The Role of Climatic Factors in the Process of Tourism in the Cities of Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad Province

Beside cultural, social and economic factors, environmental factors also play an important role in the development of tourism industry and also attracting tourists. Tourism is formed in a geographical atmosphere. This atmosphere has a physical and natural structure including factors such as climate, geology and vegetation and also a human structure with elements such as facilities and equipments that tourists need. The methodology used for the present research is descriptive and analytical and is also based on library surveys and field studies that used a 20 year period data from five weather stations in the province of Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad (including the dry temperature, the minimum and maximum temperature, average, minimum and maximum relative humidity, precipitation, radiation and wind) to calculate the tourism climate index for this province and it was defined using zoning maps through GIS software. Based on the tourism climate index (TCI) in the Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad province July is the best month for tourists and in this month the climatic conditions are ideal for tourists. April, May, June, September and October also provide excellent climate conditions. In August and November the climate condition is very good for tourists and December and March are also good for this purpose. But the other months of the year including January and February are cold and the climate conditions are not proper for tourists. In fact the TCI diagram in Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad has two peaks. One of the peaks starts from the beginning of spring and continues to the end of this season and the other one starts from the beginning of summer and continues to the middle of the autumn. In the summer as the TCI is high and the condition is ideal, a tourist does not need cooling or heating devices and can enjoy their time in this province.