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Spatial differentiation of China’s summer tourist destinations based on climatic suitability using the Universal Thermal Climate Index

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Abstract

As a result of global warming and the gradual exacerbation of the urban heat island effect, vacationing in the summer to escape the heat has become a compelling tourism demand. This study examines the spatial differentiation of China’s summer tourist destinations based on meteorological observations and tourism resources data from 1960 to 2014. The Universal Thermal Climate Index and analytic hierarchy process model were used to analyze climatic suitability. The findings are as follows. First, the spatial distribution of China’s summer tourism resources exhibits a double-peak characteristic, with concentrations in the mid- and high-latitude and high-altitude regions. Second, the most influential destinations in China based on the composite index were Guiyang, Qingdao, Harbin, and Dalian. These findings can helpful for people who are planning their summer vacations, as well as tourism managers who benefit from such increases in the number of tourists.

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Acknowledgements

This research study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41471140, 41671158) and the Liaoning Province Outstanding Youth Program (Grant No. LJQ2015058). The authors would like to acknowledge all experts’ contributions in the building of the model and the formulation of the strategies of this study. We sincerely thank the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Physical Geography and Geomatics, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China

    Jun Yang, Zhenchao Zhang & Xueming Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Jianchao Xi

  3. School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Zhangxian Feng

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  1. Jun Yang
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  2. Zhenchao Zhang
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  3. Xueming Li
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  4. Jianchao Xi
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Jun Yang contributed to all aspects of this work; Yongheng Zhang wrote the main manuscript text, conducted the experiment, and analyzed the data; Xueming Li, Jianchao Xi, and Zhangxian Feng revised the paper. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jun Yang or Zhangxian Feng.

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Yang, J., Zhang, Z., Li, X. et al. Spatial differentiation of China’s summer tourist destinations based on climatic suitability using the Universal Thermal Climate Index. Theor Appl Climatol 134, 859–874 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2312-5

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