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The Spanish tourist sector facing extreme climate events: a case study of domestic tourism in the heat wave of 2003

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Abstract

This research explores, by means of a questionnaire-based survey, public knowledge and perception as well as the behaviour of young Spanish tourists before, during and after the summer holiday period affected by an episode of extreme heat in 2003. The survey was administered between November and December 2004. The extraordinary heat wave of the summer of 2003 can be seen as an example of a normal episode in terms of the predicted intensity and duration of European summers towards the end of the twenty-first century. It can therefore be used as the laboratory setting for this study. In this context, the use of the climate analogue approach allows us to obtain novel perspectives regarding the future impact that this type of event could have on tourist demand, based on a real experience. Likewise, such an approach allows the strategies of adaptation implemented by the different elements in the tourist system in order to cope with the atmospheric episode to be evaluated. Such strategies could prove useful in reducing vulnerability when faced with similar episodes in the future. The main results indicate that Spanish tourists (young segment market) are flexible in adapting to episodes of extremely high temperatures. Their personal perception of the phenomenon, their behaviour and the adaptation measures implemented to a greater or lesser extent before that time, reduce the vulnerability of the sector when faced with this type of event, at least from the point of view of this young segment of the internal national market. In Spain, the episode of extreme heat of 2003 has led to the implementation or improvement of some adaptive measures after the event, especially in the fields of management, policy and education.

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Notes

  1. According to FAMILITUR statistics, in 2011 the Spanish went on 160.8 million trips, the majority of which (91.7 %) were to destinations within Spain (IET 2011). Likewise, in 2003, Spanish residents went on a total of 129.2 million trips, with Spain itself as the most common destination (91.2 %) (IET 2003a).

  2. 400 questionnaires were completed: 49 of them were not included in the analysis since the holiday destinations indicated in them did not fall under the influence of the heat wave.

  3. In the Lexis stratified random sample, a stratum of the population (in this case young Spanish university students over 18 who travelled on holiday within Spain during the summer affected by the heat wave of 2003) is sampled to represent all strata (young Spaniards over 18 who travelled on holiday within Spain during the summer affected by the heat wave of 2003).

  4. 44.7 % of students surveyed were female and 55.3 % were men. 72.1 % of the students surveyed were aged between 18 and 24 years old, 23.8 % were aged between 25 and 35 years old, and 4.1 % were between 35 and 40 years old. Of the students surveyed, 53.2 % worked, and 46.8 % did not work. It should be pointed out that the main types of tourism for respondents during the summer in question were: 28.6 % sun and sand tourism, 3.8 % nautical tourism, 24.1 % nature tourism, 27.4 % cultural tourism, 5.7 % adventure sport tourism and 10.4 % other types of tourism.

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Acknowledgement

This study was conducted within the framework of a Plan Nacional de I + D + I research project sponsored by Spain’s Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, reference numbers CSO2008-01346 and CSO2011-23404.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographical Analysis, University of Barcelona, Montalegre 6, Barcelona, 08001, Spain

    M. Belén Gómez-Martín

  2. Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographical Analysis, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Xosé A. Armesto-López

  3. Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographical Analysis, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Emilio Martínez-Ibarra

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  1. M. Belén Gómez-Martín
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  2. Xosé A. Armesto-López
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  3. Emilio Martínez-Ibarra
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Correspondence to M. Belén Gómez-Martín.

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Gómez-Martín, M.B., Armesto-López, X.A. & Martínez-Ibarra, E. The Spanish tourist sector facing extreme climate events: a case study of domestic tourism in the heat wave of 2003. Int J Biometeorol 58, 781–797 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-013-0659-6

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