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 chosen destinat ions of British tourists. Destinations are characterised in terms of 'attra ctors' including climate variables, travel and accommodation costs. These v ariables are used to explain the current observed pattern of overseas trave l in terms of a model based upon the idea of utility maximisation. The appr oach permits the trade-offs between climate and holiday expenditure to be a nalysed and effectively identifies the 'optimal' climate for generating tou rism. The findings are used to predict the impact of various climate change scenarios on popular tourist destinations.