Weather influences on zoo visitation (Cabárceno, Northern Spain)

The general relationship between weather and climate with recreation and tourism has been widely acknowledged, but research on more activity-specific assessments is still required. The links between atmospheric conditions and visitation to the Nature Park of Cabárceno, an outdoor zoo located in Cantabria (Northern Spain), have been analyzed by conducting in situ surveys and comparing the daily number of attendants and meteorological parameters from a nearby weather station. The sensitivity of zoo visitation to weather variability was seasonally dependent, so winter attendance is directly related to the frequency of dry, warm, calm, and cloudless days; in summer, attendance was less sensitive to weather, with visitors attending in largest numbers during mild, cloudy, and breezy days. Moreover, a dissociation exists between perception and behavior during the period of the largest influx of visitors: visitors remark the importance of weather when planning the activity, but they show little flexibility when visiting. Socio-economic factors (origin of visitors, family structure) fade the weather influence.