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Despite the economic importance of the tourism sector and its close relationship to the environment and climate, substantial gaps remain in the investigation of climate change (CC) impacts on tourism. Unlike the increasing body of literature focusing on the variation in the climatic suitability of tourism destinations, this paper focuses on the impacts of CC on the provision of natural resources affecting the attractiveness of destinations. More specifically, the paper provides an economic measurement of climate-induced environmental changes on the coast of Mallorca (Spain), one of the Mediterranean’s leading sun-and-beach destinations. A choice experiment is used to elicit the willingness to pay (WTP) of tourists for the introduction of policies aimed at reducing three climate-induced environmental changes. The estimated results show the positive WTP of tourists to reduce CC impacts and provide evidence of preference heterogeneity among individuals with different socioeconomic and travel characteristics., This work is supported by the CLIMPACT project (CGL2014-54246-C2-1-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy. Alejandra R. Enríquez acknowledges an FPI grant associated with the CLIMPACT project.

The UNFCCC Paris Agreement, entered into force on 4 November 2016, represents a step forward in involving all countries in mitigation actions, even though it is based on a voluntary approach and lacks the active participation of some major polluting countries. The underinvestment in mitigation actions depends on market and policy failures and the absence of price signals internalizing the economic losses due to climatic damage. This contributes to underestimating potential benefits from global action. In this paper we discuss how crucial is the assessment of the vulnerability of a country to climate change in defining the threat and action strategies. A dynamic climate-economy CGE model is developed that includes a monetary evaluation of regional damages associated with climate change. By considering alternative damage profiles, results show that internalizing climatic costs might change the bargaining position of countries in climate negotiations. Consequently, damage costs should be given greater importance when defining the implementation of a global climate agreement. © 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.