Explain Seasonality in Tourism.

Season means present weather conditions in a particular area for a short period of time and seasonally a year can be divided into four main periods as Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Seasons are important in view of the climatic changes associated with them and their impact on all forms of life and seasonal variations also make significant impact on travel and tourism.

The most visible impact is the emergence of tourist seasons because of climatic changes. People move to cooler places like beaches and mountain resorts during summer months and to warmer areas during winter. The development of hill stations in India is due to this phenomena. When it is very hot in summers in plains then hills and mountains are comparatively cool and pleasant.

In past therefore Britishers had developed a number of hill stations to spend holidays during hot weather seasons. These include Srinagar, Shimla, Dharamshala,, Nainital, Mussorie, etc. Even today during hot seasons many people/tourists visit these hill resorts every year. Some of them have also become popular for winter games during cold weather season.

India also has a long coastline which provides a comparatively cool climate during summer and warmth during the winter. Thus Beach Tourism is also becoming very popular in India with the development of beaches like Goa, Kovalam, Mamallapuram, etc. Thus, the climatic differences between different regions have helped India to develop beach and hill tourism.

Besides the tourist movement in the whole world is influenced by the climatic seasons. Tourists always look for better weather conditions. Hence from the Tourism point of view the hot season is the peak season at hill stations. While during winter season the tourists travel to warmer regions.

For the international tourism peak season is from October to March and it is maximum in the month of December. The diversity of climates in India with its several striking contrasts is also a motivation for the movement of domestic tourists from one part of the country to another.

There is normally a heavy rush of tourists from north to south during hot weather season and from south to north during north east monsoon season.