Heat and urban tourism: Tourists' lived experiences in a climate-vulnerable city

As climate change intensifies, heatwaves pose growing challenges for tourism, particularly in climate-vulnerable destinations. Research often overlooks tourists' lived experiences and the uneven nature of vulnerability. This study integrates a vulnerability framework with an experience-based lens to examine how extreme heat shapes tourist experiences. Using photo-elicitation and go-along interviews, it captures embodied encounters with urban heat. Findings show that vulnerability emerges through the interaction of sensory exposure, emotional and cognitive sensitivity, and behavioural adaptation within specific contexts. These dimensions reshape how tourists perceive and navigate destinations under thermal stress. By advancing an experience-centered understanding, the study reveals how heat transforms tourism and reinforces inequalities in access to comfort and safety, highlighting the need for more inclusive and climate-responsive urban planning.