Climate preferences and destination choice: a segmentation approach

A data set of the holiday destination choices of German tourists is segmented using phase in the life cycle; second, holiday motivation and holiday activities and third, the region of residency. For each segment demand is estimated using data on environmental and economic characteristics of countries. The optimal temperature, where demand peaks, ranges from 22°C to 24°C across the segments. More interestingly, the steepness of the temperature demand relationship is different for different segments. Even though the temperature optima are similar, changes in temperature, for example caused by climate change will have a larger effect on demand depending on the steepness of the temperature-demand relationship. A climate index is calculated for each country using climate data and the respective coefficients from the estimated demand equations. The climate index values are different across the segments: the segment containing those tourists who were swimming and sunbathing while on holiday has the highest index values of all of the segments.