Bioclimatic comfort in high-latitude tourist destinations. The case of El Calafate

Abstract

The study of bioclimatic comfort in tourist destinations provides strategic information for space planning given the sensitivity of tourism to external factors and to the characteristics of physical environment, among them: climate. The aim of this paper is to analyze the bioclimatic comfort conditions for El Calafate in the 1981-2010 period in two units of temporal resolution (annual and summer-hourly). This is interesting since this type of detailed studies has not been carried out in the temperate climates zone of the southern hemisphere tourist destinations. The annual analysis was carried out from the Olgyay bioclimatic diagram and the application of the bioclimatic indices: thermo-anemometric complex (P), equivalent temperature (Te) and its respective cooling factor and the tourism climate index (ICT) for the 1981-2010 period. The summer-hourly analysis was carried out from the Olgyay diagram, the P, the Te, and the Poulter Tourist Potential index (Ie) using the meteorological data of the summer season 2017-2018. In both cases, the data was taken from the National Meteorological Service base of Argentina.

According to the results, for the annual distribution it is identified, from the comfort point of view, that the period between November and March presents the best bioclimatic conditions for carrying out tourism-recreational practices. The hourly analysis shows that in the summer season ten hours of the day can be seized with good bioclimatic conditions, reaching maximum thermal comfort between 2:00 and 6:00 p.m.

The study of bioclimatic comfort in tourist destinations provides strategic information for space planning given the sensitivity of tourism to external factors and to the characteristics of physical environment, among them: climate. The aim of this paper is to analyze the bioclimatic comfort conditions for El Calafate in the 1981-2010 period in two units of temporal resolution (annual and summer-hourly). This is interesting since this type of detailed studies has not been carried out in the temperate climates zone of the southern hemisphere tourist destinations. The annual analysis was carried out from the Olgyay bioclimatic diagram and the application of the bioclimatic indices: thermo-anemometric complex (P), equivalent temperature (Te) and its respective cooling factor and the tourism climate index (ICT) for the 1981-2010 period. The summer-hourly analysis was carried out from the Olgyay diagram, the P, the Te, and the Poulter Tourist Potential index (Ie) using the meteorological data of the summer season 2017-2018. In both cases, the data was taken from the National Meteorological Service base of Argentina.

According to the results, for the annual distribution it is identified, from the comfort point of view, that the period between November and March presents the best bioclimatic conditions for carrying out tourism-recreational practices. The hourly analysis shows that in the summer season ten hours of the day can be seized with good bioclimatic conditions, reaching maximum thermal comfort between 2:00 and 6:00 p.m.