Projecting changes in the thermal comfort of coastal tourists in Hormozgan province

Weather conditions have a significant impact on the tourism sector, especially coastal tourism. Variations in the climate elements brought on by global warming may present challenges for this sector of tourism. This study aims to evaluate variations of climate elements in coastal regions of Hormozgan Province using the outputs of Global Climate Models (GCMs) and to identify how these differences affect the thermal comfort of coastal visitors to this area. Daily and monthly data of eight synoptic stations were used for the base period 1990–2019, along with the outputs of five GCMs for the near- and the far-future time periods of 2020–2050 and 2050–2100, respectively, based on tow Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. scenarios). The PMV index was then extracted to evaluate travelers' thermal comfort. The research findings showed that January, February, and December were regarded as thermally stress-free or neutral for coastal tourism during the base period in all the analyzed stations. While April through October were hot and very hot, March and November were just moderately warm. Only The Minab station experienced intolerable conditios in July and August. Both scenarios projected monthly shifts in thermal comfort for visitors in the near and far future. Neutral thermal conditions will restricted to January and February, while months with no heat stress to moderate warm will change to warm and humid months and intolerable circumstances will worsen everywhere