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this case, the climatic condition of the place of residence constitutes a push
factor while the climatic conditions of the tourism destination become the pull
factor (Kozak, 2002). A survey carried out by Eugenio-Martin and Campos-
Soria (2010) revealed that climates of the regions where tourists live have a
great effect on the types of domestic tourism and international travel and
their choice of tourism destinations. The study also concluded that in regions
suitable for recreational tourism with a high level of comfort and a mild climate,
tourist prefer domestic tourism whereas in regions with the opposite features,
foreign travel is preferred.
Smith (1993) suggests that the relationship between climate and tourism
can be divided into two, “climate-dependent tourism” and “climate sensitive
tourism”. Climate-dependent tourism refers to tourism types such as sun
and beach tourism, which are usually associated with favorable climatic
conditions, and tourism destinations which stand out with these features. The
Mediterranean region is characterized with its climate-dependent tourism
form. Climate sensitive tourism, on the other hand, is the availability of certain
tourism activities depending on the climate. A case in point is winter and ski
tourism, which needs a certain level of accumulated snow. The Alps is one of
the leading climate sensitive tourism destinations. Tourists have a tendency to
arrange their travel time and destination to meet optimal climate conditions.
For this reason, they prefer to travel in seasons which provide suitable climatic
conditions. If the season is not available, they will choose destinations which
provide the most suitable climate conditions in the designated travel period
(Mieczkowski, 1985).
Although the effects of the climatic conditions of a destination on the
tourism demand in the region are so powerful, tourism literature did not pay
enough attention to climate-tourism relationship, and described climate factor
as a fixed value. The effects of climate change on tourism were discussed
much later than the studies and discussion on its effects on other economic
sectors. Over the last twenty years, there has been an increase in research
which focuses on the effects of climate change on global, national and local
tourism based on the climate change scenarios of Intergovernmental Panel
On Climate Change (IPCC) (See: Lise and Tol, 2002; Becken, 2005; Hamilton
at al., 2005; Jones and Scott, 2006a,b; Scott et al., 2006; Amelung et al., 2007;
Hamilton and Tol, 2007; Dawson and Scott, 2007; OECD, 2007; Scott et al,
2007; Moreno and Amelung, 2009; Ciscar et al, 2014; Grillakis et al., 2016;
Scott et al., 2019; El-Masry et al., 2022). All these studies reveal that climate
change brings about changes in tourist preferences of tourism destinations,
travel seasons, and the periods of stay. The studies also shows that as the
effects of climate change increase, such changes will be observed more clearly.
82 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate,