The Covid-19 pandemic has brutally revealed the vulnerability of global tourism to travel disruption and the devastating impacts on the economies and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in many countries.  Industry experts have poignantly stated that, “If you consider the potential long-term impacts of climate change on the world—and the world of travel—then the COVID-19 pandemic will likely come to be viewed as a very painful, tragic footnote.” Research by Daniel Scott and international colleagues reveals the global geography of tourism sector vulnerability to both carbon and climate risk. The highest levels of climate change vulnerability are in countries most dependant on the tourism economy and where tourism growth is expected to be the strongest in the next few decades. These climate change risks are not well understood and are not being considered by national climate change strategies or tourism development plans. That urgently needs to change if tourism is to remain an instrumental part of the economy of the future.  Without responses from the global community, climate change will pose a growing headwind against tourism development, compromising tourism competitiveness and its ability to contribute to the Sustainable Develop Goals in many developing countries.