A temporal and spatial analysis of climate change, weather events, and tourism businesses

The study explores how precipitation and temperature have changed across the United States at multiple outdoor tourism locations within six unique climate zones from 1990 to 2015 compared to long-term averages from 1901. A multiple-location case-study design is then used to analyze the impact of long-term weather conditions and weather events - both favorable and unfavorable - on daily sales for 13 outdoor tourism locations within the six climate zones. The study is the first to draw on the construal level theory to quantitatively and longitudinally explore the geographic and temporal proximity of climate change and extreme events on business outcomes. The methodologies used, including time-series forecasting, provide a blue-print for at-risk businesses to analyze the impact of climatic factors and weather conditions no matter location.