Low-lying beaches may be just photographic memories by mid-century.

Beach resorts, skiing holidays, diving and nature-watching trips will all suffer as the £3.5 trillion global tourism trade is hit by climate change, a report warns.

The tourism industry, which provides livelihoods for 255 million people worldwide, faces profound impacts of rising temperatures and more extreme weather, the report based on the findings of the UN’s Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said.

Warming temperatures will reduce the number of ski resorts which reliably get snow and shorten the ski season, warned the report from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), the Cambridge Judge Business School and the European Climate Foundation.

Climate change will wreak havoc with many tracts of land by mid-century.

Coastal tourism sites are vulnerable to rising sea levels, while more storms will see beaches erode, the report suggests.

A sea-level increase of one metre would damage up to 60 per cent of resort properties in the Caribbean, destroy or damage 21 airports and inundate land around 35 ports in the region.

Increasingly acidic oceans, caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide dissolving in the seas, and rising sea temperatures are damaging coral reefs, which contribute almost £7 billion a year to global tourism revenues.

This could have serious consequences for tourism in places such as the Caribbean, Australia and small island states. By mid-century, ecosystems with more than 30 per cent coral cover are likely to disappear in some parts of the world, the report said.

Rising temperatures are set to drive species further towards the poles, which could have serious impacts on eco-tourism in existing nature hotspots.

In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 40 per cent of species in national parks are likely to become endangered by 2080 if they are unable to migrate.

Wine-producing regions would become less suitable for vine growing, with implications for wine tourism, according to the report which summarises the findings from the IPCC’s latest wide-ranging report on climate change.

The tourism industry will also be hit by wider problems, including water scarcity, higher insurance premiums in the face of more extreme weather, and a greater threat of conflict as a result of climate change in some parts of the world.

The report said there were limited positive effects from climate change, with new regions made more attractive to some tourists and potentially new types of tourism such as “last chance” to see glaciers, while there were ways to adapt to the effects of climate change.

But new opportunities were likely to be short-lived, while options for adapting would be limited and likely to be overwhelmed by climate change later in the century, especially if greenhouse gas emissions remain high.

Coastal tourism sites are vulnerable to rising sea levels and beach erosion

The report also warned that the tourism industry accounted for between 3.9 per cent and six per cent of global emissions, but that was set to rise to 10 per cent by 2025, putting it under pressure to tackle emissions.

Efforts to cut emissions would focus on transport, which accounts for three-quarters of its impact, with opportunities to cut emissions through more efficient vehicles.

Stephen Farrant, director of the International Tourism Partnership, part of Business in the Community, welcomed the summary of the IPCC’s findings.

“Every part of the industry needs to take note of its warnings and think about what more can be done to adapt to climate change, as well as how to continue the process of reducing the impact of their operations on the environment.

“This is a question of business continuity over the medium term as much as a question simply of business responsibility.”