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.