Evidences of Climate Change Impacts on Ecotourism in the Caribbean Basin

抄録

　During recent years several potential climate change impacts on primary human economic activities such as tourism have been described, and there are relevant reports, scientific studies and newspaper articles explaining the most important effects and consequences of such impacts. This paper focuses on the observed climate change impacts registered in Cuba, as a country representative of the general circumstances in the Caribbean basin. This region is one of the major tourist destinations of the world, due to the general quality of the environment and the existence of significant natural resources which are optimal for general tourism and ecotourism activities. The paper includes some remarks and recommendations oriented to the prevention and mitigation of the most negative climate change impacts on tourist activities, based upon Cuban experiences during the consecutive impacts of hurricanes Gustav and Ike in August and September 2008.