Applying the Holiday Climate Indices to South Africa through critical engagement with index suitability

South Africa is marketed internationally for its sunny skies, outdoor attractions and wide range of ecoclimatic regions. Consistent with these attributes, Tourism Climate Index (TCI) scores have classified the region as climatically “ideal” for tourism. The more recently developed Holiday Climate Indices for Beach and Urban settings draw on a wealth of questionnaires capturing tourist experiences, and provide more tailored weightings for these two forms of tourism. In southern Africa, a key challenge in applying this index is the paucity of air-conditioning, and very warm nighttime temperatures, which are not accounted for in this index and thus artificially increase output scores and classification. In this study, we found that air-conditioning coverage ranges from 12% to 93%, depending on the town in question; the results therefore apply only to those accommodation establishments for which there is air-conditioning. With this assumption in mind, the outputs indicate mean annual scores classified as “very good” climatic conditions for both urban and beach tourism across South Africa. Greater variability is evident at a monthly scale, with distinct seasonal distributions including a winter peak, and bimodal peak conditions which align temporally with the summer holidays in much of the Global North and winter school holidays locally.