Implications of Climate Change on Outdoor Recreation: The Case of National Parks in Israel

Abstract

Changing weather driven by climate change may influence tourists’ decisions about “when and where to go for vacation.” Indeed, the results of climate change have altered the attractiveness of a variety of destinations and locations, therefore changing the profitability of tourism-based businesses. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential impact of climate change on visits to outdoor recreation sites. Specifically, the research assessed the impact of weather, as well as economic and other characteristics, on the number of domestic and international tourists visiting national parks located in different climate zones within a single country—Israel. This research was based on a unique database of actual daily visits by international and domestic tourists to national parks in Israel during a six-year period (2012–2017). Each national park has different accessibility characteristics and offers different attractions. The climate data included daily maximum temperature, rain, extreme weather, as well as temperature indices measuring heat and cold. The results of the econometric analysis showed that weather-related parameters have a statistically significant effect on national park visits among both domestic and international tourists, while the magnitude of the effect varies by park and visitors’ place of origin.

Promoting Geosites on Web-Pages: An Assessment of the Quality and Quantity of Information in Real Cases

“…The findings of the three case studies provide interesting matters for further discussion. First, one would expect that the web-pages created by tourism industry representatives or associates would be more concerned about technical issues (modes of access, exact location, and safety rules) and adaptation to persons with disabilities, because these two aspects are highly important in contemporary tourism [83][84][85][86][87]. However, this is not registered in fact (Tables 2-4), and the established deficiencies of the information reflect a certain unprofessionalism, which is not related to the specifics of geotourism.…”

Impact of Climate Change on International Tourism Evidence from Baltic Sea Countries

“…Regev and Palatnik [85] studied the effect of climate change on natural parks in Israel for the period 2012-2017. They suggest that both precipitation and temperature have a negative effect on the number of domestic and international tourists in these natural parks, where temperature has a relatively stronger effect compared to precipitation.…”