WebinarOnline
Climate-resilient tourism: From academic models to on-the-ground innovation in luxury eco-resorts
Friday, 9 October 2026
Explore how climate models, local knowledge and practical innovation can guide resilient eco-resorts, while addressing uncertainty, resource demands, community interests and the long-term stewardship of environmentally sensitive tourism destinations.
About this event
Tourism faces growing exposure to heat, water scarcity, storms, wildfire, coastal change and ecosystem decline. Luxury eco-resorts often operate in sensitive settings where these pressures are especially visible. This webinar examines how climate research can inform practical adaptation while preserving environmental integrity, guest safety, local livelihoods and the distinctive qualities that make a destination valuable.
The session will introduce the principles behind climate risk assessment, scenario planning and resilience. It will ask how broad models can be translated into decisions about buildings, energy, water, food systems, biodiversity and emergency preparedness. Particular attention will be paid to uncertainty, since responsible planning must accommodate several plausible futures rather than depend on a single forecast.
Innovation will be considered as both technical and social. Nature-based design, resource efficiency and monitoring can reduce vulnerability, but effective adaptation also relies on local knowledge, fair employment and trusted relationships with surrounding communities. The discussion will examine how high service expectations may create opportunities for experimentation while also increasing consumption and placing pressure on fragile environments.
Researchers, students, designers, destination planners and hospitality practitioners will gain a structured way to connect evidence with action. The webinar will encourage critical assessment of who benefits from resilience investment and whether interventions transfer risk elsewhere. It will conclude by identifying questions that can guide credible adaptation, from the choice of climate baselines to the long-term stewardship of landscapes on which tourism depends. This approach treats resilience as a continuing capacity to learn, revise priorities and respond fairly as conditions change.