Does Climate Change Influence Guest Loyalty at Alpine Winter Destinations?

Bausch, ThomasFree Univ Bozen Bolzano, Italy,Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (author)

Research has dealt extensively with different aspects of climate change and winter tourism such as the impact on ski resorts and ski lift operators, adaptation strategies, governance at destinations and reactions of winter sports guests to changing snow conditions. This paper goes deeper into the question of destination choice and examines the role of climate change among the many factors affecting guest loyalty at Alpine winter destinations. The study uses an established destination choice model with choice sets, destination image and dynamic feedback loop. A qualitative online forum identifies factors influencing winter destination choice, followed by a quantitative survey which compares Alpine winter holidaymakers categorised as loyal, disloyal and undecided. The results demonstrate that climate change clearly influences destination choice, but snow sports are not the only affected attractors. Enjoyment of the natural environment and value for money are just as high on the list of guest motivators. This indicates that climate change adaptation measures such as snowmaking can be counterproductive to guest loyalty because they spoil the natural scenery and raise prices. The paper concludes with a recommendation for winter destinations to prioritize conservation of the natural environment and integrate more environmental protection measures into their management strategies.

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP Ekonomi och näringsliv hsv//swe
SOCIAL SCIENCES Economics and Business hsv//eng
NATURVETENSKAP Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap Klimatforskning hsv//swe
NATURAL SCIENCES Earth and Related Environmental Sciences Climate Research hsv//eng
climate change
destination choice
destination loyalty
winter tourism
ski resorts
climate adaptation
Alpine tourism
Tourism
Turismvetenskap
Alpine tourism
Climate adaptation
Climate change
Destination choice
Destination loyalty
Ski resorts
Winter tourism

Humpe, AndreasMunich Univ Appl Sci, Germany,Munich University of Applied Sciences (author)
Gössling, StefanLinnaeus University,Lunds universitet,Linnéuniversitetet,Institutionen för organisation och entreprenörskap (OE),Lund University, Sweden;Western Norway Res Inst, Norway,Institutionen för tjänstevetenskap,Samhällsvetenskapliga institutioner och centrumbildningar,Samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten,Department of Service Studies,Departments of Administrative, Economic and Social Sciences,Faculty of Social Sciences,Western Norway Research Institute(Swepub:lu)hume-sg0 (author)
Free Univ Bozen Bolzano, ItalyFree University of Bozen-Bolzano (creator_code:org_t)

About the subject

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Earth and Relate ...; and Climate Research

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