Table 6.1. Summary of How Features in Each of the Topical Branches of Physical Geography Can Become Resources for or Barriers to Tourism.
Branch
Resources
Barriers
Meteorology and climatology
Attraction
In general, good weather conditions
Perceptual depending on individual and cultural preferences and desired activities
Detraction
Perceptual depending on individual and cultural preferences and desired activities
Basis for activities
Moderate temperatures
Sun (e.g., sunbathing)
Precipitation (e.g., skiing)/lack of precipitation (e.g., most outdoor activities)
Wind (e.g., windsurfing)/lack of wind (e.g., swimming)
Disrupt activities
Extreme temperatures
Precipitation/lack of precipitation
Wind/lack of wind
Natural hazards (e.g., thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards)
Hydrology and oceanography
Attraction
Unique water features (e.g., waterfalls, geysers)
Specific characteristics (e.g., meandering rivers for floating, rapids for whitewater rafting and kayaking)
Distinct properties (e.g., thermal or mineral springs for medical treatments)
Foundation for attractive tourism landscapes (e.g., green golf courses, landscaped resorts, decorative fountains)
Detraction
Perceptual (e.g., lack of available water to create attractive tourism landscapes)
Physical (e.g., poor water quality)
Basis for activities
Swimming and bathing
Boating and rafting
Watersports
Fishing
Disrupt activities
Lack of available water to participate in tourism activities
Health risks from poor water quality
Natural hazards (e.g., flooding, tidal surges, tsunamis)
Necessary quantity and quality
Drinking and bathing
Cooking and cleaning
Branch
Resources
Barriers
Geomorphology
Attraction
Unique landforms (e.g., islands, mountains, canyons, caves)
Cultural values (e.g., sacred landscapes)
Landform processes (e.g., erupting volcanoes)
Detraction
Perceptual (e.g., cultural and personal perceptions of uninteresting or ugly landscapes)
Location for resorts
High-altitude summer retreats and health resorts
Prevent accessibility
Physical (e.g., landforms that cut a destination off from major markets and/or make transportation difficult)
Basis for activities
Mountain hiking/climbing
Winter sports
Disrupt activities
Natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions)
Biogeography
Attraction
Distinct biomes (e.g., tropical rainforest, temperate rain forest, desert)
Attractive vegetation (e.g., flowering plants, fall colors)
Unique, rare, or endangered plant and animal species
Detraction
Lack of expected vegetation (e.g., barren instead of lush)
Deforested landscapes
Diminished wildlife populations due to habitat loss, overhunting, and poaching
Basis for activities
Nature hikes, canopy tours
Fruit picking, truffle hunting
Bird watching, wildlife safaris
Disrupt activities
Natural hazards (e.g., wildfires)
Outbreaks of animal diseases (e.g., foot-and-mouth disease)
One tourism scholar notes: “It is generally accepted that climate is an important part of the region’s tourism resource base, but the role of climate in determining the suitability of a region for tourism or outdoor recreation is often assumed to be self-evident and therefore to require no elaboration.”4 Another argues that tourism planning rarely considers anything more than “simple, general descriptions of the climate, which are often unconnected to the needs of tourism.”5 When we consider all of the ways in which weather and climate impact tourism, we should begin to realize that this cannot be taken for granted. While the intersection between the geography of tourism and climatology has been explored in greater depth than the other branches of physical geography, the literature still clearly argues for more work to be done.
Box 6.1. Experience: Irish Blue, Tuscan Rain, and Memories of European Weather
A few years ago, my husband and I decided that we had the time and money to start traveling more. I had traveled in Europe years ago, before I got married and had children, but my husband had never been. The first destination that we chose was Switzerland. It was wonderful. Every day we had beautiful sunny skies and perfect pleasant temperatures for the kinds of activities we wanted to do: exploring the historic cities and hiking in the mountains. We had such an amazing experience that we decided to make a trip to Europe an annual event.
The next year we chose Ireland. Obviously we knew that this was going to be a different kind of experience. Everyone told us to expect that the weather wouldn’t be very good. But it was even worse than we anticipated. Apparently, for the duration of the week that we were there, a front coming off the North Atlantic got stalled over the island. Temperatures were colder, and the rain heavier, than normal. It literally rained every day, and almost all day at that. On the day that we visited the Rock of Cashel, which we were looking forward to as the highlight of our trip, we had horrible, wind-driven downpours. Throughout the course of the trip, we got excited anytime we saw small patches of blue sky, which we dubbed “Irish blue.” We had one afternoon with some skies like this and temperatures that might have made it up to 60°F. Of course, after everything else, we were grateful for some not-entirely-unpleasant conditions. However, we were still somewhat amused by the fact that the locals kept commenting on how great the weather was and headed in droves to the ice cream shops. This isn’t to say that we don’t have good memories of Ireland—we do—and we generally liked it, in spite of the weather.
We chose Slovenia after that, and honestly, we didn’t know quite what to expect from the weather. We had some days of nice weather, especially in the Julian Alps, that reminded us of Switzerland. We also had some days of rain. There was one day in particular that we will always remember. We had taken the train to the city of Maribor. We had heard that some of the area’s famous ski slopes were open for hiking during the summer, so we found a place to ride the cable car up the side of a mountain with the intention of hiking down. It was a sort of gray, overcast kind of day, but we assumed (mistakenly) that it was going to stay that way. Shortly after we reached the top and got off, it started to drizzle. At this point, our only option was to start walking. As it turns out, there wasn’t exactly a path, so we just followed the other people down the side of the mountain. As we passed through cow pastures, the rain started getting harder. And harder. Fortunately, we did have rain ponchos with us that kept us from getting completely soaked—on the top half at least. I think I could have poured the water out of my running shoes. It seemed like an awfully long trip down the side of that mountain, and after we reached the bottom, we were on the wrong side of the slope, so we had to walk farther still to the place where we could catch a bus to take us back to the train station. Finally, we stopped at a restaurant and ordered some drinks just to get out of the rain for a little while. We felt rather conspicuous, wearing our silly ponchos and dripping water, as we sat down among the nicely dressed Slovenes there for dinner. I wouldn’t say that this ruined our experience of Slovenia. But it is definitely something that we vividly remember about that trip.
Figure 6.1. Trying to make the best of the situation while hiking in the rain in Maribor, Sloven
ia. (Source: Carolyn Nelson)
Finally, we headed to Italy. We chose Tuscany expressly for its reputation as a warm, sunny destination. On the day that we arrived, it was just that. But after that, we didn’t see the sun again, and we saw even less “Irish blue” than we had in Ireland. It was just plain cold, with driving rain, and we were unable to do any of the things that we had planned to do. We were most looking forward to taking several days to hike in the Cinque Terre, but the paths between the towns were closed because all of the rain had made them treacherous. So we were forced to stick to the cities. Of course, it’s hard to appreciate the spectacular medieval and Renaissance architecture of places like Florence when all you can see is the underside of your umbrella. And because we had expected to spend our time outside, we hadn’t made reservations at any of the museums, and it was too late to do it at that point. Needless to say, it was not a fun trip and the biggest disappointment of all.
It’s been a few years, but we haven’t been back to Europe since then. It wasn’t exactly the weather that put us off Europe for a while—although that was definitely part of it. We’ll go back sometime in the next few years, and you can be sure that we will choose both where we go and when carefully to give us the best possible chance of having good weather. We can say from experience that it absolutely does make a difference.
—Carolyn
It is said that weather and climate have a greater influence over what can and cannot be done in a given place than any other physical feature, and this applies to the development of tourism. These elements determine the time and length of the tourism season, the products that can be developed, the location of activities and infrastructure, and more. Generally speaking, climate is the feature that a destination is least able to manipulate to provide the desired conditions for tourism. An exception might be a snowmaker that ensures tourists can have the experience they came for, although natural conditions, such as a day of sun with five to ten inches of fresh powder, are still considered to be the best.
Whether it is nature-based or in an urban area, much of tourism takes place outside. As such, elements of weather and climate can be a resource that does not generate tourism but provides the conditions that allow for tourism activities to take place. Tourism is voluntary; tourists will only participate in an activity if the conditions allow it to be done safely and relatively comfortably. Consequently, there is an important correlation between weather and tourism revenues, either directly (e.g., financial losses due to poor or unexpected weather conditions) or indirectly (e.g., financial gains in secondary tourism activities that are less sensitive to the weather).
These elements of weather and climate can also be the resource on which tourism depends. Obviously, sun is a vital resource for sun, sea, and sand tourism. For these elements of the physical system, though, what is considered a resource for or a barrier to tourism is variable, depending on the activity and perceptions. This means that the same feature can, in fact, be both. For example, in the case of Tarifa, Spain, located between the popular 3S resorts of Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz, the presence of high winds was a barrier to the development of sun, sea, and sand tourism. However, stakeholders turned this feature into a tourism resource by promoting the destination as the “capital of wind” and developing niche tourism activities like windsurfing.6
Destinations seek to reassure potential tourists in target markets of their conditions, such as in the case of Barbados and their “perfect weather” (box 2.3). However, even destinations with notoriously poor weather conditions for tourism activities try to make the most of it. For example, Scotland’s National Tourism Organization website, Visit Scotland, cheerfully encourages tourists to “explore Scotland’s landscape of lochs and mountains, its interesting geography and its gloriously unpredictable climate.”7 Moreover, rather than shying away from their bad weather, they make light of it while highlighting other attractions. In breaking down the seasons, the site declares that hospitality is “something that improves as the weather worsens.”8
Finally, extreme weather events such as hurricanes or blizzards present a barrier to tourism. As a perceptual barrier, tourists may avoid destinations when and where there is the potential for a hazard to occur (e.g., the low tourism season for destinations in the Caribbean and the Pacific corresponds to the hurricane season). As a physical barrier, these events have the potential to prevent tourists from reaching a destination or participating in the desired activities at a particular time. In addition, the damage and destruction caused by an extreme weather event has a long-term effect on the destination. It will face not only the cost of repairs but also the lost revenues while it is partially or completely closed to tourists. Additionally, the destination may have to work to recover those tourists who went elsewhere for the duration by advertising that they are open again or by offering discount specials.
Hydrology, Oceanography, and Tourism
The hydrosphere includes the surface water in oceans, lakes, and rivers; subsurface water; frozen water; and even water vapor in the atmosphere. As a result, there is significant overlap between this sphere and the others. Broadly, hydrology is the science of water and considers the properties, distribution, and circulation of water in the hydrosphere. However, modern hydrology is specifically concerned with fresh water. Fresh water is incredibly important in shaping human activities; consequently, the study of hydrology provides us with the means of understanding the availability of fresh water so that this fundamental resource can be appropriately managed to provide people with both the quality and quantity of water that they need. At its most basic, oceanography is the study of processes in oceans and seas and is therefore concerned with saline water. The global ocean is the most extensive feature of the hydrosphere. Covering 71 percent of the earth’s surface, oceans make up approximately 97 percent of the earth’s surface water.9
Water is a tremendously significant resource for tourism. Combined with the environments surrounding it, this feature provides the basis for countless tourism attractions and activities around the world. Features such as waterfalls and geysers are often scenic attractions, while thermal and mineral springs have long provided the basis for health resorts. Rivers and lakes (both natural and artificial) allow for recreational activities, such as boating, fishing, rafting, kayaking, wildlife viewing, and more. Today, some of the most significant destinations are located in coastal areas. The beach, in particular, is considered to have a powerful appeal to the physical senses. For many societies, it is considered to be an aesthetically pleasing place that provides the potential for recreation from sunbathing to water sports.
Knowledge about these environments is important for stakeholders in the development and maintenance of a destination. The characteristics of a coast can shape the attractiveness of the area for tourism as well as its potential for tourist activities. Depositional coastlines characterized by beaches are common mass 3S destinations, while the more rugged erosional coastlines can be a resource for scenic tourism. White sand is often perceived to be the most desirable for beach tourism (figure 6.2), although volcanic black sand can be found on beaches in the Caribbean and Hawaiian islands, and some popular beaches in the Mediterranean are composed of rocks and pebbles. The calm waters of sheltered coves may be an important resource for mass tourism but not for niche tourism based on adventure and sport. Stakeholders also need to be aware of the physical processes at work along coastlines that can affect these resources and other infrastructure. Tourism destinations may need to periodically undertake beach nourishment to artificially replace lost sand or improve sand quality. For example, nearly US$70 billion have been spent in efforts to maintain, rebuild, and replenish beaches in Miami-Dade County, Florida.10
Figure 6.2. White sand beaches, such as this one at Verdado, Cuba, are distinct tourism resources and often the basis for modern 3S tourism destinations. (Source: Velvet Nelson)
Finally, stakeholders need information about these resources to provide a safe and suita
ble environment for tourism activities. Data about tides, currents, and waves should be used to identify the optimal times to participate in water sports (e.g., swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, etc.) and provide tourists with warnings about potentially hazardous conditions.
A lack of water—in terms of appropriate quality or quantity—can present a tangible barrier to tourism development; however, this can be overcome. Water is a necessary precondition for tourism because it is a fundamental human resource. A destination needs to ensure adequate levels of water quality for both tourism resources (e.g., quality of surface water for aesthetic purposes and tourism activities) and human resources (e.g., quality of water for drinking and bathing). At the same time, stakeholders must understand the constraints of water supply at the destination and consumption patterns to balance the needs of local economic activities, the resident population, and tourists. Las Vegas, a desert destination that receives over 37 million tourists per year, is unable to provide enough water to support this demand from locally available surface and groundwater reservoirs and must import water with expensive diversion systems. Small island destinations (e.g., Curaçao, Cyprus, and Mauritius), as well as dry coastal destinations (e.g., Australia, Dubai, southern California), are increasingly looking to desalination of seawater (see box 6.2) to meet their needs.
An Introduction to the Geography of Tourism Page 18
