This paper provides a synthesis of previous studies on the impact of weather on outdoor recreation and nature based tourism. 184 articles weather-related articles were drawn from an international journal.
Three recurring topics were found: 1) Weather-related variables that influence outdoor recreation and nature tourism, 2) The importance of geographic research context: most studies are focused on Europe and North America, and 3) Prevailing activity types: most studies are focused on general nature based tourism such as sun-and-beach tourism, surf tourism, golf package vacations. Second most studied activity was skiing. Third was residential activities.
The gap analysis indicates an abundance of under-explored topics, including: other outdoor recreation activities (hunting, hiking, mountain biking, sailing, surfing, kayaking), and substitutability in respect to weather (Manning 2011).
CITE: Verbos, R.I., Altschuler, B., & Brownlee, M.T.J. (2017). Weather studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism: a research synthesis and gap analysis. Leisure Sciences, 1-24.
