The use of webcam images to determine tourist–climate aptitude: favourable weather types for sun and beach tourism on the Alicante coast (Spain)
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Martínez Ibarra, EmilioEditorial
Springer
Fecha
2011Patrocinador
The findings presented in this paper form part of the author’s PhD thesis “Consideraciones Geográficas en torno a binomio clima-turismo: aplicación al litoral alicantino”, written with the support of an FPU pre-doctoral grant from the Ministry of Science and Education in Spain, and part of the project “Evaluación de la vulnerabilidad del turismo litoral del Mediterráneo español al clima y al cambio climático”, reference CSO 2008-01348/GEOG, granted also by the aforementioned bodyResumen
Climate has an obvious influence on tourism as a resource and as a location factor for tourist activities. Consequently, the tourist phenomenon in general is heavily controlled by meteorological conditions—in short, by the climate. In this article, the author proposes a set of weather types with which to establish the climate aptitude for sun and beach tourism. To determine these types, the density of use of one of the beaches with the lowest seasonality in continental Europe, the Levante Beach in Benidorm (Alicante, Spain), was analysed. Beach attendance was monitored using a webcam installed by the “Agencia Valenciana de Turismo”. The relationship between the density of use of the lower and upper beach areas on the one hand, and meteorological variables on the other, allowed comfort (physiological equiv- alent temperature) and enjoyment (fractions of solar radiation) thresholds to be established. The appropriate hydric comfort values were obtained by comparing the ranges proposed by Besancenot in 1989 [Besancenot (1989) Clima et turismes. Massom, París] with numbers of visitors to the beach. The wind velocity and precipitation thresholds were selected following consultation with the literature and considering the climatic characteristics of the environment under analysis. Based on a combination of these thresholds, weather types suitable for this specific tourist activity are defined. Thus, this article presents a method for assessing the extent to which a day on the beach can be enjoyed. This has a number of applications, for planners, the tourism business and consumers alike. The use of this (filter) method in climate databases and meteorological forecasts could help determine the tourist season, the suitability of setting up a business associated with sun and beach tourism, as well as help plan holidays and program a day’s leisure activities. Thus, the article seeks to improve our understanding of the climate preferences of that tourist activity par excellence: sun and beach tourism.