Most people travel to discover new cultures, to experience new things, or to enjoy the beach and relax. This book investigates the following questions: How will people’s travel behavior change due to climate change? Will the same tourism destinations be successful, or will the general conditions change so much that tourists will switch to other destinations?

Global climate change and it consequences represent a fundamental challenge for tourism. While new possibilities arise for some tourism destinations, others are likely to suffer from the consequences. For example, climate projections have shown that the Mediterranean region in particular, which represents one of the most important and popular tourism destinations worldwide, will be affected by climate change. As a result, further investigations into the effects of climate change on Spanish tourism are very important. The "sol y playa" tourism has been the main pillar of the Spanish tourism industry for a long time. Other areas of tourism, such as cultural tourism or nature tourism, have only recently gained importance. Furthermore, tourism represents one of the most important economic sectors of the country. This long time, prevailing monoculture poses an increased risk potential for Spain because current and future climate change will have a great impact, especially for types of tourism that are directly dependent on the weather.

In 2011, German tourists accounted for 15.9 million arrivals in Spain, about 9% of the total demand, representing the second largest tourist group in Spain. Moreover, for German travelers, Spain is the most popular holiday destination after their home country. The Spanish Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands in particular are very popular with German tourists. Hence, it is important to investigate how these tourists will react to the effects of climate change on the tourism industry, for example water shortage.

The aim of this study is, to examine how climate change affects the travel behavior of German tourists and consequently influences the tourist flows from Germany to the Spanish Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands. Furthermore, this work provides valuable insights into tourists’ perception of climate and climate change as well as into the adaptation of their travel behavior in times of climate change. A central question is if and how preferences of tourists are influenced by the climate and how these will change in the future. This work focuses on potential behavior changes of tourists and their intention to change their travel plans based on climate change. Surveys given to German tourists in Spain served to verify and expand the theoretical approaches in the field of tourism and climate change.