Global Warming and Its Implications on Nature Tourism at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Abstract

The past decade recorded the highest number of high impact extreme weather events such as flooding, rainfall events, fires, droughts, and heatwaves amongst others. One of the key features and drivers of extreme weather events has been global warming, with record temperatures recorded globally. The World Meteorological Organization indicated that the 2010–2020 decade was one of the warmest on record. Continued global warming triggers a chain of positive feedback with far-reaching adverse implications on the environment and socio-economic activities. The tourism industry fears that increased global warming would result in severe challenges for the sector. The challenges include species extinction, disruption of tourism aviation, and several tourism activities. Given the extent of climate variability and change, this study examines the impacts of rising temperatures on tourism operations at Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. The study adopts a mixed-method approach that uses secondary, archival, and primary data collected through interviews and field observations to investigate the impacts. Data analysis was done using XLSTAT and Mann–Kendall Trend Analysis to analyse climate trends, while content and thematic analyses were used to analyse primary data findings. The study found that increasing temperature is challenging for tourists and tourism employees as it affects productivity, sleeping patterns, tourism operations, and infrastructure. High temperatures are a considerable threat to water availability and animal sightings, adversely affecting the game drive experience. Increased heatwaves resulted in bird mortality and hatching mortality for turtles; this is a significant conservation challenge. The study recommends that heat stress be treated as a health and safety issue to protect tourists and employees.