Investigating tourism climate conditions in Iran's mangrove forests using Tourism Comfort Climate Index (TCI) and Holiday Climate Index (HCI)

Understanding the climatic conditions in a tourist destination is one of the most important information needed by nature-oriented tourists. The present study aimed to investigate the TCI and HCI index to determine nature tourism in the Khamir-Qeshm mangrove forests from 1996 to 2021. The results of TCI revealed that the best tourism season is autumn late and winter in December, January, and February while the most unfavorable climatic conditions are June, July, August, September, and October. Based on the results of HCI, the most favorable tourism season is related to winter and especially March month, while the status of this index is acceptable from June to October. In general, the results of TCI and HCI indicate that autumn to the end of winter is the best time in terms of tourism climate, and spring to summer late, has the most unfavorable conditions for visitor's presence due to the extreme heat, high humidity, and sultry climate of the area. The statistical analysis of TCI and HCI also indicates that there is a significant and direct relationship between these two indicators with climatic variables and with the increase of the final coefficient, the climatic conditions of the area will be more favorable for tourists' presence. Considering the increasing tourism industry and nature tourism development in Khamir-Qeshm mangrove forests, proper planning in accordance with the favorable conditions of the tourism climate can protect this area, provide suitable infrastructure and facilities for tourists, and will also help create conditions to understand the comfortable feeling and tourist's satisfaction.