The role of TCI and TCCI indexes in regional tourism planning

Podunavlje region in Serbia comprises 16.6% of the territory and 38.9% of the total population of the country. Due to its attractive natural values, cultural-historical monuments, ethnographic features, etc., Serbian Podunavlje has favorable conditions for the development of excursion, nautical, stationary, event, youth, rural, hunting, transit, and other kinds of tourism. Since the climate as a tourism resource and the factor of tourist migrations in the observed area has not been analyzed yet, the aim of this paper is the tourism valorization of the significance of climate using the two tourism climatic indexes: tourism climate index (TCI) and tourism climate comfort index (TCCI). To achieve it, the climate elements were first analyzed at five meteorological stations in Serbian Podunavlje: Sombor, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Veliko Gradište, and Negotin for the period 1990–2010. Then the periods favorable for tourism activities were determined according to the mentioned indexes at the given stations. The research results show that summer is certainly the most favorable season for tourism activities in the observed area since the maximum TCI values were recorded during summer, and the minimum ones during winter at all the stations. Regarding the TCCI, the most optimal values of this index were recorded in September and May. These results can further serve the tourism organizations in the municipalities in Serbian Podunavlje when considering the construction of the tourism infrastructure, marketing activities, and further affirmation of the resources for the purpose of sustainable development of tourism.

Confort climático en la Argentina: un recurso intangible para el turismo

La relación entre clima y turismo tiene implicancias en todas las escalas territoriales. No obstante, la sensibilidad climática del turismo varía según la modalidad y el tipo de actividad. Por ello, desde la perspectiva del confort, las características climáticas del destino son un recurso importante para la planificación. El presente trabajo evalúa el confort climático de la Argentina como recurso intangible para el turismo. El análisis se funda en el modelado espacial del Tourism Climate Index (TCI), calculado para 69 estaciones meteorológicas distribuidas uniformemente en el país. El TCI medio anual en la Argentina es de 73 puntos, indicando condiciones de confort climático-turístico “muy buenas”. Sin embargo, el comportamiento espacial del índice permite diferenciar una banda diagonal de máxima y dos regiones espejo definidas por una disminución de los puntajes medios hacia el NE y el SO. Esto se atribuye a la distribución espacial de los subíndices que constituyen el TCI. El confort térmico diario y la velocidad del viento influyen negativamente en Patagonia, mientras que en Litoral contrapesan los altos montos de precipitación. Estos hallazgos evidencian la importancia e interés de considerar al clima como un recurso estratégico en la planificación turística nacional.

Assessment of climate change exposure of tourism in Hungary using observations and regional climate model data

Climate constitutes key resources for tourism since it influences the range of tourism activities and the development of tourism supply. Tourism is highly sensitive to changes in climate elements. It is extremely important for adaptation strategy-making to explore whether the tourism climate conditions in a given region and at a specific time are appropriate and how they may change in the future. This is described by the exposure of the tourism sector to climate conditions and climate change. In this study, we analyse the exposure of tourism for Hungary on a district level and every month (from March to November) with the help of the modified Tourism Climate Index. First, the present conditions are evaluated based on a gridded observational database CarpatClim-HU, which forms the basis for assessing the future conditions. Afterwards, the expected future circumstances are analysed using regional climate model outputs. In order to interpret the uncertainties of the climate projections properly, we use two different model results (HIRHAM5 and RACMO22E) relying on two emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). The results have demonstrated that the most favourable conditions are found in spring (MAM) and autumn (SON), while in summer (JJA) a decline in climate potential is observed. According to the future tendencies, generally, a decline is expected between May and September, but the other investigated months usually bring an improvement. For a given emission scenario, the expected trend is quite similar for the two model experiments, while for a given climate model, the use of RCP8.5 scenario indicates larger changes than RCP4.5. The results prove that climate change will have an obvious impact on tourism potential in Hungary, and therefore tourism strategy development has to take into account this effect more than before.

Evaluation of Tourism-Climate Conditions in the Region of Kłodzko Land (Poland)

Kłodzko Land is one of the most important regions of Poland in terms of tourism and health issues. Numerous tourism attractions and health resorts make the region attractive for both tourist and bathers. The goal of this paper was to evaluate the impact of weather conditions on tourism-related conditions and their changes in the multiannual period. In the analysis, the indices of heat days, the UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) and CTIS (Climate Tourism Information Scheme) tools were used. The research on heat days and the UTCI indicated a significant increase in the heat-stress frequency over the last decades. Simultaneously, the number of weather types related to cold stress has considerably decreased. Such trends were noticed in the entire region, in all the considered hypsometric zones. The rising tendency was also observed for strong and very strong heat stress (UTCI > 32 °C), which negatively affects health problems. The analysis showed that the most extreme thermal and biothermal conditions, in terms of heat stress, occur under southern and eastern anticyclonic circulation. The CTIS analysis showed that favorable weather conditions for most of tourism activities are noticed in the warm half-year. The usefulness of weather conditions for tourism can vary depending on atmospheric circulation.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Prediction of Tourism Comprehensive Climate Comfort in Henan Province, China

The tourism comprehensive climate comfort index (TCCI) was used to evaluate the tourism climate comfort in Henan Province in the last 61 years, and its future development trend is predicted. The results showed that the temporal variation of the TCCI had a “double peak” type (monthly variation), and an overall comfort improvement trend (interannual variation). The change of tourism climate comfort days was similar to the change of the index, especially in the months with a low comfort level. In space, the distribution of the TCCI gradually increased from northeast to southwest, and the area with a high comfort level also increased over time. Meanwhile, it also showed the spatial distribution of months with a low comfort level, which provides reliable information for tourists to use when choosing tourist destinations across all periods of the year. The TCCI was classified by hierarchical classification, and principal components were extracted to explore the main climate factors controlling different types of TCCIs and the relationship between them, and large-scale atmospheric–oceanic variability. According to the temporal change trend and correlation, the long-term change trend of tourism climate comfort was predicted, which will provide a scientific basis for tourism planners to choose tourist destinations.

Evaluation of the Tourism Climate Index in the Canary Islands

In this study, we performed a diagnostic and evolutive analysis of the bioclimatology of the Canary Islands, an Atlantic archipelago where the climate itself is a main feature promoting tourism. Among all the tourist-climate indices described in the literature, we evaluated the most widely used, which is the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) proposed by Mieczkowski (1985). Monthly mean TCI time series were calculated using meteorological data from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency database and the European Climate Assessment and Dataset. Our results show TCI values greater than 50 during almost every month in the period 1950–2018, with mean values over the entire time series between 70 and 80. According to the TCI classification scheme, these values correspond to a very good thermal comfort along all of the period. Our results also point to spring as the season with the best TCI, with maximum values around 80 for this index in April—excellent according to the TCI classification. However, we did not find a correlation between inbound arrivals and the TCI index, which might point to a lack of information available to tourists. This opens an opportunity for policymakers and tour operators to better publicize the best seasons for holidays in the islands.