Measuring the Effect of Weather on Tourism

Limited research has focused on the impacts of weather on tourist arrivals and participation in activities. This research uses Westland, New Zealand, as a case study to analyze the impact of weather on intra-annual seasonality and inter-annual variation in visitor nights. Further, a scenic flight operation and a visitor center in the township of Franz Josef serve as case studies to quantify the impact of weather parameters on the number of flights and visitation. The results show that seasonality in Westland is largely driven by temperature; however, variability in visitor nights across years does not seem to be influenced by weather conditions. Both the scenic flight operation and visitation to the visitor center are measurably impacted on by daily weather. This research provides information for destination managers in Westland on weather-related impacts on tourism, and potential changes in the future under the scenario of warming temperatures and increasing precipitation.

[1]  M. J. Norušis,et al.  SPSS 13.0 Guide to Data Analysis , 2000 .

[2]  S. Nicholls,et al.  Implications of Global Climate Change for Tourism Flows and Seasonality , 2007 .

[3]  Sarah Nicholls,et al.  Impact of Weather on Downhill Ski Lift Ticket Sales , 2008 .

[4]  A. Perry.  WEATHER, CLIMATE AND TOURISM , 1972 .

[5]  R. Knutti,et al.  Future climate resources for tourism in Europe based on the daily Tourism Climatic Index , 2010 .

[6]  G. Crouch.  Destination Competitiveness: An Analysis of Determinant Attributes , 2011 .

[7]  W. Sutherland,et al.  The Implications of Climate Change on Coastal Visitor Numbers: A Regional Analysis , 2009 .

[8]  D. Scott,et al.  Climate change analogue analysis of ski tourism in the northeastern USA , 2009 .

[9]  J. Palutikof,et al.  Public perceptions of unusually warm weather in the UK: impacts, responses and adaptations , 2004 .

[10]  Susanne Becken,et al.  Distance Models for New Zealand International Tourists and the Role of Transport Prices , 2011 .

[11]  G. Griffiths,et al.  Scenarios of Storminess and Regional Wind Extremes under Climate Change , 2011 .

[12]  Kelly R Evenson,et al.  The relationship between leisure, walking, and transportation activity with the natural environment. , 2007, Health & place.

[13]  L. Hamilton,et al.  (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/joc.1502 Ski areas, weather and climate: time series models for New England , 2022 .

[14]  R. Butler.  Chapter 2 – Seasonality in Tourism: Issues and Implications , 2001 .

[15]  K. Tervo.  The Operational and Regional Vulnerability of Winter Tourism to Climate Variability and Change: The Case of the Finnish Nature‐Based Tourism Entrepreneurs , 2008 .

[16]  B. Prideaux,et al.  Welcome to the Wet Tropics: the importance of weather in reef tourism resilience1 , 2009 .

[17]  Ma Belén Gómez Martín,et al.  Weather, climate and tourism: a geographical perspective. , 2005 .

[18]  K. Dewar,et al.  A new tool for investigating the effect of weather on visitor numbers. , 1999 .

[19]  Wietze Lise,et al.  Impact of Climate on Tourist Demand , 2001 .

[20]  D. Scott,et al.  A regional comparison of the implications of climate change for the golf industry in Canada , 2007 .

[21]  Daniel Scott,et al.  A second generation climate index for tourism (CIT): specification and verification , 2008, International journal of biometeorology.

[22]  Andy P. Field,et al.  Discovering Statistics Using SPSS , 2000 .

[23]  M. Rebetez,et al.  Relationship between tourism demand in the Swiss Alps and hot summer air temperatures associated with climate change , 2011 .

[24]  Jude Wilson,et al.  Perceived deficiencies in the provision of climate and weather information for tourism: A New Zealand media analysis , 2011 .

[25]  L. Hein,et al.  Potential impacts of climate change on tourism; a case study for Spain , 2009 .

[26]  R. Tol,et al.  The impact of climate change on tourism in Germany, the UK and Ireland: a simulation study , 2007 .

[27]  Tim Bentley,et al.  A decade of injury monitoring in the New Zealand adventure tourism sector: A summary risk analysis , 2008 .

[28]  Brenda Jones,et al.  Implications of climate and environmental change for nature-based tourism in the Canadian Rocky Mountains: A case study of Waterton Lakes National Park , 2007 .

[29]  J. L. Eugenio-Martin,et al.  Climate in the region of origin and destination choice in outbound tourism demand , 2010 .

[30]  R. Richardson,et al.  Adaptive recreation planning and climate change: a contingent visitation approach , 2004 .

[31]  Jaume Rosselló-Nadal,et al.  The impact of weather variability on British outbound flows , 2011 .

[32]  J. Thornes,et al.  Firm Finances, Weather Derivatives and Geography , 2008 .

[33]  Z. Schwartz,et al.  A weather-resolving index for assessing the impact of climate change on tourism related climate resources , 2009 .

[34]  David Maddison,et al.  Climate change and international tourism: a simulation study , 2005 .

[35]  Jude Wilson.  The distribution of climate and weather information for tourism in New Zealand , 2011 .

[36]  D. Scott,et al.  Preferred climates for tourism: case studies from Canada, New Zealand and Sweden. , 2008 .

[37]  Angela H. Arthington,et al.  Do Climatic or Institutional Factors Drive Seasonal Patterns of Tourism Visitation to Protected Areas across Diverse Climate Zones in Eastern Australia? , 2011 .