Risk is potential loss and opportunity is possible gain. Over the last few years there has been increasing recognition of the risks and opportunities that climate change brings to tourism.

Tourism takes place in a wide range of places that are often closely linked to the natural environment and, as a consequence, to local climatic conditions. Changes in the climate, including climate-related hazards, have the potential to affect tourism businesses and tourist experiences alike. The tourism industry has to face headlines such as:

• 'Cool Season Dampens Fun, Pinches Profits: Summertime Blues' The Detroit News 27 August 2004

• 'Unseasonably Warm Weather Brings US Ski Season to Disappointing End' The Press-Enterprise 17 April 2004

• 'Wilma Slams Mexico Resorts' CNN 24 October 2005

• 'Dutch Seek to Defend Coastal Resorts from Sea Rise' Planet Ark 23 January 2006

• 'Tourism Experts Say Hot Summer Means Higher Turnover' Deutsche Welle 31 July 2006

Tourism is increasingly recognised as a significant activity, with a range of economic, social and environmental consequences. Tourism is one contributor to the build-up of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are now recognised as causing unprecedented changes in the global climate. Such links between tourism and climate change are now acknowledged by key players in the tourism industry. Mark Ellingham, the founder of Rough Guides, and Tony Wheeler, who created Lonely Planet, want fellow travellers to 'fly less and stay longer' and donate money to carbon offsetting schemes. They urge their readers to: 'join to discourage "casual flying"'. A "Rough Guide to Climate Change" has appeared in late 2006.

As with the headlines that highlight climate-related risks and opportunities to tourism, the sector also has to deal with a growing number of headlines that sensitise tourists about their impacts on the global climate.