Determinants of sustainability of ski resorts: do size and altitude matter?

ABSTRACT

Research questions

The research questions are aimed at increasing knowledge about ski resorts’ sustainability. Achieving and maintaining sustainable operations and meeting sustainability requirements may be more important for some resorts than others.

RQ1: Which sustainability indicators are part of pillars and requirements of ski resort sustainability?

RQ2: Which types of ski resorts are more effective in managing sustainability?

Research methods

A survey of ski resort managers from Europe and North America was undertaken. Principal component analysis was conducted on each of the pillars and requirements of sustainability of ski resorts. Identified factors were then inputted into Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests to search for differences between resorts with different lengths of pistes and altitudes. Finally, clustering was used to further define which types of ski resorts exhibit more sustainable behavior.

Results and Findings

This study shows that larger ski resorts are capable of producing lesser environmental effect per visitor. Higher altitude forces ski resorts to behave more sustainably. There is a clear indication that resorts with longer pistes and higher altitudes are more inclined to implement sustainability management practices and enjoy higher quality environments.

Implications

The results advance our knowledge of ski tourism and recreation as a special interest market segment as well as its potential for policy to support sustainable mountain tourism development. Identified advantages and situational conditions to be taken into account for efficient ski resort operations are discussed. A major policy implication of the present study is that big is not always bad when managing a ski resort.

KEYWORDS:

• Mountain tourism
• destination choice
• ski resorts
• sustainability management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.