The purpose of this thesis research was to examine the dynamic relationship between climate change and tourism, with a direct focus on Churchill, Manitoba’s polar bear viewing industry. This unique tourism industry and the polar bears it depends on, are experiencing the negative effects of climate change due to warmer temperatures and melting sea ice, which significantly impacts the health, appearance, and prevalence of polar bears on display for tourists. Not only is this tourism industry affected by climate change, it also contributes to the ongoing changes of climatic conditions. This is due to the dependence of fossil fuel energy used for transportation, accommodation, and activities which directly contributes to the release of greenhouse gas emissions and thus to global climate change. Emissions from tourism has increased by 3% over the last 10 years, largely as a result of the accessibility and affordability of air travel, the most energy intensive form of transportation (Lenzen et al., 2018; UNWTO-UNEP-WMO, 2008). It has been suggested that in response to the increase in the demand to travel, the tourism industry should take a leadership role to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to decrease the impact of climate change. In this study, a visitor survey was conducted during four weeks of Churchill’s 2018 polar bear viewing season (October 16 to November 16). The aim of the survey was to: 1) estimate greenhouse gas emissions from polar bear viewing tourists and the polar bear viewing industry; 2) identify tourists’ awareness of the impacts of climate change (to and from tourism activities); 3) understand tourist’s climate-related travel motivations, and 4) identify tourists’ opinions on climate change mitigation strategies. Visitor surveys were hand- distributed at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre and at the Churchill Airport to tourists who had participated on a polar bear viewing tour. Surveys were analyzed and compared with the results from similar studies (Dawson et al., 2010 and Groulx, 2015) to identify the changing trends in greenhouse gas emissions, travel motivations, tourists’ knowledge of climate change, and acceptance of climate change mitigation strategies. Similar to trends observed 10 years ago, emissions from polar bear viewing tourists are 3-34 times higher than the average global tourist experience. Tourists’ awareness about climate change has stayed relatively consistent, despite the topic of climate change having received increased attention globally. Tourists recognize that climate change is happening and that it is human induced however, there is still a lack of understanding of how air travel is a contributor to climatic change. Although briefly mentioned in some participant’s responses, the main motivation was not to see a polar bear before it disappeared from the wild. The majority of tourists identified they were traveling to Churchill simply for the opportunity to see a polar bear. Additional motivators were photography, the Northern Lights, and for the opportunity to see other Arctic animals. The climate change mitigation strategies that tourists believed to be the most effective to reduce emissions were educational programs and transportation alternatives (such as taking the train- which was not an option at the time of study due to a rail line shutdown). This research contributes to the existing knowledge about tourism and climate change and provides a current analysis of Churchill’s polar bear viewing industry, enabling a comparison between findings from another study conducted over ten years ago. This research also makes conclusions about climate change mitigation strategies that might be effective for Churchill’s tourism industry to reduce their impact on the environment.

While theory argues that Instagram influencers are beneficial for rural and sustainable tourism in gaining attention and awareness, they also can generate an increased tourist flow. A newly published article by Palazzo, et al., 2021, mentions that while they have focused on the bright sides of Instagram Influencers within tourism, they have excluded matters of adverse effects. Something that could likely create a situation of overtourism, as increased tourism flows can be hard to manage. Due to little research of Last Chance Destinations (LCDs), a similar theory will be applied, as these destinations are already considered damaged. Due to the study gap and the tiny amount of empery within this field, people between 18-25 with interest in travel content on Instagram have been interviewed to get more in-depth answers. It has been discovered that Instagram Influencers play little to no role in increased tourism flows to LCDs. People are only inclined to visit LCD after engaging with a destination post if they already have existing motivations to visit it. Instead, influencers serve the purpose and potential ofeducating Instagram users about sustainable tourism principles and climate change.

Last chance tourism (LCT) is defined as an endangered place due to climate change which creates motivations for tourists to travel to these places before they vanish. These trips also involve interaction with and observation of rare species that is about to disappear due to climate change. By integrating the Value-Belief-Norm and cognitive dissonance theory models, the main purpose of this research was to investigate psychological antecedents of engaging in LCT in higher educational institutions in Sweden. A survey was administered to 234 academics on seven universities in Sweden consisting of items measuring beliefs, pro-environmental personal norms, cognitive dissonance, and intentions to engage in Last Chance Tourism. The data was later analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation (PLS-SEM) approach. The results revealed a significant impact of cognitive dissonance on intentions to engage in LCT. These findings are important since they support the advantage of using cognitive dissonance theory within the context of LCT. The implications will hopefully spark an interest among academics to develop a sustainable tourism rescue plan and transfer this knowledge to a younger generation. For practitioners, this could be food for fought for organizations that are operating within the field of LCT.