The sensitivity and vulnerability of tourists to climate change: Amusement parks in different climate zones

Ka Yan WONG

Research output: ThesisHonours Projects (HP)

Abstract

Climate change is one of the main issues affecting humans and nature. Tourism is one of the human activities which is highly dependent on the weather and climate. Especially for weather-related activities, they are highly dependent on the weather conditions. Tourists are facing safety problems caused by climate change such as temperature-related health issues. Also, they may shorten or lengthen the vacation and make changes to the planned tourist activities. However, there are insufficient studies to investigate all the climate zones. Comparison of sensitivity and vulnerability of tourism activities in multi-destination need to be further investigated. And other common tourist activities expect weather-related outdoor activity are ignored in previous studies. Therefore, this study aimed to find out how Hong Kong young tourists’ sensitivity and vulnerability to visiting amusement parks change and how do they respond to climate change. A qualitative approach was applied to explore Hong Kong’s young-adult tourists’ experience and perceptions by using semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews. 11 undergraduate students from different Hong Kong universities with different academic backgrounds were involved in the study. The major findings showed that Hong Kong young tourists are more sensible and vulnerable in visiting amusement parks under climate change issues. Their vulnerability is highly subjected to the nature of extreme weather events and personal experience and knowledge. They tended to make adjustments and change the visit to indoor activity when they face influential weather events (i.e. typhoons) while they can adapt to less influential weather events (i.e. heatwave and rainstorm) and make preparation for it. This study not only contributes to the operation of the amusement park but also helps other tourism-related industries to modify their policy and services. More resistant tourism industry can be developed.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationBachelor of Education (Honours)
Supervisors/Advisors
  • PEI, Qing 裴卿, Supervisor
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Honours Project (HP)
  • Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Geography) (Five-year Full-time)
  • Programme code: A5B084
  • Course code: GGP4016

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