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ORIGINAL PAPER
Economic impacts of climate change and tourism development in high-risk European countries
1
Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce
2
Casimir Pulaski Radom Univ Radom
Submission date: 2025-07-24
Final revision date: 2026-06-09
Acceptance date: 2026-06-19
Publication date: 2026-07-29
JoMS 2026;66(2):90-111
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
Climate is a fundamental tourism resource that shapes the environmental conditions where tourism services are provided. It is therefore an important determinant of its development and is the subject of cyclical assessments. The relationship between climate and tourism can be bi-directional, i.e. both climate influences tourism and tourism influences climate. This means that tourism operators contribute to environmental degradation. The research undertaken should be attributed to the first group. The following research hypothesis was formulated: climate change materialising in the form of extreme events causes economic losses that negatively affect tourism development. The objective of this article is to analyse the impact of the economic effects of climate change on tourism development.
Material and methods:
Statistical and econometric methods were used to answer this research question. The research was carried out for selected European countries for the period 2014-2023. The results were compiled using Statistica and Gretl software.
Results:
The research conducted confirms the negative impact of climate change on the development of tourism in the European countries studied. However, the results obtained are not homogeneous. The group of countries studied is internally diverse both in terms of the value of climate change damage and in terms of the strength of the impact of climate change on the tourism sector. Switzerland is the least threatened by climate change impacts on tourism. The UK and Italy are the most.
Conclusions:
The research adds to the knowledge base on the impact of the economic effects of climate change on tourism development in selected European countries.
Climate is a fundamental tourism resource that shapes the environmental conditions where tourism services are provided. It is therefore an important determinant of its development and is the subject of cyclical assessments. The relationship between climate and tourism can be bi-directional, i.e. both climate influences tourism and tourism influences climate. This means that tourism operators contribute to environmental degradation. The research undertaken should be attributed to the first group. The following research hypothesis was formulated: climate change materialising in the form of extreme events causes economic losses that negatively affect tourism development. The objective of this article is to analyse the impact of the economic effects of climate change on tourism development.
Material and methods:
Statistical and econometric methods were used to answer this research question. The research was carried out for selected European countries for the period 2014-2023. The results were compiled using Statistica and Gretl software.
Results:
The research conducted confirms the negative impact of climate change on the development of tourism in the European countries studied. However, the results obtained are not homogeneous. The group of countries studied is internally diverse both in terms of the value of climate change damage and in terms of the strength of the impact of climate change on the tourism sector. Switzerland is the least threatened by climate change impacts on tourism. The UK and Italy are the most.
Conclusions:
The research adds to the knowledge base on the impact of the economic effects of climate change on tourism development in selected European countries.
License
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