Abstract
Research has dealt extensively with different aspects of climate change and winter tourism such as the impact on ski resorts and ski lift operators, adaptation strategies, governance at destinations and reactions of winter sports guests to changing snow conditions. This paper goes deeper into the question of destination choice and examines the role of climate change among the many factors affecting guest loyalty at Alpine winter destinations. The study uses an established destination choice model with choice sets, destination image and dynamic feedback loop. A qualitative online forum identifies factors influencing winter destination choice, followed by a quantitative survey which compares Alpine winter holidaymakers categorised as “loyal”, “disloyal” and “undecided”. The results demonstrate that climate change clearly influences destination choice, but snow sports are not the only affected attractors. Enjoyment of the natural environment and value for money are just as high on the list of guest motivators. This indicates that climate change adaptation measures such as snowmaking can be counterproductive to guest loyalty because they spoil the natural scenery and raise prices. The paper concludes with a recommendation for winter destinations to prioritize conservation of the natural environment and integrate more environmental protection measures into their management strategies.
Highlights
The influence of climate change on the tourism sector has been extensively discussed
This study focuses on winter tourism in the European Alps, where climate change is tangible (Gobiet et al [39])
The focus is on climate change as a factor influencing destination choice and thereby destination loyalty
Summary
The influence of climate change on the tourism sector has been extensively discussed. Because of the outstanding role of the Alps as a leading tourism destination, many publications have focused on the impact of climate change on the Alps, for winter tourism. Lack of snow in ski resorts was already discussed more than 20 years ago by Galloway [1], Koenig and Abegg [2] as an emerging threat for Alpine destinations. As tourists respond sensitively to lack of snow (Nicholls [3] and Uhlmann et al [4]), the need for adaptation measures became increasingly clear. Snowmaking became a key technology for stabilizing snow levels, and it was installed in virtually every alpine destination (Rixen et al [8], Evette et al [9], Spandre et al [10]). Strategic measures focused on revenue management and pricing (Damm et al [11], Malasevska and Haugom [12], Holmgren and McCracken [13]), finance and investments (Falk [14], Pickering and Buckley [15])
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