Effects of climate on tourism in Qazvin province based on Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) model

Dissertation for M.Sc degree

Natural geography-climate field

Chapter one

Research overview

Introduction

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world that is growing rapidly. For many regions, tourism is the most important source of income, and for other regions, the economic return from tourism is very high (Masoompour, Khosh Akhlaq). According to the prediction of the World Tourism Organization, by 2020, international tourism will reach 1.6 million people and the resulting financial turnover will be more than 2 trillion dollars worldwide (WTO, 1988). Many countries consider this dynamic industry as the main source of income for creating employment in the private sector and for cultural and human exchanges and the development of the infrastructure structure (Rashidnia, Gandhamkar, 2013: 2).

Today, the tourism industry as a dynamic and comprehensive industry includes all the elements of existence of a garment and global systems. Tourism in its original sense from the 19th century is with originality and motivation, not aimless trips and plans. Basically, tourism is based on the wishes and will of nations. Government organizations and the private sector are the only planners of these purposeful trips, who must plan according to public wishes so that tourism can be carried out in the best way (Tawakli and Goldi Sharaf Seyed, 1388: 44). The development of tourism services not only highlights the regional originalities, but also benefits from its results in maintaining and organizing these originalities and also in creating the optimal balance of the resource and its appropriate use for the preservation and maintenance and growth and development of natural and national resources, and at the same time it benefits from the economic benefits of the related transportations (Mikaili, 2019: 22). Many factors affect the tourism industry, one of the most important of which is weather.

Weather and climate play an important role in tourism and the success of a tourist destination. (Bingo, Hamilton & Tol, 2006:915) due to the fact that the climate is a very important parameter in choosing a tourist destination, and the climate significantly affects the program of tourism agencies during different seasons. Suitable climate and climatic comfort increase the number of tourists in the tourist attraction areas. On the other hand, climate and weather can also cause an increase in the total cost. (for example, an increase in energy consumption in cooling devices during the hot season) Also, climate changes have a direct effect on tourism centers that rely on nature (Scott, Jonse & Konepek, 2007:572). And human bioclimatic (bioclimatic) comfort depends on the thermal balance of the human body with the surrounding environment. A range of temperatures in which heat distribution is satisfactory is called the human comfort zone. From the point of view of physical activity and human comfort, no climate can be assumed to be absolutely favorable or unfavorable. Therefore, comfort cannot be 100% constant in an area and it changes relatively for people according to age, health, physical activity, race, amount of clothing and also based on different seasons of the year and people's adaptation to the environment (Mohammadi, 2016). On the other hand, the temperature balance between the human body and the environment is different inside and outside the building, and comfort and convenience are important in both environments. Physiological equivalent temperature model examines the conditions of human climatic comfort both in the interior of buildings and in the exterior with regard to the type of covering and human activity. Therefore, the phiriological equivalent temperature model is more efficient and complete among the models presented regarding human climate comfort. The tourism industry of the province needs to evaluate the climate as one of the main sources of tourism, and therefore the tourism climate of the province has been evaluated using the physiological equivalent temperature model in the GIS environment in order to determine its strengths and potentials. It is one of the important sources of income generation and at the same time one of the effective factors in cultural exchanges between countries.. For this reason, local researchers and experts are interested in investigating the role of tourism in economic and social development (Albalate and Bel, 2009:426). Also, weather is directly related to personal comfort for tourists. Individual comfort means a set of conditions that are suitable for at least 80% of people from a thermal point of view (Qabadian and Faiz Mahdavi 2010). One of the information needed by tourists for traveling is the climatic conditions of the destination, and most of the tourists consider climatic considerations to choose a tourist destination. Climate is very important from the point of view of tourism planning, and tourists are usually looking for a favorable climate or a comfortable climate in which a person does not feel any dissatisfaction or lack of thermal and climatic comfort, and this factor plays an important role in deciding on a tourist destination (Matzarakis, 2001:172). Therefore, proper information and understanding of weather conditions can support travelers and vulnerable groups and play an important role in making decisions about their destinations.

For this purpose and to better examine the impact of climate on tourism, various models have been presented so far. Among them, it is possible to use the indicators related to human physiology, which are derived from the energy balance equation of the human body, which today have gained more credibility in human bioclimatic studies as well as tourism meteorology (Matzarakis, 2001:36). One of the efficient models related to this index is the physiological equivalent temperature model or PET. which has this advantage over other tourism climate models that not only considers the ambient temperature inside the building but also the ambient temperature outside the building for the comfort of tourists. Also, this model has the ability to check the type of activity and clothing of the tourist in the comfort level.

According to the above issues and the climatic diversity of Qazvin province, which has an area of ??about 15820 square kilometers and is located between 48 and 45 minutes to 50 degrees east longitude and 35 degrees and 37 minutes to 36 degrees and 45 minutes north latitude, and due to the different topographical structure that brings different climatic conditions to The way that its climate is associated with an obvious fluctuation, in which cold and mountainous weather can be seen in the north and dry and semi-arid weather in the central areas, so it is possible to identify the best time and place for tourists according to the PET model and the potentials in different places in the province and with proper planning. What are they?

1-4- Research hypothesis

According to the topography of the study area, the physiological equivalent temperature model suggests different time periods for tourist activities.

1-5- Research objectives

Implementation of the physiological equivalent temperature model in order to better understand the tourism activity potential of Qazvin province

Zoning the tourism climate of the province based on the physiological equivalent model according to the local talents in the area Study

1-6- Research method

Obtaining the required climatic data from the synoptic stations of the province and control

Checking the accuracy of the collected data

Checking the climatic conditions of the study area based on one of the common classification methods

Executing the PET model on a monthly scale

Generating the layers of information needed in the physiological equivalent model for regional tourism climate zoning Studies

Interpretation of PET model output data in the study area

1-7- Research limitations

There were many limitations in the writing of this thesis, the main ones of which are listed below.

The problem of accessing external resources: In addition to the low speed of the Internet, downloading foreign books requires paying a high fee. For example, the virtual purchase of a volume of a scientific book on "climate comfort" requires 40 to 50 dollars.

Climatic data deficiency: the number of synoptic stations with high statistical period in the study area is extremely low.