Weather- and climate-related information for tourism

Abstract

Weather, climate and tourism are interconnected in many different ways. All of them are of both global and local significance. Weather and/or climate information is of interest for tourists and the tourist industry especially before and during the vacation period. Relevant climate information can be obtained through different media (tourist guide books, Internet, CD, DVD) or through weather services. During vacations, actual weather information is more important than climate information; therefore, climate information does not play an important role in this period. After the vacation period weather and/or climate information are usually no longer required. Examples of available climate information are: air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, daily sunshine duration and water temperature on a monthly basis. Human biometeorology can offer and supply relevant information (especially in high spatial resolution) about weather/climate conditions, UV-radiation, air pollution and bioclimatic conditions. This climate-related information can be used by tourist industries for the planning of tourism facilities and tourism areas. Atmospheric effects on human health or heat stress can be detected and quantified.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bas Amelung from the Institute of Integrative Studies, University of Maastricht, for providing and preparing the input data for the global runs analysis. Thanks to Markus Zygmuntowski for the global maps produced by IDL software. Thanks to Nikola Sander for proofreading and editing the manuscript.