Effect of Climate on the Number of Visitors to National Parks Using Korea Tourism Climate Index

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Korea Tourism Climate Index (KTCI) and the number of visitors to national parks. The results of the regression analysis showed that the regression models for weekday and weekend in 4 seasons for both Bukhansan and Seoraksan were statistically significant. However, the R2, which measures the explanatory power of a model, of Bukhansan was higher than that of Seoraksan. In particular, the explanatory powers of summer, fall and winter of Seoraksan were found to be very low (summer weekday 1.5%, fall weekday 1.5%, fall weekend 8.9%, winter weekday 3.7%). The regression coefficients of weekday and weekend in 4 seasons for Bukhansan and Seoraksan were found to be statistically significant. It is thus considered that KTCI affects the number of visitors to national parks. However, it can be inferred that social factors, such as vacation, in addition to the climate factor, affects the number, considering the explanatory power of weekday and weekend of Seoraksan. Therefore, future studies need to improve the validity of the model by adding social factors.