Eighteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

One of the most urgent goals of literary tourism is to protect literary sites and landmarks associated with authors in order to preserve their legacies for future generations. In recent years, climate change has increasingly threatened vulnerable sites and will continue to do so, placing valuable literary artifacts and those who protect them in the path of destruction. Like the world heritage sites identified by a landmark 2015 UNESCO report as being particularly vulnerable to climate change, many literary tourism sites face a multitude of challenges associated with dramatic changes in weather: “Threats include more extreme weather events, increasing insurance costs and safety concerns, water shortages, and loss and damage to assets and attractions at destinations. Continued climate-driven degradation and disruption to cultural and natural heritage at World Heritage sites will negatively affect the tourism sector, reduce the attractiveness of destinations and lessen economic opportunities for local communities” (UNESCO 10). In this paper, I explore literary tourism sites in coastal regions especially susceptible to extreme weather events, discuss measures being taken to safeguard these sites, and consider the larger implications of what damage to these sites means for the field of literary tourism and the local economies these sites support. Literary tourism sites in the United States, including Key West and New Orleans, and abroad, including Venice, Italy, Cuba, and Iceland, are discussed as examples of places where climate change has already had an impact on literary tourism.