1. Name the mountain range that provides a source of tourism for the people of north Italy, Switzerland, Austria and the south-east of France?
2. Explain the term ‘snow-sure destination’. 3. (a) Describe a difficulty the physical landscape presents for tourism in this region. (b) Briefly describe one way the difficulties are overcome. 4. Describe one negative effect tourism has had on this region.
Case Study: The Mediterranean
The Mediterranean region has long been one of the top tourism destinations in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic greatly affected the numbers visiting the region. However, the Mediterranean region recorded its highest figure in 2021 of around 139 million tourists.
The Mediterranean Climate and Tourism
The Mediterranean climate – warm to hot in summer and mild to cool in winter – provides perfect conditions for tourism almost all year round.
In the summer months, the Mediterranean has an average temperature of 22 °C and between 7 and 11 hours of sunshine per day. This makes the region ideal for beach holidays.
In winter, the region gets on average 6–10 hours of daily sunshine, and temperatures are usually between 2 and 10 °C.
The Mediterranean and Transport
The Mediterranean tourism year can be divided into three seasons:
1. Peak season (mid-June through August) 2. Mid-season (April through mid-June and September through October)
3. Off-season (November through March).
The Mediterranean is well serviced by air, sea and road routes. However, high demand at peak times creates an increased need for transport routes.
12 3 Being numerate
Figure 4 shows the average maximum and minimum temperatures and average rainfall for each month in the Mediterranean.
1. How many months experience temperatures in excess of 15 °C?
2. What is the total amount of rainfall experienced in the winter months (November–January)?
391 22 18 15 12 2 104 12 11 3 99 68.5 66 48 33 22 22 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Average max. and min. temperatures in °Celsius Rainfall totals in millimetres
4. Average temperature and rainfall in the Med 68.5 5 7 14 15 10 6 3 129 111 93 30 27 17.2 30 17.5 26 21 16 12