Last Chance Travel Booms as Climate Change Threatens Global Destinations

As climate change intensifies, a growing number of travelers are rushing to visit some of the world’s most threatened natural wonders — from the Great Barrier Reef to Papua’s melting glaciers — before they disappear forever. Scientists warn this emotional travel trend, known as last chance tourism, could accelerate environmental destruction in fragile destinations.

A new report from the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2025) reveals visits to climate-vulnerable destinations such as the Arctic, the Alps, and the Great Barrier Reef have increased by more than 40% in the last decade. Many travelers are driven by social media posts urging them to “see it before it’s gone.”

“People want to witness places before they vanish, but this urgency often fuels the very destruction they fear,” said Dr. Daniel Scott, a climate and tourism researcher at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and lead author of several UNWTO climate studies. “Traveling to these regions increases both carbon emissions and local environmental pressure.”

Climate Scientists Sound the Alarm

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts global temperatures could rise by 2.6°C by 2050 if current trends continue — a scenario that threatens coral reefs, glaciers, and entire ecosystems. The WWF Living Planet Report 2024 found that 75% of tropical coral reefs have suffered bleaching since 2010, with the Great Barrier Reef losing nearly half its coral cover in just two decades.

Meanwhile, cruise traffic in the Arctic has nearly doubled since 2018, as tourists seek to see melting sea ice and polar wildlife before they vanish. “It’s paradoxical — the more people want to ‘save’ or ‘see’ these places, the faster they deteriorate,” said Dr. Etti Winter, director of sustainable tourism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Melting Glaciers in Papua

Far from the polar regions, Indonesia’s Central Highlands have become an unexpected hotspot for last chance travel. The area is home to Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) — the highest peak in Oceania and one of the world’s few tropical glacier zones.

A joint study by Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the University of Colorado Boulder, published in Nature Geoscience (2024), found that the Carstensz glaciers have lost more than 90% of their ice since the 1980s and could disappear entirely by 2035. The region is now attracting climbers and adventure tourists eager to see “one of Earth’s last tropical glaciers” — a trend that researchers warn could worsen local melting and soil degradation.

“Carstensz is a powerful symbol of how far climate change has reached,” said Dr. Donaldi Permana, a glaciologist at BRIN. “It’s not just the Arctic or the Himalayas — even the tropics are losing their ice.”

The Ethical Dilemma of Last Chance Travel

Tour companies have capitalized on this urgency, using emotional marketing such as “Experience paradise before it disappears.” But sustainability advocates say this messaging is irresponsible.

To counter the damage, eco-focused companies like Intrepid Travel and Responsible Travel are now promoting low-carbon expeditions, carbon offset programs, and community-based conservation projects.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili recently called for stronger global regulation of tourism in fragile ecosystems.

“We must ensure that witnessing beauty does not become the reason for its extinction,” Pololikashvili said in a statement.

Experts agree that the next decade will determine whether the planet’s most vulnerable destinations — from Papua’s glaciers to the Great Barrier Reef — survive the next generation’s gaze. “The message shouldn’t be ‘see it before it’s gone,’” Dr. Scott said. “It should be ‘protect it before it’s too late.’” (Wage Erlangga)

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