Outdoor thermal comfort studies have mainly examined the perception of local residents, and there has been little work on how those conditions are perceived differently by tourists, especially tourists of diverse origins. This issue is important because it will improve the application of thermal indices in predicting the thermal perception of tourists. This study aims to compare the differences in thermal perception and preferences between local and overseas visitors to the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) in Melbourne during summer. An 8-day survey was conducted in February 2014 at four sites in the garden (n = 2198), including 2 days with maximum temperature exceeding 40 °C. The survey results were compared with data from four weather stations adjacent to the survey locations. One survey location, 'Fern Gully', has a misting system and visitors perceived the Fern Gully to be cooler than other survey locations. As the apparent temperature exceeded 32.4 °C, visitors perceived the environment as being 'warm' or 'hot'. At 'hot' conditions, 36.8 % of European visitors voted for no change to the thermal conditions, which is considerably higher than the response from Australian visitors (12.2 %) and Chinese visitors (7.5 %). Study results suggest that overseas tourists have different comfort perception and preferences compared to local Australians in hot weather based at least in part on expectations. Understanding the differences in visitors' thermal perception is important to improve the garden design. It can also lead to better tour planning and marketing to potential visitors from different countries.

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Outdoor thermal comfort could significantly affect the usage and success of urban places. Accordingly, it is recommended to be considered in both urban design and planning projects. Urbanisation has been recognised as a major factor in elevated daily temperature values in Australia. This study aims to investigate the past and current position of outdoor thermal comfort studies in the Australian context. A critical review is conducted to examine the quality 21 of thermal comfort assessment in Australia's cities. Twenty-five studies were reviewed to give a precise overview of past thermal comfort studies. The review scrutinises the focus of research, methodologies applied, data collection methods and results. This review helps main stakeholders in urban development better understand the evolution of outdoor thermal comfort with respect to liveability. In this line, where possible, the shortcomings are identified, certain solutions are provided and the need for further research is highlighted. In particular, future studies are necessary to cover missing geographical regions and ethnicities that are not considered in the existing literature. Furthermore, more psychological thermal adaptation studies are necessary, especially in transient thermal conditions. Qualitative analysis is also recommended to be incorporated in further studies in addition to considering the perceived environmental quality. The study serves as a reference to researchers, urban designers and planners to enhance their knowledge for achieving outdoor thermal comfort and understanding the gaps that need to be addressed in further studies.

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