Expert interviews were conducted with 24 stakeholders (13 CEOs of cable car companies, 11 CEOs of regional tourism associations) to determined their perceptions of climate change.
All respondents have encountered topic of climate change in their work lives, mainly involved with calming partners (banks) and the media concerns during low-snow seasons. - 22/24 respondents do not trust studies on climate change, mainly due to confusion caused by conflicting expert opinions - 20/24 believe some climate change is underway, though only 10 were able to identify clear signs of climate change in their region. Most do not anticipate highly negative consequences for ski resort operators. - Climate change not perceived as a real threat. - Unanimous agreement on the importance of snowmaking when operating a ski resort, even though not all managers believe in its adequacy as a means of adapting to climate change.
It is noted that further study is needed: - regional scenarios of climate change impacts on winter and ski tourism - investigations of the most influential drivers of cc perception and ways to transfer scientific knowledge to practitioners - representative perception studies in various alpine regions
CITE: Trawoger, L. (2014). Convinced, ambivalent or annoyed: Tyrolean ski tourism stakeholders and their perceptions of climate change. Tourism Management, 40, 338-351.
