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.