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Physical risks of climate change on industries around the Reef
5.1 TOURISM
In another survey 35 , it revealed that if the Reef continues to experience severe bleaching, a significant proportion of visitors were more likely to visit countries other than Australia. Further, tourism adjacent to the Reef could see the number of visitors being reduced from AUD 2.8 million (2015 figures) to around AUD 1.7 million per year. This is the equivalent of more than AUD 1 billion in lost tourism expenditure, threatening around 10,000 tourism jobs in regional Queensland. 36
The Reef attracts more than 2.2 million international and 1.7 million domestic visitors per year, and is also used by a large proportion of the 1 million people living in the region. Out of the estimated AUD 6.4 billion contribution of the Reef to the economy, AUD 5.7 billion comes from the tourism industry. 32 Damage to the Reef from bleaching could affect tourist numbers into the future. Recent surveys confirm the potential for tourism losses as a result of bleaching damage; in one survey conducted in 2016, 69% of tourists indicated they wanted to visit the Reef “before it was gone” 33 – an example of the ‘last chance tourism’ phenomenon. 34
32 https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/964cb874391d33dfd85ec959aa4141ff.pdf 33 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2016.1213849; https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/ uploads/964cb874391d33dfd85ec959aa4141ff.pdf 34 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13683500903406367 35 https://www.tai.org.au/sites/default/files/Swann%20Campbell%202016%20Great%20Barrier%20Bleached%20 FINAL%20w%20cover.pdf 36 https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/uploads/964cb874391d33dfd85ec959aa4141ff.pdf
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