The applicability of the tourism climate index in a hot arid environment: Saudi Arabia as a case study

This study aims to implement a widely used climate tourism index (TCI) developed by Mieczkowski (Can Geogr/Geogr Can 29:220-233, 1985) in a hot arid climate. This index provides a quantitative measure of a tourist destination based on five meteorological criteria, daytime comfort index (CID), daily comfort index (CIA), precipitation index (P), sunshine duration index (S), and wind speed (W). This index provides five qualitative classifications, namely excellent, very good, good, acceptable, and unfavorable. The climatic tourism index is applied to 12 destinations, chosen to represent the various geographic zones in Saudi Arabia. A great deal of disparity both spatially and temporally was observed. For instance, high-altitude regions situated in the western parts of the country experience favorable index values during the entire course of the year. Most other areas experience favorable climatic conditions during the winter months but are subject to very unfavorable climate conditions during the summer months. The landscape surrounding the two holy Moslem sites, Makkah and Al Madinah, experience excellent conditions from December through March, but experience very low values during the summer months.