sustainability

Article
Evaluation of the Tourism Climate Index in the Canary Islands
Silvia Alonso-Pérez 1, *, Javier López-Solano 1,2 , Lourdes Rodríguez-Mayor 3
and José Miguel Márquez-Martinón 1

1 School of Architecture, Universidad Europea de Canarias, 38300 La Orotava, Spain;

[email protected] (J.L.-S.); [email protected] (J.M.M.-M.)
2 Centro de Investigación Atmosférica de Izaña, Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, 28071 Madrid, Spain
3 Independent Researcher, 28001 Madrid, Spain; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: In this study, we performed a diagnostic and evolutive analysis of the bioclimatology of the
Canary Islands, an Atlantic archipelago where the climate itself is a main feature promoting tourism.
Among all the tourist-climate indices described in the literature, we evaluated the most widely used,
which is the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) proposed by Mieczkowski (1985). Monthly mean TCI
time series were calculated using meteorological data from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency
database and the European Climate Assessment and Dataset. Our results show TCI values greater
than 50 during almost every month in the period 1950–2018, with mean values over the entire time
series between 70 and 80. According to the TCI classification scheme, these values correspond to a
very good thermal comfort along all of the period. Our results also point to spring as the season with
the best TCI, with maximum values around 80 for this index in April—excellent according to the
TCI classification. However, we did not find a correlation between inbound arrivals and the TCI





 index, which might point to a lack of information available to tourists. This opens an opportunity for
policymakers and tour operators to better publicize the best seasons for holidays in the islands.
Citation: Alonso-Pérez, S.;
López-Solano, J.; Rodríguez-Mayor,
Keywords: tourism; climate; tourism climate index; air quality; weather
L.; Márquez-Martinón, J.M.
Evaluation of the Tourism Climate
Index in the Canary Islands.
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137042 1. Introduction
Weather and climate are key factors to select a touristic destination, to the point
Academic Editor: Adriana Del Borghi that many tourists base their choices (destination and date) entirely by climatic consid-
erations [1]. Tourism operations themselves are also affected by climate and weather, as
Received: 20 May 2021 they impact on the costs of heating and cooling, water provision, and tourist facilities’
Accepted: 18 June 2021 maintenance. Moreover, the impact of climate change in a tourist destination may impact
Published: 23 June 2021
the temporal and spatial pattern of tourism demand. Hence, climate and weather can affect
the tourism business model. Because of these aforementioned reasons, understanding
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral both local climate conditions through the year and their trends is thus of great importance,
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
not only for developing strategies for the mitigation of climate change impact but also for
published maps and institutional affil-
tourism development [2–4].
iations.
Many efforts have been made to quantitatively characterize the climatic well-being of
tourists from a biometeorological point of view—that is, considering weather parameters
and an estimation of the outdoor thermal comfort. One of the first and most widely
used indices to characterize the thermal comfort of tourists, the Tourist Climate Index
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. (TCI), was developed by Mieczkowki [1]. This index is representative of light outdoor
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. touristic activities. Different modifications of the TCI arose in the literature, not only to
This article is an open access article
improve the knowledge of its limitations ([5–7] and references therein) but also to study the
distributed under the terms and
thermal comfort of tourists for more specific types of tourism, such as beach tourism [8,9],
conditions of the Creative Commons
outdoor activities on urban destinations [10], or interior tourism [11]. Still, the TCI has
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
been widely used to study the impact of climate on tourism in different geographical
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
areas, such as Europe [12], the Mediterranean [13], Iran [14–17], the United States and
4.0/).

Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137042 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 2 of 12

Canada [5], Spain [18], the Caribbean [3], the Republic of Moldova [4], Montenegro [19],
Georgia [20,21], China [22], and Indonesia [23].
In this study, for the first time in the literature to our knowledge, we performed a
diagnostic and evolutive analysis of the bioclimatology of the Canary Islands, an Atlantic
archipelago where the climate itself is a main feature promoting tourism. Among all
the tourist-climate indices described in the literature, we evaluated the most widely used,
which is the aforementioned TCI. We chose the TCI because of the characteristics of touristic
activities in the Canary Islands, which have evolved from the sun and beach model of the
1960s to offer a more extended range of experiences, such as sports, wellness, and rural
tourism [24,25].
Climate on the Canary Islands has been studied by many authors [26,27] and refer-
ences therein [28,29]. There are also many in-depth studies on one of the most characteristic
features affecting the climate of the islands, namely, African dust intrusions [30–34]. In
the winter, African dust intrusions are more intense and frequent at lower altitudes, i.e.,
where most tourists are located, while in the summer, these mineral dust intrusions affect
medium and high altitudes. It is worth noting that many studies point that the exposure
to mineral dust can lead to health problems, increasing morbidity and mortality [35–38].
Regarding climate change, the impact of global warming in temperature trends [39–43],
adaptation strategies [44], and its economic impact on tourism [45] has also been studied
for this archipelago. However, to our knowledge, this is the first time a climate comfort
index for tourism has been studied in the Canary Islands. Besides the purely scientific
interest of this novel study, we also believe this research might help policymakers and tour
operators to make decisions, which are especially important to the islands in view of the
importance of tourism to their economy.

2. Data and Methods

2.1. The Study Area
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago located near the northern coast of Africa
in the North Atlantic subtropical area. The shortest distance to Morocco is 95 km. The
climate of this archipelago is characterized by its great stability through the year. Despite
its latitude, monthly mean temperatures range from 18 ◦ C to 24 ◦ C [46], while maximum
monthly precipitation ranges from 30 mm (eastern islands) to 100 mm (western islands) and
take place from autumn to winter [47]. This mild climate is driven by the influence of the
Azores high, with establishes cool humid trade winds through the year, only interrupted
for short periods by African dust outbreaks [31].
Climate difference between islands is, in principle, not affected by their geographical
position. However, it is well known (see for example [29]) that the Canary Islands present
a variety of microclimates mainly caused by their differences in orography. In particular,
orography plays a crucial role in the exposure to the easterly trade winds, which are one of
the key factors affecting precipitation. Overall, the eastern islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteven-
tura, and Gran Canaria) present higher temperature ranges and lower precipitations than
the western ones (La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera, and Tenerife).
For this study, we selected five sites on the basis of climatic data availability that are
representative of the eastern, central, and western islands. These measurement stations
are part of the National Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) network. The latitude
coverage of these sites ranges from the southernmost to the northernmost island (Figure 1).
The sites are located at low altitudes (Table 1), being representative of the most important
tourist destinations on beaches and island capitals.
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13

Figure 1. Location
Figure 1. Location of
of the
the study
study area and measurement
area and measurement stations
stations (in
(in red).
red).

Table 1. Location,
Table 1. Location, altitude,
altitude, and
and period
period of
of meteorological
meteorological data
data availability
availability at
at the
the study
study sites.
sites.

Station
Station Latitude
Latitude Longitude
Longitude Height
Height (m a.s.l.)
(m a.s.l.) Data
DataAvailability
Availability
El Hierro Airport
El Hierro Airport +27°49′08″
+27◦ 490 08” −17°53′30″
−17◦ 530 30” 32
32 1985–2018
1985–2018
La
LaPalma Airport
Palma Airport +28°37′59″
+28◦ 370 59” −17°45′18″
− 17◦ 450 18” 33
33 1985–2018
1985–2018
Santa
SantaCruz
Cruz de Tenerife
de Tenerife +28°27′47″
+28◦ 270 47” −16°15′19″
− 16◦ 150 19” 35
35 1950–2018
1950–2018
Fuerteventura Airport
Fuerteventura Airport +28◦ 260 40”
+28°26′40″ − 13◦ 510 47”
−13°51′47″ 25
25 1976–2018
1976–2018
Lanzarote Airport +28◦ 570 06” −13◦ 360 01” 14 1972–2018
Lanzarote Airport +28°57′06″ −13°36′01″ 14 1972–2018

2.2.
2.2. The
The Tourism Climate Index
Tourism Climate Index
Among
Among allall the
the tourism
tourism climate
climate indices
indices that
that can
can be found in
be found in the
the literature,
literature, we
we chose
chose
the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) developed by Mieczkowski [1]. This index is the most
the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) developed by Mieczkowski [1]. This index is the most
widely
widely used
usedand
andititisis
representative
representativeof of
light physical
light outdoor
physical activities
outdoor and recreation
activities such
and recreation
as sightseeing,
such shopping,
as sightseeing, and other
shopping, andnon-specific touristictouristic
other non-specific activities. The common
activities. touristic
The common
touristic activities
activities in theIslands
in the Canary CanaryandIslands and the evolution
the evolution of itsmodel
of its tourism tourism model
[24,25] make[24,25]
this
make this index a good choice. TCI is calculated as the combination of seven
index a good choice. TCI is calculated as the combination of seven monthly climate vari- monthly
climate
ables variables and
(maximum (maximum
minimum anddaily
minimum daily air temperature,
air temperature, minimum dailyminimum daily
relative relative
humidity,
humidity, mean daily relative humidity, amount of precipitation, daily
mean daily relative humidity, amount of precipitation, daily insolation, and mean wind insolation, and
mean wind speed). These parameters are combined into five subindices (Equation
speed). These parameters are combined into five subindices (Equation (1)) to calculate the (1)) to
calculate
TCI value: the TCI value:

TCI
TCI = 2=·[4
2·[4·CID
·CID + +CIA
CIA+ +2·2·R
R ++22·S
·S ++W]
W] (1)
(1)

where CID is
where CID is the
the so-called
so-called“daytime
“daytimecomfort
comfortindex”,
index”,CIA CIAisisthe
the“daily
“daily comfort
comfort index”,
index”, R
R is
is based on amount precipitation in mm of rain, S is based on the daily
based on amount precipitation in mm of rain, S is based on the daily solar insolation insolar insolation in
hours,
hours, and
and WW is is based
based onon wind
wind speed
speed inin m/s.
m/s. AA rating
rating scheme,
scheme, withwith scores
scores from
from 00 to
to 5,
5,
were used to obtain the subindices, as proposed by Mieczkowski [1],
were used to obtain the subindices, as proposed by Mieczkowski [1], with 0 as an extremelywith 0 as an ex-
tremely unfavorable
unfavorable value and value
5 as and 5 aspossible
the best the best value.
possible value. Although
Although many authorsmanyhave
authors have
modified
modified theTCI
the original original TCIdaily
by using by using daily
data to havedata to have
a better timearesolution,
better timewe resolution,
calculatedwe calcu-
monthly
lated monthly
TCI because ofTCI
databecause of data
availability (seeavailability
Section 2.3).(see Section 2.3).asNonetheless,
Nonetheless, we used theas we used
1985–2018
the 1985–2018
monthly monthly
TCI time series,TCI
we time series,
believe we believe
a 33-year climatica 33-year
scale is climatic
enough to scale is enoughthe
characterize to
characterize the variation
variation of TCI values. of TCI values.
The CID and
The CID andCIA
CIAsubindices
subindicesuse use
thethe same
same temperature
temperature andand relative
relative humidity
humidity da-
datasets
tasets as input.
as input. From From
these these datasets,
datasets, and following
and following [1], we[1], we calculated
calculated the maximum
the maximum dailydaily
tem-
temperature and the minimum daily relative humidity to determine de CID subindex. On
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 4 of 12
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perature and the minimum daily relative humidity to determine de CID subindex. On the
the other
other hand,hand,
the CIAthe subindex
CIA subindex is calculated
is calculated fromfromthe the
mean mean daily
daily temperature
temperature and and mean
mean
daily
daily relative
relative humidity.
humidity. Regarding
Regarding thethe functional
functional formform of of
thethe
CIDCID andand CIA,
CIA, since
since both
both areare
thermal
thermal comfort
comfort indices
indices and
and thermal
thermal comfort
comfort is is a complex
a complex psychological
psychological parameter,
parameter, wewe
need to use a psychometric chart in order to rate their values. We used the thermal comfort
need to use a psychometric chart in order to rate their values. We used the thermal comfort
rating
rating system
system proposed
proposed byby Mieczkowski
Mieczkowski [1],[1], which
which is based
is based ononthethe effective
effective temperature
temperature
chart
chart of of
thethe American
American Society
Society of Heating
of Heating andand Air-Conditioning
Air-Conditioning Engineers
Engineers [48]. [48]. To facili-
To facilitate
thetate the calculation
calculation of these of these subindices,
subindices, we digitized
we digitized the mentioned
the mentioned thermal
thermal comfort
comfort rating
rating
system
system presented
presented in in Mieczkowski’s
Mieczkowski’s original
original paper
paper [1].
[1]. InIn this
this way,
way, wewe obtained
obtained 321321 data
data
◦ C and relative humidity
points, which were chosen for temperatures ranging from 15 to 41 °C and relative humid-
points, which were chosen for temperatures ranging from 15 to 41
ity ranging
ranging from from20 to20 to 100%,
100%, sincesince temperatures
temperatures outside
outside thatthat range
range andand relative
relative humidity
humidity
below 20% are not common in the area of study [26–29]. We then performedmaterial).
below 20% are not common in the area of study [26–29] (see supplementary a multidi-
Wemensional smoothing
then performed spline fit to the 321
a multidimensional digitizedspline
smoothing pointsfit using
to thea linear radial basis
321 digitized func-
points
tionabased
using linear on thebasis
radial Euclidean
functiondistance.
based on The thedigitized
Euclidean points and The
distance. the digitized
multidimensional
points
and the multidimensional
spline fit are shown in Figure spline2.fit
It are shown
is worth in Figure
stressing 2. the
that It isfunctional
worth stressingform isthatthe the
same
functional form is the same for the calculation of both the CIA and
for the calculation of both the CIA and CID indices, and that the final output value of CID indices, and that
each
theparticular
final outputindexvalue
onlyofdepends
each particular
on which index
input only depends on
temperature and which
relativeinput temperature
humidity data are
and relative humidity data are used.
used.

Figure 2. Multidimensional spline fit (blue) to the 321 points (red) of the thermal comfort rating chart proposed by
Figure 2. Multidimensional
Mieczkowski [1]. spline fit (blue) to the 321 points (red) of the thermal comfort rating chart proposed by Miec-
zkowski [1].
Once the scores of the different subindices were calculated, we were finally able to
Oncethe
determine theTCI.
scores of index
This the different subindices
takes values from were calculated,
0 to 100, which wecanwere finally able
be converted to to
determine the TCI. This index takes values from 0 to 100, which
descriptive categories using the classification scale shown in Table 2. can be converted to de-
scriptive categories using the classification scale shown in Table 2.
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 5 of 12

Table 2. Classification scale of TCI values.

TCI Value Descriptive Category

90–100 ideal
80–89 excellent
70–79 very good
60–69 good
50–59 acceptable
40–49 marginal
30–39 unfavorable
20–29 very unfavorable
10–19 extremely unfavorable
0–9 impossible

2.3. Climatic Data

For each month, we calculated minimum relative humidity using daily averages from
the European Climate Assessment and Dataset [49]. The other monthly climatic param-
eters used in the calculation of the TCI were monthly data retrieved from the National
Spanish Meteorological Agency open database, available online: https://opendata.aemet.
es/centrodedescargas/inicio, accessed on 12 June 2021 [50]. Data availability is different
from one site to other (see the last column in Table 1), and therefore we calculated TCI in-
terannual monthly means over common years, which corresponds to the period 1985–2018.
Note that data from this open database is only available as monthly means, and therefore
this was the reason to calculate monthly values of TCI. Although some recent studies have
used daily data, it is worth noting that the original TCI calculation of Mieczkowski [1] used
monthly data. Both databases have passed quality control and homogeneity checks using
procedures explained in their websites, although we additionally performed a search for
possible outliers, finding no large periods with suspecting data.

2.4. Tourism Statistics

We used tourism statistics to compare against our TCI results. We retrieved monthly
data of tourist visitation to the Canary Islands from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics’
open database, available online: http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac, accessed on
12 June 2021 [51]. In particular, we used monthly means of number of inbound tourists
from foreign countries. Data availability limited our study to the period 2009–2018.

3. Results and Discussion

In the 1985–2018 period, monthly mean TCI values in all the sites studied across
the Canary Islands scored between 58 and 84, and therefore the climate comfort can be
categorized ranging from acceptable to excellent through all the year (Figure 3a). During
months of maximum TCI across the Canary Islands, the climate can be categorized as
“excellent” for tourism.
Maximum TCI scores for both Lanzarote and Fuerteventura occur during winter,
while in Tenerife, La Palma, and El Hierro, they occur in spring. The variation in maximum
TCI scores, which ranges between 82 (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and El Hierro) and 85
(Tenerife), is lower than the variation in minimum TCI scores, ranging from 58 (Lanzarote)
to 72 (El Hierro).
For Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (the easternmost islands), and also for Tenerife, the
minimum TCI scores occur in summer, when maximum average temperatures (Figure 3c)
and minimum rainfall (Figure 3b) occur. El Hierro and La Palma (the westernmost islands)
show the lowest TCI scores in autumn and winter, coinciding with the highest rainfall
(Figure 3b) and lowest temperatures (Figure 3c) for these islands. The lowest TCI score in
the archipelago was found during August in Lanzarote, although the value is still in the
“acceptable” climate comfort category.
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 6 of 12
Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 6 of 13

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 3. Annual distribution of TCI (a), rainfall (b), and average temperature (c) in the period 1985–
Figure 3. Annual distribution of TCI (a), rainfall (b), and average temperature (c) in the period
2018. TCI climate comfort categories are also shown in (a) and range from acceptable to ideal (see
1985–2018. TCI climate comfort categories are also shown in (a) and range from acceptable to ideal
Table 2).
(see Table 2).
 For Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (the easternmost islands), and also for Tenerife, the
minimum TCI scores occur in summer, when maximum average temperatures (Figure 3c)
and minimum rainfall (Figure 3b) occur. El Hierro and La Palma (the westernmost is-
lands) show the lowest TCI scores in autumn and winter, coinciding with the highest rain-
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 fall (Figure 3b) and lowest temperatures (Figure 3c) for these islands. The lowest TCI 7score of 12
in the archipelago was found during August in Lanzarote, although the value is still in
the “acceptable” climate comfort category.
The lower TCI scores in the central and eastern islands during the summer corre-
sponded to minimum
The lower values
TCI scores of the
in the CID and
central index (Figure
eastern 2), which
islands in turn
during are caused
the summer by
corre-
quite hightomaximum
sponded minimumtemperatures
values of the that CIDrange
index from 33 2),
(Figure °C which
up to 34.5 °C (Figure
in turn are caused 4a). by
In
◦ C up to 34.5 ◦ C (Figure 4a). In
contrast, maximum temperatures at El Hierro and La Palma were found to be below 30
quite high maximum temperatures that range from 33
°C throughout
contrast, the year,
maximum which translates
temperatures into and
at El Hierro a better TCI, especially
La Palma were found during
to be the 30 ◦ C
summer.
below
However, it should
throughout bewhich
the year, stressed that maximum
translates temperature
into a better alone doesduring
TCI, especially not explain the TCI
the summer.
values. Foritexample,
However, should beother factors
stressed thatcontributing
maximumto the better summer
temperature alone doesTCI not
score for El the
explain Hi-
erro values.
TCI and LaForPalma are the
example, higher
other minimum
factors relative
contributing to humidity
the better and lower
summer TCIdaily
scoreaverage
for El
Hierro and La(Figure
temperature Palma 3c)
arefor
thethese
higher twominimum relative humidity
islands compared andoflower
to the rest daily average
the archipelago. In
temperature (Figure 3c) for these two islands compared to the rest of the
Fuerteventura, and especially in Lanzarote, the low W subindices scores, related to the archipelago. In
Fuerteventura,
high wind speeds andduring
especially in Lanzarote,
summer, the low W
also contribute tosubindices scores,TCI
these minimum related to the
values high
(Figure
wind
4b). speeds during summer, also contribute to these minimum TCI values (Figure 4b).

(a) (b)
Figure 4. (a) Annual distribution of maximum temperatures (which is related to the CID index, see Figure 2) and (b) W
Figure 4. (a) Annual distribution of maximum temperatures (which is related to the CID index, see Figure 2) and
subindex scores in the period 1985–2018 at Santa Cruz de Tenerife (blue), El Hierro Airport (yellow), La Palma Airport
(b) W subindex
(green), scores
Lanzarote in the(red),
Airport period 1985–2018
and at SantaAirport
Fuerteventura Cruz de(purple).
Tenerife (blue), El Hierro Airport (yellow), La Palma Airport
(green), Lanzarote Airport (red), and Fuerteventura Airport (purple).
All the above shows that the TCI has a reasonable dependency on the weather vari-
All the above shows that the TCI has a reasonable dependency on the weather variables
ables it takes into consideration, and therefore it can be expected to be a representative
it takes into consideration, and therefore it can be expected to be a representative index
index for the well-being of tourists. We can now assess whether the annual variability in
for the well-being of tourists. We can now assess whether the annual variability in climate
climate comfort is being determinant of monthly tourism demand in the Canary Islands.
comfort is being determinant of monthly tourism demand in the Canary Islands. For this,
For this, we analyzed the possible relation between the annual variability of the TCI index
we analyzed the possible relation between the annual variability of the TCI index and the
and the number of inbound tourists. It is expected that if climate comfort is determinant,
number of inbound tourists. It is expected that if climate comfort is determinant, the annual
the annual distribution
distribution of will
of TCI scores TCI scores
follow will follow the distribution
the distribution of tourism of tourism
demand demand such
indicators indi-
cators such as the number of tourists, accommodation costs, overnight stays, or tourism
as the number of tourists, accommodation costs, overnight stays, or tourism turnover [5,6].
turnover [5,6].5, we show the annual distribution of TCI scores and the number of inbound
In Figure
tourists for three of the study sites: La Palma, as representative of the western islands;
Tenerife, as representative of central islands; and Lanzarote, as representative of the eastern
islands. In all three cases, we found no correlation between the distributions. Looking
at these plots, it seems that inbound tourists in the Canary Islands do not take into con-
sideration weather conditions when planning their holidays in this archipelago. This is
expected because the TCI scores are in most cases over 70, which corresponds to very good
or excellent climate categories. Still, it is worth noting that the months with the higher TCI
values (TCI > 80) in some cases are also those with the lowest number of tourists (see in
particular the month of April for La Palma (Figure 5a) and Tenerife (Figure 5b)). Note that
there is not even a delay between both curves. A delay like that would imply that tourists
first check the weather conditions and then make the reservations, but this does not seem
to be the case. This could represent an opportunity for policymakers and tourist operators
for marketing campaigns (backed by scientific data) focused in attracting visitors during
 This is expected because the TCI scores are in most cases over 70, which corresponds to
very good or excellent climate categories. Still, it is worth noting that the months with the
higher TCI values (TCI > 80) in some cases are also those with the lowest number of tour-
ists (see in particular the month of April for La Palma (Figure 5a) and Tenerife (Figure
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 5b)). Note that there is not even a delay between both curves. A delay like that would 8 of 12
imply that tourists first check the weather conditions and then make the reservations, but
this does not seem to be the case. This could represent an opportunity for policymakers
and tourist operators for marketing campaigns (backed by scientific data) focused in at-
those months
tracting with
visitors lower
during number
those of tourists
months but very
with lower good
number of and evenbut
tourists excellent climate
very good and
comfort for touristic activities.
even excellent climate comfort for touristic activities.

(a)

Sustainability 2021, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 13

(b)

(c)
Figure 5. Annual distribution of TCI index (blue) and number of inbound tourists from foreign
Figure 5. Annual distribution of TCI index (blue) and number of inbound tourists from foreign
countries (red) for La Palma (a), Tenerife (b), and Lanzarote (c) in the 2009–2018 period. Coefficients
countries (red) for La Palma (a), Tenerife (b), and Lanzarote (c) in the 2009–2018 period. Coefficients
of correlation are R = −0.10, R = 0.27, and R = −0.31, respectively.
of correlation are R = −0.10, R = 0.27, and R = −0.31, respectively.
It should also be noted that the previous analysis does not take into account the re-
strictions to travel imposed by work or school periods, which likely play a large role on
holiday reservations. It would be interesting to study the relation between the TCI and
the number of tourists, with the latter disaggregated by age groups, as tourists already in
retirement will not have these kinds of restrictions to travel throughout the year. Unfor-
tunately, data disaggregated by age groups are not available at this time.
 (c)
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 Figure 5. Annual distribution of TCI index (blue) and number of inbound tourists from foreign 9 of 12
countries (red) for La Palma (a), Tenerife (b), and Lanzarote (c) in the 2009–2018 period. Coefficients
of correlation are R = −0.10, R = 0.27, and R = −0.31, respectively.

ItIt should
should also be noted
also be noted that
thatthe
theprevious
previousanalysis
analysisdoesdoes not
not take
take into
into account
account thethe re-
restric-
strictions to travel
tions to travel imposed
imposed by work
by work or school
or school periods,
periods, whichwhich likelya large
likely play play arolelarge
on role
holidayon
holiday reservations. It would be interesting to study the relation between the TCI and
reservations. It would be interesting to study the relation between the TCI and the number
the number with
of tourists, of tourists, with
the latter the latter disaggregated
disaggregated by age groups, by age groups, already
as tourists as tourists already in
in retirement
retirement will not have these kinds of restrictions to travel throughout the year. Unfor-
will not have these kinds of restrictions to travel throughout the year. Unfortunately, data
tunately,
disaggregateddata disaggregated
by age groupsby areage
notgroups
availableareat
not available
this time. at this time.
Finally,
Finally, in in Figure
Figure 6, 6, we
we show
show thethe TCI
TCI monthly
monthly data data for
for all
all the
the available
available years
years forfor the
the
islands of Tenerife and Lanzarote. Higher variability was found in the case of Lanzarote.
islands of Tenerife and Lanzarote. Higher variability was found in the case of Lanzarote.
This
This was
was likely related to
likely related to the
the contribution
contributionofofthe thehigher
highertemperature
temperaturerange range inin this
this island,
island, as
mentioned above. By contrast, TCI data showed less spread and
as mentioned above. By contrast, TCI data showed less spread and slightly higher values slightly higher values for
thethe
for islandislandof Tenerife.
of Tenerife.In both cases,
In both the TCI
cases, values
the TCI werewere
values found to betovery
found stablestable
be very over over
time,
with no indication of the values becoming worse with time. This
time, with no indication of the values becoming worse with time. This indicates that, ac- indicates that, according
to the TCI,
cording to theclimate
TCI, change
climate does
changenotdoes
havenota noticeable effect oneffect
have a noticeable the tourism. However,
on the tourism. note
How-
that this is only a very preliminary analysis that does not contemplate
ever, note that this is only a very preliminary analysis that does not contemplate season- seasonality effects.
Furthermore,
ality model simulations
effects. Furthermore, model should be used
simulations to predict
should be used thetofuture climate
predict of theclimate
the future islands
and perform TCI projections.
of the islands and perform TCI projections.

(a) (b)
Figure 6. Monthly TCI values for the 1985–2018 time series (gray dots) and 24-month moving aver-
Figure 6. Monthly TCI values for the 1985–2018 time series (gray dots) and 24-month moving average
age (red) for Tenerife (a) and Lanzarote (b).
(red) for Tenerife (a) and Lanzarote (b).

4. Conclusions
Our results show a change related to geographical longitude in the month correspond-
ing to both minimum and maximum TCI scores. Minimum TCI scores for the central
and eastern islands occur in summer, while they occur in autumn in the western islands.
Maximum TCI scores in the eastern islands occur in winter, while in the central and western
islands, they occur in spring. Among the sites examined in this study, we found that Santa
Cruz de Tenerife is the station with better TCI throughout the year, with 7 months classified
as excellent climate for tourism (from December to June), and the rest of the year classified
as very good. Tenerife is also the island with the largest number of inbound tourists from
foreign countries among the five islands studied. However, although the more stable and
favorable TCI scores of Tenerife may play a key role in the difference between the number
of foreign visitors to the island compared with the rest of the archipelago, other factors
such as the number of hotel beds, tourist infrastructure, and tourist attractions have to
be taken into account. In any case, we found a variation of 77,000 inbound tourists from
foreign countries when we compared the maximum and minimum number of tourists in
Tenerife. Climate tourist comfort may be a good reason to support efforts to increase the
number of foreign tourists, particularly from April to June, when TCI is very near or over
80. These efforts should take into account factors such as the tourists’ age, which might
impose travel restrictions on some dates due to work or school obligations.
We found that the TCI assess the importance of climate as a main attribute of the
Canary Islands as a tourist destination for sightseeing and other light outdoor activities
Sustainability 2021, 13, 7042 10 of 12

thorough the year. However, climate comfort in the archipelago can be affected by a
meteorological situation not considered in any tourism climate index: the presence of
high concentrations of mineral particulate matter due to African dust outbreaks. As
already mentioned, African dust episodes are one the most characteristic features affecting
the climate of the Canary Islands. Frequent and intense African dust episodes affecting
low altitudes, where most tourist stay, occur from December to March, with maximum
contribution to the total suspended particulate concentrations in February [31]. It can be
expected that the high particulate matter concentrations to have an effect on the health
and therefore the comfort of tourists. The number of inbound arrivals seems to indicate
that information on the occurrence and effects of African dust episodes is not taken into
consideration by tourists. Due to the possible effect on tourists’ health, an effort to make
this information widespread should be made by tourist operators and policymakers.
The weather variables considered in the TCI do not seem to take into full account the
importance of these African dust episodes, with little variation between the February and
April scores, as shown in Figure 3. We believe that the TCI expression could be improved
including a specific index that takes into account the effect of particulate matter pollution
in the comfort of tourists. This would require running pools among tourists and correlating
their answers with extensive particular matter concentration data. It should be noted that
this effort could be useful to improve the TCI formula, not only for the Canary Islands, but
also places with high particulate matter concentrations due to anthropogenic causes, e.g.,
pollution caused by vehicles or factories operating close to touristic areas. We are working
in a research project founded by Universidad Europea de Canarias to evaluate the use
of low-cost particulate matter sensors to develop a high spatial resolution network. This
network could complement the existing data provided by local environmental authorities.
In the framework of this project, we aim to propose an improvement to the TCI formula to
include the effect of particulate matter pollution in the comfort of tourists.
The results of this work could help policymakers and tour operators to better publicize
the best seasons for holidays in the islands, as TCI is a valuable index for understanding
how tourism demand evolves over time in a specific region [52].

Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10

.3390/su13137042/s1.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.A.-P.; methodology, S.A.-P. and J.L.-S.; software, S.A.-P.
and J.L.-S.; formal analysis, S.A.-P., J.L.-S., L.R.-M. and J.M.M.-M.; investigation, S.A.-P. and L.R.-M.;
writing—original draft preparation, S.A.-P.; writing—review and editing, S.A.-P., J.L.-S., L.R.-M. and
J.M.M.-M.; funding acquisition, S.A.-P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of
the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by Universidad Europea, grant number 2019/UEM35.
Data Availability Statement: For sources of input dataset, see Section 2. For code and numerical
results, please write to [email protected]. Data is contained within the article or
supplementary material.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank Agencia Estatal de Meteorología and the European Climate
Assessment and Dataset project for providing the open meteorological data used in this study.
Moreover, we thank the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics for providing the data regarding tourists’
visitations used in this work. We appreciate the discussions regarding data availability with Emilio
Cuevas and Juan José Bustos from the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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