THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON RURAL AREAS AND RURAL TOURISM: AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS

The latest IPCC report highlights that global warming is causing increased and potentially irreversible changes, with Europe facing more frequent and intense extreme weather. A temperature rise of 2 °C could critically impact nature and human life. The study aimed to assess awareness and perceptions of climate change’s impact on rural areas and tourism among participants from five Croatian counties, including 59 rural tourism entrepreneurs from the private sector and 45 respondents from the public sector. A survey was conducted separately for both sectors between May 2020 and October 2022, with respondents participating voluntarily and anonymously. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied to analyze awareness and perception of climate change’s impact on rural tourism. The findings indicate that public sector respondents have a higher average assessment score (AS = 4.43) compared to the private sector (AS = 3.97). Additionally, the public sector shows more consistent responses (SD = 0.74) versus the private sector’s greater variability (SD = 0.95), reflecting uniform attitudes in the public sector and diverse views in the private sector. Factor analysis revealed that private sector stakeholders’ perceptions include multiple interconnected dimensions: market orientation, awareness of climate risks, the need for education, and understanding of climate conditions as an economic resource. Data processing was performed using STATISTICA 13.0, confirming that the private sector’s perceptions are more fragmented compared to the public sector’s more cohesive viewpoint on climate change impacts.