An Inter-Comparison of the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) and the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) in Europe

Daniel Scott,Mantao Tang,Michelle Rutty,Bas Amelung

doi:10.3390/atmos7060080

Daniel Scott, Mantao Tang + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7060080

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Abstract

Much research has been devoted to quantifying optimal or unacceptable climate conditions both generally and for specific tourism segments or activities over the last 10 years. This knowledge is not incorporated in the Tourism Climate Index (TCI), which has also been subject to other substantial critiques. To more accurately assess the climatic suitability of destinations for leisure tourism, the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) was developed. A major advancement of the HCI is that its variable rating scales and the component weighting system are based on this aforementioned literature of tourists’ stated climatic preferences. This paper will discuss the design of the HCI and how the limitations of the TCI were overcome. It then presents an inter-comparison of the results from HCI:Urban and TCI for geographically diverse urban destinations across Europe. The results illustrate how the HCI:Urban rates the climate of many cities higher than the TCI, particularly in shoulder seasons and the winter months, which is more consistent with observed visitation patterns. The results empirically demonstrate that use of the TCI should be discontinued.

Highlights

Tourism has become one of the largest economic sectors in the world [1] and is a significant contributor to many national and local economies
This paper proposes a new climate index for tourism: the Holiday Climate Index (HCI)
HCI overcomes the main limitations of the widely used Mieczkowski Tourism Climate Index (TCI): the index is founded on stated tourist climate preferences, it takes the overriding influence of rain and wind into account, it uses daily data to estimate the probability of decision relevant conditions, and it is tailored to specific tourism segments

Summary

Introduction

Tourism has become one of the largest economic sectors in the world [1] and is a significant contributor to many national and local economies. The most visited region in the world is Europe, which accounts for 51% of all international arrivals (582 million tourists) and 41% of tourism receipts (US$ 509 billion) [2]. Countries in Europe continue to dominate the travel and tourism competitiveness ranking, which measures the attractiveness of developing business in the travel and tourism industry of individual countries, with six of the top 10 economies located in the region When exploring what motivates tourists to visit Europe, studies reveal climate to be a primary factor, with travel to the Mediterranean region [4,5,6]. Climatic resources contribute significantly to tourists’ decision-making processes, influencing where and when tourists’ travel, as well as the associated distribution of tourism expenditures

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