Impact of Climate Change on Tourist Perception and Tourism Demand in Qinghai Lake

The ecological environment of Qinghai Lake is fragile and exhibits a pronounced response to climate change. Its unique natural conditions render its tourism activities particularly sensitive to climatic variations. However, existing studies rarely examine the impacts of climate change on tourism activities in climate-sensitive regions of high-altitude inland lakes, such as Qinghai Lake. Therefore, this paper takes Qinghai Lake as a case study to investigate the effects of climate change on tourist perception and tourism demand, thereby providing a scientific basis for decision-making by scenic area managers. The results are as follows: (1) In recent decades, the warming and humidification trend of Qinghai Lake has been clear, and the number of comfortable days for tourism has increased significantly, which has had a direct positive effect on the experience of tourists. (2) Climate change has caused changes in the natural ecology and landscape quality of Qinghai Lake, which has indirectly affected the tourism experience as follows: the expansion of the lake has increased the willingness of tourists to travel; the inundation of Bird Island and Sand Island has reduced the willingness of tourists to travel; and the increase in the number of animals and plants along with the enrichment of biological diversity has increased the willingness of tourists to travel. (3) Different types of tourists respond to the impact of climate change to varying degrees. Among them, female tourists and tourist groups with a higher level of education respond more strongly to climate change and its impacts.