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A critical review of climate change risk for ski tourism.

Authors :
Steiger, Robert
Scott, Daniel
Abegg, Bruno
Pons, Marc
Aall, Carlo
Source :
Current Issues in Tourism; Jul2019, Vol. 22 Issue 11, p1343-1379, 37p
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Ski tourism is a multi-billion dollar international market attracting between 300 and 350 million annual skier visits. With its strong reliance on specific climatic conditions, the ski industry is regarded as the tourism market most directly and immediately affected by climate change. A critical review of the 119 publications that have examined the climate change risk of ski tourism in 27 countries is provided. This growing and increasingly diverse literature has projected decreased reliability of slopes dependent on natural snow, increased snowmaking requirements, shortened and more variable ski seasons, a contraction in the number of operating ski areas, altered competitiveness among and within regional ski markets, and attendant implications for ski tourism employment and values of vacation property real estate values. The extent and timing of these consequences depend on the rate of climate change and the types of adaptive responses by skiers as well as ski tourism destinations and their competitors. The need to understanding differential climate risk grows as investors and financial regulators increasingly require climate risk disclosure at the destination and company scale. Key knowledge gaps to better assist ski tourism destinations to adapt to future climate risk are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
13683500
Volume :
22
Issue :
11
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Current Issues in Tourism
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
136380071
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2017.1410110