Global Climate Resources and Climate Change for Beach Tourism (1950-2019)

Climate is a primary determinant of tourism and recreational decisions. According to climate resource perspective–the study’s theoretical perspective–climate resources are meteorological variables of confirmable consequence to firm performance. Climate resources can be quantified using climate indices, or equations that variably weight meteorological variables that influence tourist decisions. To date, researchers have yet to calculate climate resources at the global scale using an index formulated for beach tourism, a subsector of marine tourism. We address this research gap, calculating the Holiday Climate Index (HCI)-beach globally from 1950 to 2019. The HCI-beach was formulated based on beach tourist surveys, an extensive literature review, and has been validated as the best‐fit index for beach tourism. Study findings (1) quantify ideal and unacceptable conditions for beach tourism globally, and (2) identify geographies with significant HCI‐beach changes over the span of 70 years (i.e., climate change). Findings contribute to the resource heterogeneity of climate resource perspective.