Global warming, cyclone damages, and the issue of sustainable tourism in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This paper studies the feedback effect between damages caused by cyclones and unsustainable tourism in Southeast Asia. The data are constructed based on the Annual Tropical Cyclone Reports from the United States National Climatic Data Center website for the period of 1995–2013. Establishing a cyclone damage index by combining the maximum speed when each cyclone goes through a region and characteristics of each region affected by cyclones in Southeast Asia, we first attempt to quantify the two-way causality between these cyclones and the proportion of tourist arrivals per capita. We then analyze differences among the affected countries compared to the aggregate effects. Based on the results, policy suggestions for sustainable tourism are provided in order to mitigate the cyclone damages.