Projections of snow tourism in Ontario and Austria

The ski sector is one of the main economic activities for many mountain communities. The analysis of the vulnerability of ski resorts and the study of how skiers will respond to future dynamics of increased scarcity of water resources and greater variability will be key to plan the future adaptation of the sector.

Canada is one of the most important markets in the world in the ski sector. The Sustainability Observatory of Andorra (now part of Andorra Research + Innovation) is a partner in the project "An integral model for the analysis of the vulnerability of the ski industry to climate change" funded by the Canada Research Chairs program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The project, developed by a consortium with the University of Waterloo and the University of Innsbruck, addresses the issue of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change at ski resorts in eastern Canada, modeling both the physical impacts on snow availability and snow production capacity, and the possible adaptive response of skiers and its impact on the regional market [1]-[3].

At the same time, we study the dynamics of winter tourism in Austria and develop, along with the University of Innsbruck, a model that allows us to reproduce them according to visitor profiles, origins, destinations and seasonal weather conditions. The model allows the exploring of the impact of climate variability on tourism dynamics and the local and regional impact, as well as projecting possible future scenarios according to the evolution of different climatic, demographic, industry innovation or socio-economic factors.

[1] M. Rutty, D. Scott, P. Johnson, E. Jover, M. Pons, and R. Steiger, “Behavioural adaptation of skiers to climatic variability and change in Ontario, Canada,” Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, vol. 11, pp. 13–21, 2015.

[2] M. Rutty, D. Scott, P. Johnson, M. Pons, R. Steiger, and M. Vilella, “Using ski industry response to climatic variability to assess climate change risk: An analogue study in Eastern Canada,” Tourism Management, vol. 58, 2017.

[3] D. Scott, R. Steiger, M. Rutty, M. Pons, and P. Johnson, “Climate change and ski tourism sustainability: An integrated model of the adaptive dynamics between ski area operations and skier demand,” Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 12, no. 24, pp. 1–16, 2020.