An enhanced framework for regional tourism sustainable adaptation to climate change

•Reviews existing tourism adaptation frameworks.•Existing frameworks fail to consider the principles of sustainable adaptation.•An enhanced Regional Tourism Sustainable Adaptation Framework is proposed.•The framework is a significant contribution to the sustainable adaptation discourse.•The framework provides a practical tool for regional tourism sustainable adaptation.

Tourism is not only contributing to climate change but also vulnerable to risks induced by changing climate regime. Sea level rise, extreme events, loss of biodiversity, water stress among other direct and indirect impacts pose potential danger for the tourism industry. Although mitigation to reduce GHGs is equally important, adaptation is urgent. The need for urgent adaptation to climate change has triggered tourism stakeholders and the research community to develop generic adaptation framework(s) for national, regional or local tourism destinations. These frameworks are used to guide tourism policy makers in the adaptation process with an aim of reducing destination's vulnerability and to increase their resilience. Whilst some destinations are already implementing planed adaptation using these frameworks, caution has been raised that current adaptation strategies sought are far from sustainable. Assuming that the frameworks are the guiding tools for adaptation we hereby question their suitability in achieving sustainable adaptation. Sustainable adaptation in this context refers to those approaches that reduce destination's vulnerability and increase resilience without jeopardizing its economic viability, social justice and environmental integrity. This paper reviews the existing tourism specific adaptation frameworks based on the basic principles of sustainable adaptation and the wider discourse on sustainable development. Claims are laid on how the existing tourism adaptation frameworks fail to fulfil the basic principles of sustainable adaptation. Further attempts are made to propose an enhanced Regional Tourism Sustainable Adaptation Framework. The framework is a significant contribution in two ways. First it contributes to the new school of thought, on sustainable adaptation, where knowledge is lacking and secondly, it provides a practical tool for sustainable adaptation that may be used by destination managers and policy makers in the adaptation process.