Importance Of Climate In Tourism

Climate and weather are big factors in tourists’ decision making and also impact the successful operation of tourism businesses. More specifically, climate is defined as the universal condition observed as a long term average in a location. In contrast, weather is the manifestation of climate at a specific point in time and place. So, while tourists might expect certain climatic conditions when they travel from one place to another place, they will experience the actual weather, which might deviate quite considerably from the average conditions. Hence, in the first place tourists and tourism businesses are likely to be affected by weather conditions, although in the long term these will follow systematic changes as projected under different …show more content…
Indeed, Hamilton and Lau’s (2005) study found that 73% of interviewed German tourists had acquired information on the climate of their holiday destinations, usually on more than one aspect, but most often temperature. As Scott and Lemieux (2009) note climate information is available by many types of providers and media, for example travel agents, tourism marketing organisations, guide books, the internet, television, radio, newspapers, and hand-held …show more content…
Tourists make decisions based on what they believe the climatic conditions of a destination are. Actual impacts of climate change on tourist destinations are potentially much further reaching, as they affect the resource base of tourism, both directly and indirectly. Already, challenges such as water shortages or increased incidence of forest fires pose themselves to destinations. Environmental changes, for example the distribution of wildlife or coral bleaching, are also of fundamental importance for tourism. Understanding these changes is a first step towards managing them and adapting to new