Climate Change and Ski Tourism Sustainability: An Integrated Model of the Adaptive Dynamics between Ski Area Operations and Skier Demand

Daniel Scott, Robert Steiger, Michelle Rutty, Marc Pons and Peter Johnson
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Daniel Scott: Department of Geography & Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Robert Steiger: Department of Public Finance, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Michelle Rutty: Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Marc Pons: Observatori de la Sostenibilitat d’Andorra, AD600 Sant Julià de Lòria, Andorra
Peter Johnson: Department of Geography & Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Climate change is an evolving business reality influencing the sustainability of ski tourism worldwide. A new integrated model of the co-evolution of supply (27 ski areas) and demand-side (skier behaviour) climate change adaptation in the ski tourism market of Ontario, Canada is presented. Ski area operations are modeled under a high-emission 2050s scenario, with skier responses to altered operations informed by a survey of 2429 skiers. These market adaptive dynamics reveal new insights into differential climate risk, capturing patterns not apparent when considering only operational conditions of ski resorts. A decoupling of ski season length and skier visitation was found at four ski areas, where, despite average season length losses, visitation increased as a result of reduced competition. Simulated skier visit losses were smaller than reductions in season length, contributing to an increase in crowding. Growing the market of skiers was also identified as a critical adaptation strategy that could offset skier visit losses from shortened seasons. Climate change challenges the future sustainability of ski areas in this market in several ways: profitability of ski areas with substantially shorter seasons, increased snowmaking costs, crowding impacts on visitor experience, and potential overtourism at the few most climate resilient destinations.

Keywords: climate risk; ski industry; sustainable tourism; adaptive dynamics; tourism demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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