Evaluation of climate suitability for Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) in arid regions of Isfahan Province (Iran)

Abstract

This article applies the weather types method to assess the climate suitability for nature-based tourism (NBT) in the arid and hyper-arid climate zones of the province of Isfahan (Iran) based on bioclimatic criteria and the preferences of Iranian domestic tourists identified by means of a survey. To date, there are no climate potential assessments for the practice of nature tourism based on an analysis of climate preferences in the study area. According to the results, the distribution of favorable weather types in the study area between March and November during the period 1998–2017 showed that there is a low season in summer and two high seasons corresponding to autumn and spring. The highest frequencies of weather types conducive to NBT were recorded between the second half of September to the first half of November and between the second half of April until the end of May. The calendars resulting from application of the weather types method will serve as an efficient tool for providing tourists and the region’s main tourist stakeholders with information; in the case of the latter, they will be particularly useful for destination planning and activity scheduling.