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Special Issue "Tourism Climatology"

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A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Climatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2016) | Viewed by 47263

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Prof. Dr. Daniel Scott

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Guest Editor

Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Interests: sustainable tourism; tourism climatology; climate change adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Stefan Gössling

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Guest Editor

1. Service Management and Service Studies, Lund University, Box 882, 25108 Helsingborg, Sweden
2. Western Norway Research Institute, PO Box 163, 6851 Sogndal, Norway
3.School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, 39182 Kalmar, Sweden
Interests: tourism; transportation; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of tourism climatology continues to develop with increased government and private sector interest in improving climate services and climate change adaptation in the tourism sector. This Special Issue explores the multiple and complex interrelationships between weather and climate and the tourism sector; including approaches to the evaluation and measurement of climate resources for tourism; weather information use by tourists and tourism operators; improving climate services for the tourism sector; the influence of weather, forecasts, and climate variability on tourism demand and operations; tourist behavioral responses to weather and implications for visitor experience and destination reputation; and how changes in climate could alter tourism demand, as well as operational costs and sustainability.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Scott
Prof. Dr. Stefan Gössling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

tourism
tourist
climate
weather

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

An Inter-Comparison of the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) and the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) in Europe

and

Atmosphere 2016, 7(6), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7060080 - 07 Jun 2016

Cited by 94 | Viewed by 10401

Abstract

Much research has been devoted to quantifying optimal or unacceptable climate conditions both generally and for specific tourism segments or activities over the last 10 years. This knowledge is not incorporated in the Tourism Climate Index (TCI), which has also been subject to other substantial critiques. To more accurately assess the climatic suitability of destinations for leisure tourism, the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) was developed. A major advancement of the HCI is that its variable rating scales and the component weighting system are based on this aforementioned literature of tourists’ stated climatic preferences. This paper will discuss the design of the HCI and how the limitations of the TCI were overcome. It then presents an inter-comparison of the results from HCI:Urban and TCI for geographically diverse urban destinations across Europe. The results illustrate how the HCI:Urban rates the climate of many cities higher than the TCI, particularly in shoulder seasons and the winter months, which is more consistent with observed visitation patterns. The results empirically demonstrate that use of the TCI should be discontinued. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Seasonal Climatic Anomalies on Zoo Visitation in Toronto (Canada) and the Implications for Projected Climate Change

Micah J. Hewer

and

William A. Gough

Atmosphere 2016, 7(5), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7050071 - 23 May 2016

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5175

Abstract

This study uses a multi-year temporal climate analogue approach to explore zoo visitor responses to seasonal climatic anomalies and assess the impacts of projected climate change on zoo visitation in Toronto, Canada. A new method for selecting a representative weather station was introduced which ranks surrounding stations based on “climatic distance” rather than physical distance alone. Two years representing anomalously warm temperature conditions and two years representing climatically normal temperature conditions were identified for each season from within the study period from 1999 to 2015. Two years representing anomalously wet precipitation conditions and two years representing anomalously dry precipitation conditions were also identified. F-tests and t-tests were employed to determine if the apparent differences in zoo visitation between the temperature and precipitation paired groupings were statistically significant. A “selective ensemble” of seasonal Global Climate Model (GCM) output from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report was used to determine when these anomalous temperature and precipitation conditions may become the norm in the future. When anomalously warm winters and springs occurred within the historical record, total zoo visitation in those seasons increased significantly. Inversely, when anomalously warm summers occurred, total summer season zoo visitation decreased significantly. Temperature anomalies in the autumn season did not result in any significant differences in total autumn season zoo visitation. Finally, apart from in the spring season, there were no significant differences in total zoo visitation between anomalously wet and dry seasons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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Open AccessArticle

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day. Weather Preferences of Summer Tourists in Mountain Environments

Robert Steiger

Bruno Abegg

and

Leandra Jänicke

Atmosphere 2016, 7(5), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7050063 - 29 Apr 2016

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 7158

Abstract

Weather and climate are important factors for travel decision-making and overall tourist satisfaction. As central motivators for destination choice, they directly and indirectly influence demand patterns and can be a resource and limitation for tourism at the same time. In this paper, results of an in-situ survey of mountain summer tourists (n = 733) in the Alps in Southern Germany are presented. Respondents rated ‘rain’ as the most important aspect of weather during their holiday. During a 7-day holiday, 2.1 days of continuous rain are accepted, and 3.1 days of days with thunderstorms. The ideal temperature range is between 21 and 25 °C, thus lying 4–7 degrees lower than for beach tourism. Temperatures below 15 °C and above 30 °C are perceived as unacceptable. Statistically significant differences were found for several tourist types: Older tourists are more sensitive to heat, tourists with sports activities are more tolerant to cool temperatures, first-time visitors are more sensitive to rain and families with children prefer higher temperatures. From the results, some implications for mountain destinations arise: mountain destinations could be promoted as a heat refuge, and attracting sports tourists might be a promising way to reduce weather sensitivity; however, some variety of well-promoted weather independent attractions seems to be mandatory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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Open AccessArticle

Impact of Climate Change on Natural Snow Reliability, Snowmaking Capacities, and Wind Conditions of Ski Resorts in Northeast Turkey: A Dynamical Downscaling Approach

and

Atmosphere 2016, 7(4), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7040052 - 06 Apr 2016

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6652

Abstract

Many ski resorts worldwide are going through deteriorating snow cover conditions due to anthropogenic warming trends. As the natural and the artificially supported, i.e., technical, snow reliability of ski resorts diminish, the industry approaches a deadlock. For this reason, impact assessment studies have become vital for understanding vulnerability of ski tourism. This study considers three resorts at one of the rapidly emerging ski destinations, Northeast Turkey, for snow reliability analyses. Initially one global circulation model is dynamically downscaled by using the regional climate model RegCM4.4 for 1971–2000 and 2021–2050 periods along the RCP4.5 greenhouse gas concentration pathway. Next, the projected climate outputs are converted into indicators of natural snow reliability, snowmaking capacity, and wind conditions. The results show an overall decline in the frequencies of naturally snow reliable days and snowmaking capacities between the two periods. Despite the decrease, only the lower altitudes of one ski resort would face the risk of losing natural snow reliability and snowmaking could still compensate for forming the base layer before the critical New Year’s week. On the other hand, adverse high wind conditions improve as to reduce the number of lift closure days at all resorts. Overall, this particular region seems to be relatively resilient against climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

Open AccessArticle

Weather and Tourism: Thermal Comfort and Zoological Park Visitor Attendance

David R. Perkins

and

Keith G. Debbage

Atmosphere 2016, 7(3), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7030044 - 14 Mar 2016

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5999

Abstract

Weather events have the potential to greatly impact business operations and profitability, especially in outdoor-oriented economic sectors such as Tourism, Recreation, and Leisure (TRL). Although a substantive body of work focuses on the macroscale impacts of climate change, less is known about how daily weather events influence attendance decisions, particularly relating to the physiological thermal comfort levels of each visitor. To address this imbalance, this paper focuses on ambient thermal environments and visitor behavior at the Phoenix and Atlanta zoos. Daily visitor attendances at each zoo from September 2001 to June 2011, were paired with the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) to help measure the thermal conditions most likely experienced by zoo visitors. PET was calculated using hourly atmospheric variables of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and cloud cover from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at each zoological park location and then classified based on thermal comfort categories established by the American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The major findings suggested that in both Phoenix and Atlanta, optimal thermal regimes for peak attendance occurred within “slightly warm” and “warm” PET-based thermal categories. Additionally, visitors seemed to be averse to the most commonly occurring thermal extreme since visitors appeared to avoid the zoo on excessively hot days in Phoenix and excessively cold days in Atlanta. Finally, changes in the daily weather impacted visitor attendance as both zoos experienced peak attendance on days with dynamic changes in the thermal regimes and depressed attendances on days with stagnant thermal regimes. Building a better understanding of how weather events impact visitor demand can help improve our assessments of the potential impacts future climate change may have on tourism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Climate Preferences for Domestic and International Beach Holidays: A Case Study of Canadian Travelers

Michelle Rutty

and

Daniel Scott

Atmosphere 2016, 7(2), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7020030 - 18 Feb 2016

Cited by 43 | Viewed by 5122

Abstract

Coastal tourism is the largest segment of global leisure tourism and it is firmly linked to the destination’s natural resources—with climatic resources chief among them. Through observations and survey responses of beach users, studies have evaluated climatic resources for coastal tourism by quantifying optimal and unacceptable conditions. However, these studies have not taken into consideration that different forms of holidays (e.g., daytrips, short trips, main annual holiday, “once-in-a-lifetime” trip) may have varying degrees of resilience to climatic conditions. This is the first study to explore whether ideal and unacceptable climatic conditions vary between domestic and international tourists. Using an in situ survey, Canadian beach users traveling domestically (n = 359) and internationally (n = 120) were examined. Key findings include statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between the two sample groups for every climate variable, with the international sample more resilient to a broader range of weather conditions, including a greater acceptance for warm temperatures, longer rainfall durations, higher wind speeds, and greater cloud cover. This study adds further insight into the complexities of evaluating climate for tourism, with implications for the demand response of tourists to climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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Open AccessArticle

“It Was Raining All the Time!”: Ex Post Tourist Weather Perceptions

Stefan Gössling

Bruno Abegg

and

Robert Steiger

Atmosphere 2016, 7(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7010010 - 15 Jan 2016

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 6072

Abstract

The importance of weather for tourism is now widely recognized. However, no research has so far addressed weather events from retrospective viewpoints, and, in particular, the role of “extreme” events in longer-term holiday memories. To better understand the character of ex post weather experiences and their importance in destination image perceptions and future travel planning behavior, this exploratory study addressed a sample of 50 tourists from three globally important source markets: Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Results indicate that weather events do not dominate long-term memories of tourist experiences. Yet, weather events are important in shaping destination image, with “rain” being the single most important weather variable negatively influencing perceptions. Results also suggest that weather events perceived as extreme can involve considerable emotions. The study of ex post traveler memories consequently makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of the complexity of “extreme weather” events for tourist demand responses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Climatology)

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