Microclimatic Volatility and Elasticity of Glacier Skiing Demand

Marius Mayer, O. Cenk Demiroglu and Oguzhan Ozcelebi
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Marius Mayer: Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
O. Cenk Demiroglu: Department of Geography and Economic History, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Oguzhan Ozcelebi: Department of Economics, Istanbul University, 34452 Istanbul, Turkey

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: The effects of climate conditions and weather on ski tourism have become a hot topic as the negative impacts of climate change on ski tourism become increasingly visible. This study aims at measuring the significance and magnitude of long-term diurnal and daily weather conditions on lift frequentation at an Austrian glacier ski area in terms of the winter and the summer skiing offers. In doing so, it utilizes an autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) model to reveal and quantify any volatility associated with ski area visitation and then employs regression models to account for any microclimatic elasticity of glacier skiing demand. The main findings reveal a significant volatility in ski area visitation, especially during the summer seasons. While this study does not aim for an ultimate determination on the reasons for such volatility, skiing demand models illustrate the importance of thermal comfort, especially wind chill factor (WCF), as a major determinant of demand sensitivity for glacier skiing as well as non-skier visits during the summer season. Significant, albeit inelastic, relationships between other microclimatic characteristics, such as snow depth and relative humidity, with visitation and lift frequentation are also identified. Based on these findings, implications according to a changing climate and practical suggestions on the sustainability of winter and summer skiing activities are provided.

Keywords: climate change; climate elasticity; climate variability; glacier skiing; summer skiing; volatility; autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity; Cochrane–Orcutt procedure; Austria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3536-:d:173236

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