1
Department of Water Engineering, College of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
2
Faculty member of Higher Education Complex of Bam, Bam, Iran
Abstract
Climate is a natural resource that effects decision making for selection of destinations in tourism and ecotourism. The relationship between climate and tourism is a complex one. But application of a climate index provides an ideal approach to understanding this complexity and is a useful tool for the tourism industry. In this study, a modified version of Mieczkowski's (1985) Tourism Climate Index (TCI) for months was used for Kerman province to determine climate comfort ratings ranging from ideal to unfavorable. Data covering a network of 12 meteorological stations was used to compute a TCI for the study region. Then index evaluations in each city were classified according to one of the six annual TCI distributions presented by Scott and Mcboyle (2001). Results of modeling showed bimodal-shoulder peaks in seven stations namely (Anar, Rafsanjan, Zarand, Sirjan, Shahre-Babak, Bam and Kerman); two stations namely (Baft and Lalehzar) had summer peak, and three cities (Shahdad, Kahnouj and Jiroft) had winter peak. TCI scores for all months in the study stations were transferred into Geographic Information System to determine the most suitable areas and months for tourism activities in Kerman province.
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