The Economic Sustainability of Snow Tourism: The Case of Ski Resorts in Austria, France, and Italy

Gené, Jordi Moreno; Pulido, Laura Sánchez; Fransi, Eduard Cristóbal; Ramón, Natalia Daries

doi:10.3390/su10093012

Cited by 41 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Surface ice/snow is among the most vital earth resources undergoing temporal and spatial changes as a consequence of climate change and other forms of environmental change in many parts of the world [2][3][4]. The economic, ecological and social effects of surface snow changes have been the subject of academic study for many years [5][6][7]. Furthermore, surface snow is one of the most important water resources of most rivers in high-mountain regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Automated Method for Surface Ice/Snow Mapping Based on Objects and Pixels from Landsat Imagery in a Mountainous Region

et al. 2020

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Surface ice/snow is a vital resource and is sensitive to climate change in many parts of the world. The accurate and timely measurement of the spatial distribution of ice/snow is critical for managing water resources. Object-oriented and pixel-oriented methods often have some limitations due to the image segmentation scale, the determination of the optimal threshold and background heterogeneity. Therefore, this study proposes a method for automatically extracting large-scale surface ice/snow from Landsat series images, which takes advantage of the combination of image segmentation, the watershed algorithm and a series of ice/snow indices. We tested our novel method in three different regions in the Karakoram Mountains, and the experimental results show that the produced ice/snow map obtained a user’s accuracy greater than 90%, a producer’s accuracy greater than 97%, an overall accuracy greater than 98% and a kappa coefficient greater than 0.93. Comparing the extraction results under segmentation scales of 10, 15, 20 and 25, the user’s accuracy and producer’s accuracy from the proposed method are very similar, which indicates that the proposed method is more reliable and stable for extracting ice/snow objects than the object-oriented method. Due to the different reflectivity values in the near-infrared band in the snow and water categories, the normalized difference forest snow index (NDFSI) is suitable for Landsat TM and ETM+ images. This study can serve as a reliable, scientific reference for rapidly and accurately extracting ice/snow objects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Automated Method for Surface Ice/Snow Mapping Based on Objects and Pixels from Landsat Imagery in a Mountainous Region

et al. 2020

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“…Recently, Rutty et al (2017) provide evidence that smaller ski areas experience greater losses in the length of the winter season in mild winter season. For a selected group of predominantly large ski lift operators in Austria, Italy and France, Moreno-Gené et al (2018) find that size of ski lift operators is still significant even in a group of large ski lift operators. When analysing the relationship between profitability and size of ski lift operators, however, it is important to use a wider definition of ski area size including not only the terrain of establishment but the total ski slope length of interconnected ski areas.…”

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…A detailed empirical analysis of the profitability of ski lift operators including small and medium-sized operators has not yet been carried out. Recently, Moreno-Gené et al (2018) investigate the determinants of return on assets of ski lift operators. However, small and medium-sized operators are under-represented due to data limitations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size facilitates profitable ski lift operations

Falk

Steiger

2019

Tourism Economics

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The book profits of 220 ski lift operators in Austria are analysed in order to identify the determinants relevant for business success. The median ratio of accounting profits to total assets was zero in 2013, while 43% had negative ‘book’ profits and another 12% had zero profits. Results using quantile regressions show that the ratio of book profits to total assets depends significantly on total length of ski slopes (size), maximum altitude of ski lifts, presence of a neighbour close by, the availability of nearby accommodation and the share of foreign overnight stays. Size usually has the greatest effect, which is even more pronounced in the lower part of the conditional distribution of the book profit ratio. Since size is the most important driver of the profit ratio, it can be expected that the pressure on, so far, untapped high alpine terrain will increase in the future.

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“…Given the dependence of ski resorts on natural conditions, adaptation to climate change is a topic of vital importance for ski operators and tourism policymakers: The sector is indeed required to rapidly respond, taking into account all the different implications that a decision might entail [55]. In order to remain competitive in a changing climate, operators need to take into account their strategic direction, considering each possible option for action and trying to bridge the gap between their needs and regional and local policies [55][56][57]. The aim of the Smart Altitude Decision-Making Toolkit (DMT) is to provide ski operators with a step-by-step approach for the selection and implementation of low-carbon measures (see Figure 6).…”

Section: Decision-making Toolkitmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Can Ski Resorts Get Smart? Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainable Winter Tourism in the European Alps

et al. 2020

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Climate change and the call for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the efficient use of (renewable) energy, and more resilient winter tourism regions, forces ski resorts across the European Alps to look for “smart” approaches to transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy. Drawing on the smart-city concept and considering the different historical developments of Alpine resorts, the Smart Altitude Decision-Making Toolkit was developed using a combination of an energy audit tool, a WebGIS, and collaborative and innovative living labs installed in Les Orres (France), Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), Krvavec (Slovenia), and Verbier (Switzerland). This step-by-step Decision-Making Toolkit enables ski resorts to get feedback on their energy demand, an overview of the locally available sources of renewable energy, and insights regarding their potential for improving their energy efficiency by low-carbon interventions. The Decision-Making Toolkit is suitable for knowledge transfer between stakeholders within living labs and moreover provides the flexibility for tailor-made low-carbon strategies adapting to the unique assets and situatedness of ski resorts.

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The Economic Sustainability of Snow Tourism: The Case of Ski Resorts in Austria, France, and Italy

Cited by 41 publications

References 63 publications

An Automated Method for Surface Ice/Snow Mapping Based on Objects and Pixels from Landsat Imagery in a Mountainous Region

An Automated Method for Surface Ice/Snow Mapping Based on Objects and Pixels from Landsat Imagery in a Mountainous Region

Size facilitates profitable ski lift operations

How Can Ski Resorts Get Smart? Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainable Winter Tourism in the European Alps

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