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BACKGROUND

The sustainability of coastal tourism destinations de-pends partly on their ability to adapt planning and man-agement practices to the impacts of climate change andalso to increase their capacity to effectively manage nat-ural disasters.

Scientific evidence suggests that climate change willexacerbate weather-related disasters that will be not onlymore frequent, but also more powerful and consequently

will put coastal tourism destinations in an almost con-stant state of alert.

When sudden disasters strike, rescuers often haveonly a short time sometimes no more than 24 hours inwhich they can expect to find survivors. Disaster expertsrefer to these as golden hours, meaning the initial pe-riod when a rapid response capability is vital, and whenpreparedness (or lack of it) can make all the difference.

Experience has shown, time and time again, that it islocal people who are best placed to save lives and to co-ordinate the return to normality. It is the degree to whichpeople are prepared for disasters that determines howvulnerable or resilient their community will be.

A HANDBOOK FOR DECISION MAKERS

Responding to thischallenge, UNEP, incooperation with theCaribbean Alliance forSustainable Tourism(CAST) has developeda practical handbook tosupport coastal tourismdestinations to prepareand respond to naturaldisasters. The hand-book, which forms partof UNEP Manuals on

A SUGGESTED 5-STEP PROCESS FORPROMOTING DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Promotion of effective disaster preparedness incoastal tourism destinations is a governmental function;yet it requires the participation of all at the destinations.

Disaster management is systematic in approach, pro-motes collaboration between public, private and com-munity stakeholders and seeks proactive responses toperceived threats. It is a basic 5-step process which in-cludes:

1. Identifying hazards and risks

2. Assessing community vulnerability to the risk

3. Developing a preparedness and mitigation plan

4. Implementing the plan

5. Monitoring, evaluating and revising the planas conditions change

The Handbook provides practical information andguidance for implementing the steps for disaster manag-ers, local, municipal and community planners, as well asother stakeholders in the tourism sector. By following theguidance, coastal tourism destinations will be better ableto mainstream sustainability into their tourism planningand management processes and will be ready to betterrespond to disasters, thus creating safer tourism destina-

tions for all.

DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT FOR COASTAL TOURISMDESTINATIONS RESPONDING TO CLIMATE CHANGE

A Practical Guide for Decision Makers

Sustainable Tourism publication series, has the follow-ing objectives:

Increase the operational capacity of local commu-nities in coastal tourism destinations to respondin emergencies caused by natural disasters

Support the adaptation efforts of these commu-nities to climate change

Reduce the impacts of natural disasters to local

communities in coastal tourism destinations

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