Climate Change and Its Impacts on Tourism in the Alps - The Pilot Area of Auronzo Di Cadore (Belluno)

Abstract

The mountain area of the Veneto Region covers a third of its entire surface. Here the importance of tourism, and especially winter tourism, has grown constantly in time, making it a primary source of alpine wealth and a driver for the regional economy. However, in the last decade, different studies have highlighted a phase of stagnation for what concerns tourist fluxes, partly due to a lower attractiveness of the mountain tourism offer. This might depend on different social and economic factors, but also on the impacts of climate change, whose occurrence makes it difficult to secure a sufficient snow cover throughout the entire winter season, particularly at lower elevations. In this context, the project ClimAlpTour (Climate change and its impacts on tourism in the Alps), funded by the European Union as part of the Alpine Space Programme 2007–2013 and led by the Veneto Region, analysed one of today’s most burning issues: the impacts of climate change on tourism in the Alpine arc with particular focus on the economic, social and environmental factors related to both summer and winter activities. The Alpine arc is characterised by both a highly heterogeneous landscape and very dissimilar climatic conditions, which shape the region’s overall richness in terms of ecosystems and habitats. Thus, climate change does not affect this territory homogeneously. The partnership of the ClimAlpTour project, in its attempt to cover this diversity, lists representatives of the entire Alpine region including institutions from Italy (Veneto, Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Lombardy, Autonomous Province of Bolzano), Austria (Vienna and Tirol), France (Rhone Alpes), Germany (Bavaria), Slovenia, and Switzerland. Such comprehensiveness and the involvement of several local institutions through whose collaboration partners were able to analyse issues and peculiarities of tourism in these areas. The project revolved around the analysis of several pilot sites, which alpine were considered by experts to possess particularly significant and representative tourist and environmental conditions. The initial surveyed data included climatic data, market data, and other economic and social parameters. One of the main objectives of ClimAlpTour was to establish and offer to the local administrations a decision support system for differentiating tourism supply while adapting to possible future changes in alpine weather conditions due to climate change. The Veneto Region selected the pilot area of Auronzo di Cadore and Misurina because it presented great opportunities – in many instances still not fully exploited – for further developments of tourist seasons. This destination, which traditionally has been alpine well positioned in terms of summer tourism, is now attempting to improve the winter season supply, taking into consideration strong neighbouring competitors and environmental sustainability. The study reported herein describes the project’s experience within the Municipality of Auronzo di Cadore. Two participatory workshops alpine were conduced with the inclusion of a representative set of local stakeholders, which led to the identification and evaluation of alternative strategies for winter tourism development within a framework of adaptation measures to climate change.