Last chance to see the ice: visitor motivation at Montenvers-Mer-de-Glace, French Alps

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is causing significant changes to the cryosphere. Glaciers and glacier tourism are directly impacted, and glacier tourism operators must adapt to the disappearance of their main resource. Recent studies carried out in this context have demonstrated that Last Chance Tourism (LCT) has emerged as the motivation behind viewing or visiting a natural resource before it disappears. The most frequently visited French glacier is Montenvers-Mer-de-Glace (1920 m a.s.l.), which is becoming a LCT destination. Results from both qualitative and quantitative methods demonstrate that visitors come to Montenvers mainly for its environmental features and for LCT purposes. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) shows that motivations can be classified into LCT and five other factors. Qualitative data identify ‘Fame’ as an unexpected motivational category, and different motivational dimensions of each category are explored. Concerning LCT motivation, four dimensions are revealed: observing, understanding, a sense of urgency, and witnessing environmental changes. Moreover, the more respondents are aware of climate change, the more they consider LCT motivations important. These results lead us to link LCT to cognitive dissonance. Finally, we propose that future research should explore LCT and its relationship with media coverage and pro-environmental behaviour.

摘要

人为气候变化正在对冰冻圈造成重大变化。冰川和冰川旅游直接受到影响, 冰川旅游经营者必须适应其主要资源的消失。在这一背景下进行的最新研究表明, “告别游”(LCT)已成为人们在自然资源消失前观赏或游览的动机。最常游览的法国蒙特維冰川 (海拔1920米), 它正在成为告别游的目的地。本研究采取定性和定量方法, 结果表明,游客来到蒙特維主要为了其环境特性而进行告别游。探索性因素分析(EFA)表明, 动机可以分为告别游和其他5个因素。定性数据将“名气”确定为一个意想不到的动机类别, 并对每个类别的不同动机维度进行了探讨。关于告别游的动机,揭示出四个维度:观察、理解,紧迫感与见证环境变化。此外, 受访者越了解气候变化, 就越认为告别游动机重要。这些结果让我们把告别游和认知失调联系起来。最后, 我们建议未来的研究应该探索告别游及其与媒体报道和环保行为的关系。

Keywords:

• Glacier tourism
• climate change
• last chance tourism
• motivation
• cognitive dissonance
• Montenvers-Mer-de-Glace

关键词:

• 冰川旅游
• 气候变化
• 告别游
• 动机
• 认知失调
• 蒙特維冰川

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Data from the Chamonix Tourism Office (interview with the Director, April 2017).

2 Ibid.

3 Data from the Compagnie du Mont Blanc (interview with the Montenvers Director, November 2019).

4 Interview with Compagnie du Mont Blanc Marketing Director, February 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emmanuel Salim

Emmanuel Salim is a PhD candidate in Geography at the University Savoie-Mont-Blanc. His doctorate is exploring the evolution of glacier tourism face to climate change. His research interest includes landscape perception, tourism experience and motivation, geomorphological and glaciological evolutions and impacts on society.

Ludovic Ravanel

Ludovic Ravanel is a researcher in geography at the University Savoie-Mont-Blanc. His research focusing on evolution of high mountain environment including rockfall, permafrost degradation and impacts on society.