Ullah Nadeem, Chao Lin, Khan Tauheed Ullah, Sai Wu Lun, Yazhuo Zhang, Khan Irshad Ahmad, Hassan Muhammad Azher, Hu YiKe
School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
HUASHI Branch Company of CCCC (China Communications Construction Company Ltd.) Second Highway Engineering Co., Ltd., China.
Heliyon. 2024 Jul 30;10(15):e35315. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35315. eCollection 2024 Aug 15.
The tourism industry is a significant contribution to the economy of many countries, including Pakistan. However, its activities often have a negative impact on the environment, particularly related to climate change. Notably, Pakistan ranks fifth among countries most affected by climate change, which requires a targeted analysis of the tourism sector to determine its potential impacts. Despite the critical nature of this issue, there is currently a lack of research that examines how climate change specifically impacts Pakistan's tourism industry. This study aims to address this gap by using the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) to assess the impact of climate change on the suitability of different tourism locations across the country. Our results show that popular tourist destinations such as Gilgit-Baltistan experience their peak season in the warmer third quarter (summer), which corresponds to the highest observed TCI values. This suggests that warmer temperatures could boost tourism activity and spending in these regions. Furthermore, our analysis shows that air temperature plays a crucial role in determining tourist comfort levels and significantly influences tourists' TCI values and sensory experiences. The results of this study show that the TCI methodology can be an effective tool for further research into the geographical impacts of climate change on tourism. By identifying necessary changes due to climatic changes, future studies could provide valuable insights into how the tourism industry can adapt to and reduce its environmental footprint.
旅游业对包括巴基斯坦在内的许多国家的经济都有重大贡献。然而，其活动往往对环境产生负面影响，特别是与气候变化相关的影响。值得注意的是，巴基斯坦在受气候变化影响最严重的国家中排名第五，这就需要对旅游业进行有针对性的分析，以确定其潜在影响。尽管这个问题至关重要，但目前缺乏研究来考察气候变化如何具体影响巴基斯坦的旅游业。本研究旨在通过使用旅游气候指数（TCI）来评估气候变化对该国不同旅游地点适宜性的影响，以填补这一空白。我们的结果表明，吉尔吉特 - 巴尔蒂斯坦等热门旅游目的地在较温暖的第三季度（夏季）迎来旺季，这与观测到的最高TCI值相对应。这表明气温升高可能会促进这些地区的旅游活动和消费。此外，我们的分析表明，气温在决定游客舒适度方面起着关键作用，并显著影响游客的TCI值和感官体验。本研究结果表明，TCI方法可以成为进一步研究气候变化对旅游业地理影响的有效工具。通过确定因气候变化而需要做出的必要改变，未来的研究可以为旅游业如何适应并减少其环境足迹提供有价值的见解。
