Climate change and tourism in the Alps

Abstract

Winter tourism has been repeatedly identified as vulnerable to global climate change due to diminished snow conditions required for alpine and nordic skiing that dominate the winter tourism market. Vulnerability to climate change, however, is not only depending on the impacts of global warming on natural snow conditions but also on the tourims stakeholder's willingness and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. First, the impacts of climate change on the number of naturally snow-reliable ski areas in the Alps will be presented. Second, the potential as well as the limitiations of two selected adaptation strategies - artificial snowmaking and all-year tourism - will be highlighted. And finally, the significance of climate change as a decisive variable in determining the future of Alpine (winter) tourism will be discussed, keeping in mind that the tourism sector will be affected by many factors over the next decades.