Bioclimatic comfort of coastal tourists

To date, outdoor bioclimatic comfort assessments have been limited to local residents in open urban areas, making it unclear whether thermal comfort is perceived differently in non-urban environments or by non-residents (i.e., tourists). Coastal tourism is the largest segment of global tourism, which is highly contingent upon the thermal conditions at the destination. This study provides needed insight into bioclimatic comfort in a coastal environment, while simultaneously identifying important psychological factors that differentiate coastal tourists from everyday users of urban spaces. To examine tourists' thermal comfort, meteorological measurements were taken concurrently with questionnaire surveys (n=472) on Caribbean beaches in Barbados, Saint Lucia and Tobago. UTCI conditions of 32°C to 39°C were recorded, which can be classified as “strong” to “very strong thermal stress”. However, respondents perceived the thermal conditions as being “slightly warm” or “warm”. Even at UTCI of 39°C, 62% of respondents stated that they would not change the thermal conditions, with an additional 10% stating that they would like to feel even warmer. These results reveal that beach users' thermal preferences are up to 18°C warmer than the preferred thermal conditions identified in existing outdoor bioclimatic studies from urban park settings. Moreover, acceptable thermal conditions, as currently defined in the human biometeorology literature (i.e., slightly cool, neutral or slightly warm [e.g., 18-28°C PET]), cannot be applied to coastal tourism without modification. This study also found personal characteristics influenced thermal perceptions and preferences, with statistically significant differences (p ==.05) recorded based on demographic groups (gender, age) and climatic place of origin (residence).