Research issue and justification The issue to be examined is climate change and its effects on tourism in coastal areas. Tourism in most coastal areas encompasses a series of activities. Some may involve accommodation, others may entail water sports while others may involve visitation of sites in coastal areas. All these aspects of the visitors experience can be tremendously affected by climatic changes. Ability to offer hospitality services can be hampered if buildings and other infrastructure have been ruined by a climate related disaster. Alternatively, the physical features that form part of a coastal tourist destination can be ruined by climatic changes. For example, coral reefs, beaches and other features may be tarnished. Also, certain goods or services offered to tourists in coastal areas are dependent on the ecosystem. It is for this reason why the issue of climatic change needs to be studied and understood thoroughly; the report will attempt to do this through holistically and through case based approaches. The reason why the topic was selected was that climate change has been known to create adverse effects in various sectors of the economy (Karen et. al, 2009). It is therefore critical to understand why this issue would be relevant to the tourism sector. Furthermore, coastal areas have been known to bear the heaviest toll of climate change. In fact, most climatic changes usually start in these regions and eventually spread to the rest of the country. This means that stakeholders in coastal areas are also likely to face severe losses if climatic change occurs. Coastal areas are also known for their tourist attractions as most of them depend heavily on this industry for revenue. The research will crucial in identifying a problem that has and will continue to exert negative effects on the tourism sector. It will provide solutions on how climate change in coastal areas can be tackled so as to minimise its effect on the industry. This research will therefore contribute towards greater economic maximisation from the tourism sector. Since tourism has been known to fight poverty in a series of countries then these findings will definitely boost the income potential of these areas and eventually increase the economic output. Statement of research method The research will depend on the use of secondary sources for analysis. These will include Government statistical reports on climate based changes done in coastal areas, periodicals that cover the issue of climate change with regard to tourism and/ or hospitality management, academic reports done in various parts of the world concerning the topic, professional bodies’ reports (especially international ones) that have carried out studies concerning tourism in coastal regions and industry specific magazines that discuss the subject matter and offer possible solutions towards it. Lastly, the research will also use a number of electronic sources which have been authored by credible writers concerning the issue. The major limitation of this method of research is that the inefficiencies in research found in the primary source will be carried forward into this report. For instance, the author or researcher may have used a small sample in order to come to his or her concl