Abstract:
In the fight against the international climate crisis, the opinions of small island nation
states echo with a unique resonance. These islands, though small in size, and often
marginalised in earth’s oceans, are bearing witness to the massive impacts of climate
change first-hand, standing often times alone and vulnerable against the rising sea
levels, extreme weather events, and ecological disturbances that threaten their very
existence. As the world wrestles with the urgent need for sustainable solutions, it is
important to listen to the insights and experiences of these small island nations and
how they have gone about preparing to “accommodate” climate change and global
warming into their economies and day-to-day lives.
The climate crisis in recent years has become an urgent global concern, necessitating
creative and sustainable solutions to mitigate its widespread and ever-evolving effects.
Amidst this backdrop, the tourism industry it was found holds immense potential to
drive positive change in the wake of this contemporary crisis affecting both the global
North and South. This dissertation sets forth to consider tourism against this backdrop
of climate change crisis, and questions if the former can be adapted or positioned to
combat the latter, if at all possible. This dissertation will utilise the Seychelles as the
primary case study to this investigation to test this hypothesis. In this context
theoretical and practical frameworks for climate change and tourism will be devised
and then applied to the indicated island nation state. This study aims to recommend
various ways in which the Seychelles can off-set its designation as a “sinking nation”
by situating tourism, potentially, at the helm of the island nation’s economy to combat
climate change.
