Climate Change and the Tourism Sector: Impacts and Adaptations at Visitor Attractions. Technical Report: Qualitative Research

Abstract

Executive Summary This report presents the method used in qualitative research on the relationship between visitation and weather/climatic at heritage properties now and in the future (to 2080). Funded by the UK Climate Resilience programme, the project originally had six objectives, to: 1. Identify the main climate risks and opportunities associated with visits to attractions (i.e. properties) on the coast, in the countryside and at historic sites; 2. Examine the relationship between current weather/climate and visitation at individual attractions (i.e. properties) as a baseline; 3. Investigate whether the relationship varies by different types of attraction, their contexts and attributes; 4. Using UKCP18 data, examine how visitation may change under different climate scenarios and assumptions; 5. Establish the nature, extent and pattern of vulnerability and exposure at attractions, and what adaptation responses may be required at the most exposed; and 6. Understand the challenges presented for individual attractions in responding to changing visitor decision-making and possible impacts on visitor infrastructure. The qualitative research was intended to address objectives 1 and 6 as well as to add to understanding, at the level of the individual property, to understanding of the issues raised in the quantitative research on objectives 2-5. This research informed Section 6 of the main analytical report, alongside which it should be read. This document outlines the method used to design a series of semi-structured interviews and in the subsequent analysis. [...]