Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece
Numerous studies have demonstrated the tourism industry to be especially sensitive to weather and climate variability. Snow-related tourism, being largely dependent on climatic resources, is particularly affected by climate change. Our study provides a new index to reflect the climatic suitability o...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1569 |
| _version_ | 1797475393564835840 |
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| author | Dimitrios Kapetanakis Elena Georgopoulou Sevastianos Mirasgedis Yannis Sarafidis |
| author_facet | Dimitrios Kapetanakis Elena Georgopoulou Sevastianos Mirasgedis Yannis Sarafidis |
| author_sort | Dimitrios Kapetanakis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Numerous studies have demonstrated the tourism industry to be especially sensitive to weather and climate variability. Snow-related tourism, being largely dependent on climatic resources, is particularly affected by climate change. Our study provides a new index to reflect the climatic suitability of a given destination for snow-related tourism activities, focusing on resorts with usually limited snowfall. The proposed Skiing Utility Index (SUI) is based purely on the weather preferences of skiers, extracted by questionnaires distributed at the Parnassos ski center (Greece). The index incorporates four different weather variables considered to be the most influential for this type of tourism. The ideal temperature for skiing was found to be close to 0 °C, the ideal wind speed between 0–3.3 m/s, the ideal cloud cover between 0–25% and the snowfall duration between 1–2 h, with the latter found to be the most important variable for skiing. For each climatic variable, a mean utility score profile was developed from all respondents. Following, a utility function was fitted via linear regression to the above-mentioned utility score. All four utility functions were aggregated into one total SUI score. When combined with climate projections, the SUI can support the assessment of climate change risks for snow-related tourism destinations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:44:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3ef6adee56374ed8ae1fa18b29fe84a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:44:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-3ef6adee56374ed8ae1fa18b29fe84a72023-11-23T22:50:14ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-09-011310156910.3390/atmos13101569Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in GreeceDimitrios Kapetanakis0Elena Georgopoulou1Sevastianos Mirasgedis2Yannis Sarafidis3Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxas and Vassilis Pavlou, 15236 Penteli, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxas and Vassilis Pavlou, 15236 Penteli, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxas and Vassilis Pavlou, 15236 Penteli, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxas and Vassilis Pavlou, 15236 Penteli, GreeceNumerous studies have demonstrated the tourism industry to be especially sensitive to weather and climate variability. Snow-related tourism, being largely dependent on climatic resources, is particularly affected by climate change. Our study provides a new index to reflect the climatic suitability of a given destination for snow-related tourism activities, focusing on resorts with usually limited snowfall. The proposed Skiing Utility Index (SUI) is based purely on the weather preferences of skiers, extracted by questionnaires distributed at the Parnassos ski center (Greece). The index incorporates four different weather variables considered to be the most influential for this type of tourism. The ideal temperature for skiing was found to be close to 0 °C, the ideal wind speed between 0–3.3 m/s, the ideal cloud cover between 0–25% and the snowfall duration between 1–2 h, with the latter found to be the most important variable for skiing. For each climatic variable, a mean utility score profile was developed from all respondents. Following, a utility function was fitted via linear regression to the above-mentioned utility score. All four utility functions were aggregated into one total SUI score. When combined with climate projections, the SUI can support the assessment of climate change risks for snow-related tourism destinations.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1569ski tourismwinter tourismclimate indexclimate changeweather preferences |
| spellingShingle | Dimitrios Kapetanakis Elena Georgopoulou Sevastianos Mirasgedis Yannis Sarafidis Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece Atmosphere ski tourism winter tourism climate index climate change weather preferences |
| title | Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece |
| title_full | Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece |
| title_fullStr | Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece |
| title_full_unstemmed | Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece |
| title_short | Weather Preferences for Ski Tourism: An Empirical Study on the Largest Ski Resort in Greece |
| title_sort | weather preferences for ski tourism an empirical study on the largest ski resort in greece |
| topic | ski tourism winter tourism climate index climate change weather preferences |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/10/1569 |
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