MASSSKI TOURISM IN THE DOLOMITES AND SUSTAINABILITY SOME EVIDENCE FROM TWO FIELD RESEARCH PROJECTS

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MASS-SKI TOURISM IN THE DOLOMITES AND
SUSTAINABILITYSOME EVIDENCE FROM TWO FIELD
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Mariangela Franch, Umberto Martini, Pier Luigi
Novi Inverardi Federica Buffa, Pietro Marzani
and Maria Della Lucia
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The Dolomites
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Tourism in the Dolomites

• Offering Small-and Medium-sized Tourism
  Enterprises
• Demand do-it-yourself tourist
• Activities in winter season downhill skiing
• Core of local economic activity
• Enormous fixed costs ? a stable demand

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Possible development models
Mass-ski Tourism in the top destinations in the
Dolomites
Flagestad, Hope, 2001

• Advantages large number of tourists and economic
  development for entire valley and surrounding
  area
• Weaknesses trade-off between environmental,
  economic and social sustainability

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The Research question and objectives

• Is Mass-ski Tourism the best way to pursue
  sustainability growth in
• the top destinations in the Dolomites?
• new destinations (e.g. Carpathian) and developing
  ski areas?

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The Research Method

• Demand 5,000 online questionnaires administered
  according to a stratified and systematic sampling
  scheme (Summer 2001 and Winter 2001-2002)
• Offering 171 online questionnaires administered
  according to a stratified sampling scheme -
  hotels with email located in Alpine tourist
  destinations
• (June September 2003)

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The Main Results

• What are the tourists looking for?
• downhill skiing (68), but only 25 came
  exclusively to ski
• importance of quality of the environment within
  the destination (96,2)
• What are the best practices of hotelkeepers for
  sustainable investments?
• following the provincial or regional activities
  for recycling (75) and energy conservation (50)
• interest in environmental certification (11) and
  possession of a quality label (14)
• they think that tourists would be in favour of
  sustainable destination policies (e.g. natural
  resources, freeride skiing, limited traffic)

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Indications for sustainable models

• In the top destinations in the Dolomites
• limiting the development of new lifts and
  connections
• increasing the quality of existing facilities
  (lift, accommodation..)
• improving the quality and authenticity of
  products/services in the destination
• In new destinations and in developing ski areas
• increasing the value of the community model and
  the local identity of the destination
• creating parks and environmentally friendly areas
• developing the range of winter sport activities
• realising new ski runs and lifts over 1600-1700
  meters (www.cipra.org)

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Thank youwww.economia.unitn.it/etourism
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Possible development models
Flagestad, Hope, 2001