Patterns of the development of tourism in mountain environments

Abstract

In recent decades, tourism has developed rapidly in mountain regions throughout the world, causing substantial economic, social, and environmental changes. While the physical and social environments of the world's mountains are characterized by their great diversity at all scales, comparable patterns of the development and impacts of tourism, and responses to it, have occurred and are taking place. However, tourism is not omnipresent in the world's mountains, and t]~e degree of its development varies significantly over both space and time.Drawing on literature from around the world, five themes are considered: accessibility; temporal dimensions; types of tourists; changes in communities as perceived by tourists; and changes in the socio-cultural structure of tourist communities. It is concluded that no formal model of the growth and effects of tourism in mountain areas can represent the great diversity of patterns of development. Trends identified within the paper are not clear-cut, and should be used as hypotheses for future research, especially because of the lack of repeat, longitudinal, or comparative studies to date. It is questionable whether tourism can be relied on as the basis for the long-term future of mountain communities; much research is required to elucidate the complicated forces involved.

In light of seasonal climatic and anthropogenic changes, is the Vaud canton (Switzerland) vulnerable to water stress by the medium-term?

“…Menzel and Matovelle, 2010;Milano et al, 2013]. However, water needs often depend on factors relying outside the water sector, like policies, tourism economy and trade characteristics [Price, 1992;Fernandez et al, 2014]. To cope with this limit, Grouillet et al [2015] suggest analyzing the historical evolution of past water demands in order to identify the main factors affecting the temporal dynamics of water needs and thus better implement socio-economic changes in future estimates.…”

Using Quickbird and Landsat imagery to analyze temporal changes in mountain resort development: Big Sky, Montana 1990–2005

“…Previous studies have found that the introduction of roads to the landscape often facilitates development. 7 Accurate road data, however, does not exist for 1990. We cannot, therefore, determine if this is true for our case.…”

“…Accessibility has been touted as a primary growth factor for tourism in mountain areas. 7 We would expect, therefore, that MRD would be correlated to roads within a watershed. Other studies have shown that the quality of life associated with living near areas rich with natural amenities is a significant attraction.…”

Impacts of experimental trampling by hikers and pack animals on a high-altitude alpine sedge meadow in the Andes

“…Research on visitor impacts in this region is important due to its high conservation value and popularity as a tourist destination (Price 1992;Byers 2009Byers , 2011Barros et al 2013). It is also important in terms of testing the generality of assumptions based on existing research in recreation ecology, including the impacts of different types of trampling on vegetation.…”