Beach Camping, Weather, and COVID-19: A Case of Hawaii, United States

Beach camping involves occupancy of a temporary shore-adjacent accommodation such as a tent. Beach camping studies have focused primarily on adverse ecological impacts, not factors influencing participation such as weather or COVID-19. We address this gap, operationalizing the beach camping case for Hawaii (United States), a group of islands in the lower latitudes of the Pacific Ocean. The dependent variable is beach camping occupancy. The independent weather variable is thermal stress (i.e., heat exposure). Retrospective forecasts assessed relationships between weather and camping occupancy (January 2015‐February 2020). To assess the influence of COVID-19, we ran forecasts to compare to observed camping occupancy (March 2020‐December 2023). Results indicate that (1) adverse weather is inversely related to camping occupancy and (2) international but not domestic beach camping occupancy has rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels. Based on prospect theory, findings demonstrate that adverse weather is more salient than favorable weather on camping occupancy.