James Higham
University of Otago, Tourism, Faculty Member
While transportation currently accounts for 23% of total global energy-related CO 2 emissions, transport emissions are projected to double by 2050, driven significantly by continued high growth in global passenger demand for air travel.... more
While transportation currently accounts for 23% of total global energy-related CO 2 emissions, transport emissions are projected to double by 2050, driven significantly by continued high growth in global passenger demand for air travel. Addressing high growth in aviation emissions is critical to climate stabilization. Currently we rely on individual decisions to forego air travel as the means of reducing these high-risk emissions. In this paper we argue that encouraging voluntary responses to such risks cannot succeed due to the nature of human reason and the structure of the problem itself. We use decision making theory to explore why individuals have been generally unwilling or unable to act upon these risks, and collective action theory to illustrate the futility of relying on uncoordinated actors in such cases. Participation in the high-carbon air travel regime is a social convention, and transition from social conventions requires coordination among players. Our theoretical discussions lead us to conclude that it is our moral duty to promote coordinated collective action, via national or global policy mechanisms, to address tourist aviation emissions. We offer various avenues of future research to advance this moral duty.
Research Interests:
• A thorough exploration of low carbon mobility transitions from a range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives; • A broad view of low carbon transition across travel, transport, tourism and mobilities studies; • A critical... more
• A thorough exploration of low carbon mobility transitions from a range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives; • A broad view of low carbon transition across travel, transport, tourism and mobilities studies; • A critical exploration of the global, regional and local prospects for low carbon mobility transitions; • Illustrating examples of low carbon transition, from leading scholars researching in a wide range of geographic contexts. Arranged in three interrelated sections; People and Place, Structures in Transition, and Innovations for Low Carbon Mobility, Low Carbon Mobility Transitions presents nineteen theoretically-informed, empirically grounded chapters and case studies that comprehensively address the prospects for global, regional, and local systemic transitions to low carbon mobility. Bringing together the work of leading researchers from 26 universities, research centres and consultancies, spanning six continents, it critically explores the wide-ranging regional contexts in which a low carbon transition has been, is being, or can be achieved. In doing so, it highlights the place-specific, geopolitical and cultural sensitivities of low carbon transitions at national, regional and local (urban) scales. The overlapping roles of technological innovation, behaviour change and policy frameworks are critically examined in this book, providing timely insights into the opportunities for decarbonising the current systems of transport, in order to achieve the radical emissions reductions required to prevent lasting impacts of climate change. Must-have and essential reading for all researchers, teachers and upper level students.
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We position pleasure travel within Beck’s risk society as a contradictory form of consumption that simultaneously produces individual pleasure and global environmental risk. We examine the paradoxical emergence of the ‘anxious traveler’... more
We position pleasure travel within Beck’s risk society as a contradictory form of consumption that simultaneously produces individual pleasure and global environmental risk. We examine the paradoxical emergence of the ‘anxious traveler’ from this contradiction, arguing that this social category is necessary to individualize and apportion the global, environmental risk associated with frequent flying, and hence legitimate the reproduction of unsustainable travel practices. We identify several future scenarios that may synthesize this frequent-flying dialectic. On reflection, these scenarios themselves appear as cultural productions, suggesting that our attempts to imagine the future are crippled by the hegemonic ahistoricism associated with contemporary capitalism.
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The ‘flyers’ dilemma’, where an individual’s self-identity as an environmentally-responsible consumer conflicts with the environmental impacts of frequent air travel, has been shown to produce a range of negative psychological effects.... more
The ‘flyers’ dilemma’, where an individual’s self-identity as an environmentally-responsible consumer conflicts with the environmental impacts of frequent air travel, has been shown to produce a range of negative psychological effects. Some have argued that frequent flying may represent a site of behavioural addiction, characterized by guilt, suppression and denial. While this sort of pathologisation finds parallels in other forms of excessive consumption, its application in a tourist context is problematic in terms of classification validity, attribution of negative consequences, transfer of responsibility, and tendency towards social control and domination. We argue for an alternative conceptual approach to frequent flying which elaborates the structural reproduction of the ‘flyers’ dilemma’, rather than its individual, psychological effects.
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The period leading to and immediately after the release of the IPCC’s fifth series of climate change assessments saw substantial efforts by climate change denial interests to portray anthropogenic climate change (ACC) as either unproven... more
The period leading to and immediately after the release of the IPCC’s fifth series of climate change assessments saw substantial efforts by climate change denial interests to portray anthropogenic climate change (ACC) as either unproven theory or a negligible contribution to natural climate variability, including the relationship between tourism and climate change. This paper responds to those claims by stressing that the extent of scientific consensus suggests that human-induced warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Secondly, it responds in the context of tourism research and ACC, highlighting tourism’s significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as climate change’s potential impacts on tourism at different scales. The paper exposes the tactics used in ACC denial papers to question climate change science by referring to non-peer reviewed literature, outlier studies and misinterpretation of research, as well as potential links to think-tanks and interest groups. The paper concludes that climate change science does need to improve its communication strategies but that the world-view of some individuals and interests likely precludes acceptance. The connection between ACC and sustainability illustrates the need for debate on adaptation and mitigation strategies, but that debate needs to be grounded in scientific principles not unsupported skepticism.
Keywords: climate change denial; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); climate change consensus; climate models; climate change mitigation; greenhouse gas emissions
Keywords: climate change denial; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); climate change consensus; climate models; climate change mitigation; greenhouse gas emissions
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Shani and Arad (2014) claimed that tourism scholars tend to endorse the most pessimistic assessments regarding climate change, and that anthropogenic climate change was a “fashionable” and “highly controversial scientific topic”. This... more
Shani and Arad (2014) claimed that tourism scholars tend to endorse the most pessimistic assessments regarding climate change, and that anthropogenic climate change was a “fashionable” and “highly controversial scientific topic”. This brief rejoinder provides the balance that is missing from such climate change denial and skepticism studies on climate change and tourism. Recent research provides substantial evidence that reports on anthropogenic climate change are accurate, and that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, including from the tourism industry, play a significant role in climate change. Some positive net effects may be experienced by some destinations in the short-term, but in the long-term all elements of the tourism system will be impacted. The expansion of tourism emissions at a rate greater than efficiency gains means that it is increasingly urgent that the tourism sector acknowledge, accept and respond to climate change. Debate on tourism-related adaptation and mitigation measures is to be encouraged and welcomed. Climate change denial is not.
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"Despite a growing contribution to climate change, tourist and traveller behaviour is currently not acknowledged as an important sector within the development of climate policy. Whilst tourists may be increasingly aware of potential... more
"Despite a growing contribution to climate change, tourist and traveller behaviour is currently not acknowledged as an important sector within the development of climate policy. Whilst tourists may be increasingly aware of potential impacts on climate change there is evidence that most are unwilling to modify their actual behaviours. Influencing individual behaviour in tourism and informing effective governance is therefore an essential part of climate change mitigation.
This significant volume is the first to explore the psychological and social factors that may contribute to and inhibit sustainable change in the context of tourist and traveller behaviour. It draws on a range of disciplines to offer a critical review of the psychological understandings and behavioural aspects of climate change and tourism mobilities, in addition to governance and policies based upon psychological, behavioural and social mechanisms. It therefore provides a more informed understanding of how technology, infrastructure and cost distribution can be developed in order to reach stronger mitigation goals whilst ensuring that resistance from consumers for socio-psychological reasons are minimised. Written by leading academics from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and regions this ground-breaking volume is essential reading for all those interested in the effective governance of tourism’s contribution to climate change now and in the future."
This significant volume is the first to explore the psychological and social factors that may contribute to and inhibit sustainable change in the context of tourist and traveller behaviour. It draws on a range of disciplines to offer a critical review of the psychological understandings and behavioural aspects of climate change and tourism mobilities, in addition to governance and policies based upon psychological, behavioural and social mechanisms. It therefore provides a more informed understanding of how technology, infrastructure and cost distribution can be developed in order to reach stronger mitigation goals whilst ensuring that resistance from consumers for socio-psychological reasons are minimised. Written by leading academics from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and regions this ground-breaking volume is essential reading for all those interested in the effective governance of tourism’s contribution to climate change now and in the future."
This paper introduces and explores the psychological and social factors that both contribute to and inhibit behaviour change vis-à-vis sustainable (tourist) mobility. It is based on papers presented at the Freiburg 2012 workshop.... more
This paper introduces and explores the psychological and social factors that both contribute to and inhibit behaviour change vis-à-vis sustainable (tourist) mobility. It is based on papers presented at the Freiburg 2012 workshop. Specifically, it reviews climate change attitudes and perceptions, the psychological benefits of tourism mobilities, addictive elements of mobility and social norming effects, the attitude-behaviour gap (i.e., cognitive dissonance between understandings of, and responses to, climate change), the psychology of modal shifts, the psychology of travel speed/time, and psychological explanations for the perceived importance of long distance travel. It notes that anthropogenic climate change is an inescapable reality, and that tourism’s share of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions appears set to rise substantially. There is little prospect of technical solutions adequately addressing this problem. The paper concludes that, while a comprehensive understanding of tourist psychology is necessary to inform policy makers, it alone will be insufficient to achieve emission reductions, and bring tourism to a climatically sustainable pathway, if treated in isolation. Radical change in the structures of provision is also necessary. That change may take the form of infrastructure planning, including financial and economic infrastructure (e.g. taxation regimes and emission trading schemes) for sustainable mobility.
"Accelerating global climate change poses considerable challenges to all societies and economies. The European Union now targets a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. Indeed, the Labour-led Norwegian government is committed to carbon... more
"Accelerating global climate change poses considerable challenges to all societies and economies. The European Union now targets a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. Indeed, the Labour-led Norwegian government is committed to carbon neutrality across all sectors of the economy by 2030. Aviation has been identified as a rapidly growing contributor to CO2 emissions. This article reports on a research project that explored Norwegian attitudes towards climate change, particularly as they relate to extreme long-haul air travel to Aotearoa/New Zealand. It reveals that the 'dream trip' to New Zealand for Norwegians is still largely intact. It also finds evidence of 'air travel with a carbon conscience' arising from growing concern for high frequency discretionary air travel. Evidence of denial of the climate impact of air travel that recent studies have revealed was largely absent. Interviewees expressed a greater concern for short-haul air travel emissions than for the climate impact of long-haul travel. However, intentions to adapt long-haul travel behaviours were expressed, highlighting the need to monitor consumer attitudes towards the impact of air travel on climate change. We conclude that Norway is a vanguard European tourism market in terms of climate sensitivity.
Keywords: climate change; aviation; CO2 emissions; extreme long-haul travel; Norway; New Zealand"
Keywords: climate change; aviation; CO2 emissions; extreme long-haul travel; Norway; New Zealand"
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"The purview of climate change concern has implicated air travel, as evidenced in a growing body of academic literature concerned with aviation CO2 emissions. This article assesses the relevance of climate change to long haul air travel... more
"The purview of climate change concern has implicated air travel, as evidenced in a growing body of academic literature concerned with aviation CO2 emissions. This article assesses the relevance of climate change to long haul air travel decisions to New Zealand for United Kingdom consumers. Based on 15 semi-structured open-ended interviews conducted in Bournemouth, UK during June 2009, it was found that participants were unlikely to forgo potential travel decisions to New Zealand because of concern over air travel emissions. Underpinning the interviewees’ understandings and responses to air travel’s climate impact was a spectrum of awareness and attitudes to air travel and climate change. This spectrum ranged from individuals who were unaware of air travel’s climate impact to those who were beginning to consume air travel with a ‘carbon conscience’. Within this spectrum were some who were aware of the impact but not willing to change their travel behaviours at all. Rather than implicating long haul air travel, the empirical evidence instead exemplifies changing perceptions towards frequent short haul air travel and voices calls for both government and media in the UK to deliver more concrete messages on air travel’s climate impact.
Keywords: air travel; climate change; impact perceptions; behavioural intentions; New Zealand; UK"
Keywords: air travel; climate change; impact perceptions; behavioural intentions; New Zealand; UK"
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Encouraging positive public behaviour change has been touted as a pathway for mitigating the climate impacts of air travel. There is, however, growing evidence that two gaps, one between attitudes and behaviour, and the other between... more
Encouraging positive public behaviour change has been touted as a pathway for mitigating the climate impacts of air travel. There is, however, growing evidence that two gaps, one between attitudes and behaviour, and the other between practices of “home” and “away”, pose significant barriers to changing discretionary air travel behaviour. This article uses modern sociological theory on tourism as liminoid space, and postmodern theory that views identities as contextual, to provide a deeper understanding of why these gaps occur in the context of tourism spaces. Based on 50 in-depth interviews with consumers in Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom, our findings confirm that tourism spaces are often subject to lower levels of environmental concern than day-to-day contexts. These findings, which suggest that scope for positive behaviour change in the context of discretionary air travel practices is limited, are of crucial significance to policy makers who may seek reductions in air travel’s climate impacts, through even a partial reliance on voluntary public behavioural change.
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Ecotourism is a powerful, but highly contentious, form of contemporary economic development (Wheeler, 1994; Cater, 2006). It expresses a strong desire amongst alienated middle classes in post-industrial societies to get back in touch with... more
Ecotourism is a powerful, but highly contentious, form of contemporary economic development (Wheeler, 1994; Cater, 2006). It expresses a strong desire amongst alienated middle classes in post-industrial societies to get back in touch with nature (Fletcher 2014). It also reflects an attempt to overcome individual anxiety relating to irreversible environmental degradation and biodiversity loss caused by capitalism (Zizek 2009) through the conflation of eco-consumption with biodiversity conservation (Duffy et al. 2008; Neves 2010a). Within this context wildlife tourism, it may be argued, represents one of a range of new strategies of capital accumulation and expansion (Fletcher and Neves 2012; Neves and Igoe 2012). This chapter addresses the capacity of ecotourism to employ capitalist mechanisms to address some of the more acute problems of capitalism itself. It addresses ecotourism in terms of a range of capitalist ‘fixes’ including: economic stagnation due to over-accumulation (time/space fix); limitations on capital accumulation resulting from ecological degradation (environmental fix); growing inequality and social unrest (social fix); and a widespread sense of alienation between humans and nonhuman natures (psychological fix). We consider the widespread advocacy of ecotourism as a panacea for the diverse social and environmental problems of capitalism in terms of endorsement of its potential as a manifold capitalist fix. In doing so, we find that rather than coming to fruition as solutions to the shortcomings of capitalist processes, these promised fixes tend to reproduce and exacerbate existing socio-ecological problems (e.g. Neves and Igoe 2012; see also Silva 2013).
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Within little more than a generation, whale-watching has been subject to global industrial development. It has been portrayed by destinations and business operators, and advocated by environmental groups, as a sustainable activity and an... more
Within little more than a generation, whale-watching has been subject to global industrial development. It has been portrayed by destinations and business operators, and advocated by environmental groups, as a sustainable activity and an alternative to whaling. However, in recent years the sustainability of these activities has increasingly been questioned, as research shows that repeated disturbance by boat
traffic can severely disrupt critical behaviours of cetaceans in the wild.
Bringing together contributions by international experts, this volume addresses complex issues associated with commercial whale-watching, sustainable development and conservation of the global marine environment. It highlights widely expressed concerns for the failure of policy, planning and management, and pinpoints both long-standing and emerging barriers to sustainable practice. Featuring numerous case studies, the book provides critical insights into the diverse socio-cultural, political, economic and ecological contexts of this global industry, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that arise along the pathways to sustainability.
traffic can severely disrupt critical behaviours of cetaceans in the wild.
Bringing together contributions by international experts, this volume addresses complex issues associated with commercial whale-watching, sustainable development and conservation of the global marine environment. It highlights widely expressed concerns for the failure of policy, planning and management, and pinpoints both long-standing and emerging barriers to sustainable practice. Featuring numerous case studies, the book provides critical insights into the diverse socio-cultural, political, economic and ecological contexts of this global industry, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that arise along the pathways to sustainability.
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Conservation management in Norway is anchored in the historical tradition of friluftsliv although Norway’s evolving economic policy signals that growing priority is being given to recreation and nature-based tourism development in... more
Conservation management in Norway is anchored in the historical tradition of friluftsliv although Norway’s evolving economic policy signals that growing priority is being given to recreation and nature-based tourism development in association with protected natural areas (PNA). Here we present the results of an international comparative study that examined conservation policy and recreation/tourism management in Norway and New Zealand, where a legislated dual mandate of conservation and tourism in PNAs is longstanding. Our analysis of conservation policy and planning documents in Norway and New Zealand highlights important contrasts in conservation and recreation/tourism management that are deeply embedded in national socio-historical contexts. Our findings highlight lessons that may be learned and applied in Norway. However we also caution that the application of lessons from New Zealand’s ‘utilitarian conservation’ policy context may require a reformulation or refinement of the friluftsliv tradition.
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... Exponen-tial growth in tourist activities that take place on, in and under water has been a notable fea-ture of tourism development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ... CAB International 2004. Environmental Impacts of... more
... Exponen-tial growth in tourist activities that take place on, in and under water has been a notable fea-ture of tourism development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ... CAB International 2004. Environmental Impacts of Ecotourism (ed. R. Buckley) 171 Page 188. ...
ABSTRACT
2 Ecotourism: a research bibliographyACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Market orientation has been a foundation of corporate marketing strategy since the middle of the last century. There is a need for a broader conceptualization of market orientation and a new corporate marketing model is proposed:... more
Market orientation has been a foundation of corporate marketing strategy since the middle of the last century. There is a need for a broader conceptualization of market orientation and a new corporate marketing model is proposed: sustainable market orientation (SMO). Taking a macromarketing perspective, the new conceptualization proposes the use of three key sustainable development objectives in corporate marketing strategy; economic, social, and ecological sustainability. Corporate benefits from a SMO are discussed, a model for empirical testing is presented, and a range of research opportunities are discussed.
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... Exponen-tial growth in tourist activities that take place on, in and under water has been a notable fea-ture of tourism development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ... CAB International 2004. Environmental Impacts of... more
... Exponen-tial growth in tourist activities that take place on, in and under water has been a notable fea-ture of tourism development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. ... CAB International 2004. Environmental Impacts of Ecotourism (ed. R. Buckley) 171 Page 188. ...
Visitor perceptions of the impacts of cetacean-based tourism from land-based and boat-based platforms are not well understood. Data from on-site surveys (n=633) and observational data were obtained at boat and land-based whale viewing... more
Visitor perceptions of the impacts of cetacean-based tourism from land-based and boat-based platforms are not well understood. Data from on-site surveys (n=633) and observational data were obtained at boat and land-based whale viewing platforms in the San Juan Islands, USA during the summer of 2000. Whale watchers at both platforms expressed concerns regarding adverse impacts on whales due to whale
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... If you are the author of this item, please contact us if you wish to discuss making the full text publicly available. Title: A multiphase analysis of the personal benefits derived from cultural educational tour experiences. Author:... more
... If you are the author of this item, please contact us if you wish to discuss making the full text publicly available. Title: A multiphase analysis of the personal benefits derived from cultural educational tour experiences. Author: Grahn, åsa. Advisor: Higham, James ; Thompson, Anna. ...
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Wilderness is a concept that has both a physical and a perceptual meaning. Wilderness images have been collected by a number of researchers in recent years in an attempt to understand precisely what wilderness users consider wilderness to... more
Wilderness is a concept that has both a physical and a perceptual meaning. Wilderness images have been collected by a number of researchers in recent years in an attempt to understand precisely what wilderness users consider wilderness to be. This research examines the wilderness perceptions held by three distinct study samples; New Zealand wilderness users (domestic users), New Zealand wilderness
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Few issues in the academic study of travel and tourism are as contentious, drawing divided and polarised lines of debate, as the concept of ecotourism. Since the term entered the vernacular in the 1960s (Hetzer, 1965), it has been widely... more
Few issues in the academic study of travel and tourism are as contentious, drawing divided and polarised lines of debate, as the concept of ecotourism. Since the term entered the vernacular in the 1960s (Hetzer, 1965), it has been widely espoused as a benign form of ...
There is no doubt that 2015 was a fascinating year for scholars and practitioners with interests in sustainable development and sustainable tourism. In 2015 it was revealed that, for the first time, over 100 million outbound tourists... more
There is no doubt that 2015 was a fascinating year for scholars and practitioners with interests in sustainable development and sustainable tourism. In 2015 it was revealed that, for the first time, over 100 million outbound tourists travelled from mainland China to the rest of the world (China Tourism Research Institute, 2015). Total outbound numbers were 107 million, of which 85 million trips were within Asia, but the remainder were long haul, predominantly to European destinations. Interim figures for the first half of 2015 show continuing growth, with a rise of 12.1% in outbound tourists over the same period in 2014. Worldwide, UNWTO statistics showed that international tourist arrivals reached 1,138 million in 2014, a 4.7% increase over the previous year (UNWTO, 2015). Given the strong reliance of contemporary international tourists on carbon intensive transport modes (Gössling & Peeters, 2015), the sheer scale of the global tourism production system poses considerable challenges to those with interests in sustainable development.