Climate Preferences of Iranian Tourists for Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) in Arid Regions

Abstract

Tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in the world and is heavily influenced by climate conditions. Insight into tourists’ weather preferences within contexts of extremely arid climates is particularly useful, not only for regions and tourism destinations that currently display such characteristics, but also for regions and tourism destinations for which climate change forecasts predict radicalization in terms of their weather conditions. The objective of this study was to identify the weather preferences of Iranians in relation to nature-based tourism (NBT) in regions with extremely arid climates in Iran. To achieve this aim, the study used a survey to identify the optimal preferences with respect to temperature (maximum and minimum), rainfall, wind speed, sunshine hours, and cloud cover, as well as the thresholds past which the conditions in relation to these elements were considered intolerable. The results of this research may be useful for designing tourism climate indices and/or associated rating scales—adapted to the segment under consideration—that enable the present and future evaluation of the tourism suitability of a region’s climate.

Evaluation of Climate Suitability for Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) in Arid Regions of Isfahan Province (Iran)

“…This research considered empirical verification in the order of the weather types and in the thresholds established for the weather variables considered for the different types. This was based on the results of a survey on weather preferences carried out in the first phase of the research [77]. The method lends itself to more detailed segmentation, a key requirement in the current context of tourism market hyper-segmentation.…”

“…The method applied involves establishing various types of daily weather that are favorable and unfavorable for NBT in arid and hyper-arid climates. In the present research, these types of weather were defined based on the climate characteristics of the study area, bioclimatic criteria and the preferences of Iranian domestic tourists, expressed through a survey [77].…”

“…An ex situ (online) survey was designed and administered to identify the weather preferences of Iranians in relation to NBT practiced in areas with arid and hyper-arid climates. The choice of this quantitative technique (p = q; sample size = 402; confidence margin = 95.5%; sample error = ±5%) made it possible to establish favorable and unfavorable thresholds in the different weather variables considered [77], which were used as the basis for evaluating the potential (comparison with the reality according to the weather types of method).…”

“…The results of the survey [77] indicated that these types of tourists take climate-/weather-related aspects into consideration when planning and scheduling their leisure and recreational activities. In their preferences, they stated that:…”

Peran Modal Sosial dalam Pengembangan Komponen Pariwisata di Desa Wisata Pentingsari

“…Multiplier effect pariwisata sendiri dianggap mampu menaikkan sektor-sektor lainnya baik sektor formal maupun informal yang berkaitan dengan pariwisata baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung (R. R. . Hal ini membuktikan bahwa pariwisata berpengaruh sangat vital di sektor ekonomi (Nourmohammadi & Gómez-Martín, 2022). Sebagai contoh pariwisata akan mendatangkan keuntungan bagi pekerja-pekerja informal yang bekerja di sektor pariwisata seperti tukang parkir, tukang ojek, sopir angkot, hingga karyawan restoran dan sektor lain yang tidak terkait langsung dengan pariwisata seperti pertanian di mana hasil pertaniannya bisa dijadikan sebagai bahan makanan di restoran atau rumah makan yang melayani wisatawan (Marcinkevičiūtė et al, 2022).…”