Tourism diversification paths in ski mid-mountain territories: any transformations?

2023-11-12

Current Issues in Tourism

AI Summary

Mountains worldwide face escalating vulnerability to climate change, undermining the sustainability of alpine ski tourism; yet pathways for tourism diversification—and their spatial implications—remain poorly understood. Drawing on qualitative comparative analysis and in-depth multi-case interviews conducted in two contrasting French mountain regions (Sancy Massif and Haut-Chablais), this study applies regional diversification theory to identify three coexisting tourism diversification pathways, elucidating their three-stage evolutionary trajectory and spatial boundary-transcending mechanisms. It pioneers the systematic integration of regional diversification theory into tourism geography, introducing the “leapfrog” pathway—exemplified by the “saltation” type—as a transformative strategy capable of generating larger-scale, structurally superior tourism systems that transcend conventional resort spatial boundaries. The research establishes a novel paradigm for resilience-oriented transformation in mid-altitude mountain tourism and provides theoretical foundations and actionable insights for adaptive governance in mountain destinations.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Mining of Spatial, Temporal or Spatio-Temporal Data
• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search

Application Category

• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Models for Web evolution
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Algorithms and analysis for heterogeneous, signed, attributed, multi-relational, temporal, higher-order, and annotated Web-related graphs
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Studies of user behavior, including longitudinal effects of personalized systems

Abstract

In the context of adapting to global changes, the diversification of the tourist offer seems to be a solution for the mid-mountain areas, which are structured around and dependent on ski tourism. However, it remains unclear how tourism diversification occurs, what forms it can take and what it produces at a territorial scale. In this study, we apply a theory of regional diversification to the case of tourism in order to examine tourism diversification paths. We base our analysis on qualitative data collected on two French study areas: the intercommunities of the massif du Sancy and of the Haut-Chablais. Our results show a pattern in tourism diversification paths, following three steps that can lead to the abandonment of the perimeter of the ski resort. However, among the different types of tourism diversification trajectories, only a saltation form of tourism diversification can lead to the establishment of a larger and more diversified tourism system. Our findings also show that several types of tourism diversification paths can coexist at a territorial scale.

Problem

• Examining tourism diversification paths in ski mid-mountain areas
• Identifying forms and impacts of tourism diversification territorially
• Analyzing steps leading to ski resort perimeter abandonment

Innovation

• Apply regional diversification theory to tourism
• Analyze qualitative data from French areas
• Identify saltation form for diversified tourism