaps. The socio-psychological dispositions such as MTB tourists' travelling habits, their perceived mobility infrastructural needs, environmental values, goals related to sustainable mobility, and enduring involvement in mountain biking are discussed. 

The theories of Goal framing theory, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Attribution theory are employed in this project. Two research studies are designed based on an explanatory sequential mixed-method research design. The first study adopts a quantitative approach with a conditional mediation analysis in Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the combined influence of sociopschological dispositions on MTB tourists' intention to engage in sustainable interdestination mobility behaviours. The second study employs a qualitative laddering technique based on semi-structured interviews to analyze the discrepancies that exist between MTB tourists' socio-pschological dispositions and their sustainable interdestination mobility intentions. 

We intend to provide insights into how the sustainable accessibility to (selected) mountain bike destinations in Sweden, functions and is experienced by mountain bike tourists, driving their choice and compliance towards them. These findings can be used to promote sustainable mobility behaviours among this tourist segment and further develop sustainable mobility infrastructures reaching MTB destinations in Sweden."

Understanding transport challenges is inevitable for transitioning to a low-carbon rural tourism future. Using social representation theory, this study examines how tourism and transport practitioners perceive transport challenges in rural destinations and how they overcome these problems. The multi-method qualitative approach adopted involves semi-structured interviews with practitioners, participant observation, and document analysis in the Swedish destinations of Åre and Sälen. Findings reveal social representations of transport challenges at both destinations, namely, “a car-dependent society”, a “non-desirable transport future” and “wicked transport problems”. Practitioners in these places address these challenges in several ways. Surprisingly, one solution is to promote flying to the destinations. This particular solution, not to mention the destinations' overreliance on private automobile use illustrates that they have not yet begun transitioning to a low carbon transport future. This situation highlights the urgency to encourage sustainable mobility development to and within these destinations.

This research explores the potential application of nudge + in a tourismcontext. Nudge + is an intervention that aims to influence consumerdecisions and promote long-term behavioural change by facilitatingreflexive actions alongside reflective processes. Nudge + is conceptualisedas a hybrid approach incorporating elements from green nudging andtransformative experiences. In a laboratory simulation of a visit to ananimal park, nudge + is used to explore how combining successivereflection-inducing messages and menu manipulations influences par -ticipants' food choices and pro-environmental attitudes. The process ofdesigning the simulation constitutes a constructive step in developingand learning how to utilise nudge + in tourism activities. Our interpreta-tion of nudge + entails a purposeful and comprehensive rethinking ofthe tourism experiencescape and customer journey to maintain enjoy-ment, engage visitors and ensure a cohesive stance towards reducingvisitors' onsite climate footprint. Interventions and reflective elementscan be incorporated as sequential interactions that set local norms. Theresults indicate that nudge + can boost participants' pro-environmentalattitudes and behavioural intentions. Moreover, the interventions do notdisturb participants, and nudging is perceived as an acceptable strategyfor reducing tourists' climate footprint. 

Att begränsa turismens klimatpåverkan har blivit en av besöksnäringens främsta hållbarhetsutmaningar, såväl lokalt som globalt. Näringen har en viktig roll att spela för ett mer hållbart samhälle. I projektet Klimatsmarta lösningar genom samhällsvetenskapligt experiment har forskare vid Mittuniversitetet studerat landsbygds- och naturbaserade turismentreprenörer som vill minska sina klimatavtryck. I ett unikt labb experiment har de undersökt möjligheten att påverka besökares attityder och beteenden i mer miljövänlig riktning på både kort och lång sikt. I två delstudier med metoderna nudging och livscykelanalys (LCA) har forskarna studerat om det är möjligt att stimulera ett mer klimatvänligt beteende på turistplatser.