Climate Change in the Strategic Tourism Planning for Small Islands: Key Policy Actors’ Perspectives from The Bahamas

Tourism, a critical economic sector for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), is extremely vulnerable to climate change. It has been becoming increasingly evident that strategic planning is essential for the sector to manage future impacts of climate change. This study examines the climate change considerations in the tourism sector of The Bahamas with a specific focus on adaptation policies by exploring the perspectives of key actors. Facing similar climate vulnerabilities as many other SIDS, The Bahamas was chosen because it is a mature tourism destination that provides an avenue for existing policy innovations. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight policy actors from the government, tourism associations, and nongovernmental organizations in the country. The findings revealed that these stakeholders have a good knowledge of climate change. However, planning for tourism and climate change is fragmented, with most climate policies formulated with the scope of mitigation, such as greenhouse gas reduction strategies. In addition, the policy implementation faces many gaps common to SIDS, such as funding and human capacity. At present, the strategic planning for future tourism targets sustainable eco-tourism markets. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations such as leveraging public officials' knowledge of climate change, steering locally relevant adaptation measures, and directing immediate attention toward projects in the pipeline to ensure timely, long-term, and effective planning. The study adds to the current knowledge of climate change in the tourism policy context for The Bahamas with implications for other SIDS.