In Search of Warmer Climates? The Impact of Climate Change on Flows of British Tourists

This paper investigates the impact of climate change on the chosendestinations of Britishtourists. Destinations are characterised in terms of ‘attractors’ includingclimate variables, traveland accommodation costs. These variables are used to explain the currentobserved pattern ofoverseas travel in terms of a model based upon the idea of utilitymaximisation. The approachpermits the trade-offs between climate and holiday expenditure to be analysedand effectivelyidentifies the ‘optimal’ climate for generating tourism. The findings are usedto predict the impactof various climate change scenarios on popular tourist destinations.