Natural Hazards and Tourism: New Findings on the European Alps

Abstract

The tourist industry in the European Alps has always been greatly threatened by natural disasters. As far as tourism is concerned, the so-called “indirect” effects of these disasters have proven to be more important than the direct damages. The former consist mainly of loss of earnings, which can result for example from the closure of access roads or the decommissioning of cable cars and ski lifts. In fact, it is the combination of a drop in the number of overnight stays with the absence of day trippers over several days which makes the outcome of a natural disaster an extraordinary event for the tourist industry. As long as natural disasters remain relatively rare occurrences, tourist resorts in the Alps can generally cope with them. Should the frequency of these events increase substantially as a result of global warming, however, tourism and the entire Alpine economy could face serious problems in the future.