Tourist weather preferences in Europe's Arctic

Numerous high-latitude locations in northern Scandinavia receive many summer vacationers, even though cool weather conditions there are at odds with some expert-based literature on tourist weather preferences. Surveys in 2 climatically different Arctic archipelagos demonstrate that most tourists perceive the summer weather as better than expected. However, weather preferences and tolerances deviate between high and low Arctic destinations, illuminating diverging and subjective ideas of what constitutes ‘good’, ‘bad’, and ‘acceptable’ weather. The study shows an overall preference for clear sky, in contrast to some earlier research emphasizing temperature as the most important tourism weather variable. Most tourists are indifferent to occasional rain, and a majority accepts frequently changing weather. Main dislikes are frequent rain and low visibility, the latter accentuating visual tourism aspects such as sightseeing.