THE FUTURE OF WINTER TOURISM

In the Nordic countries, the main travel motivation of winter tourists is snow-based winter sport activities in “Winter Wonderland". More recently, however, snow based winter tourism is under pressure from many directions. Downhill skiing has entered a phase of stagnation in many countries. The typical downhill skiing tourist has become older. Generally, there is a change in leisure preferences towards city tourism or other types of snow-based activities such as snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing and ski mountaineering and backcountry skiing. Global warming also threatens traditional winter resorts, especially in low elevation and low latitude areas. Because of the latter, but despite the former, there are still heavy investments in snow-making facilities since managers live in the hope that if there is snow there are customers. What does research say about this? Despite the growing literature, still little is known about climate change impacts, vulnerability and the role and effects of adaptation and mitigation measures.

The first workshop on the Future of winter tourism aims to provide a platform for experienced scholars in tourism and related fields (geography, business, environmental economics, regional economics). The main themes of the workshop concern consumption behaviour, tourism demand, recreation demand, rural tourism, sustainability and travellers. Quantitative contributions are highly appreciated. Participation of interested researchers and policymakers from all countries is welcome.

Oral presentations are invited on areas related to winter tourism. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Winter tourism and changing climate
• Brand management in winter destinations
• Regional economy and snow-based tourism activities
• Usefulness of social media in snow based destinations
• Environmental impacts in winter sports resorts
• Santa Claus tourism
• Nature-based tourism in winter destinations
• Sustainable winter tourism and climate services

Outstanding papers will be considered for publication in a Special Issue in Current Issues in Tourism published by Taylor & Francis Group. Current Issues in Tourism is a double peer-reviewed journal encouraging in-depth discussion and critique of key questions within the subject. The final reviewing the papers (up to 7,000 words incl. refs) will be done by a blind referee process by the journal.

The workshop will consist of 20 papers and the number of participants will be limited to around 30. Each paper will be allocated 30 minutes, made up of a presentation by the authors, followed by a comment from a nominated discussant and a general discussion. Papers will be circulated in advance and taken as read.

Conference language: English


SELECTION OF PAPERS

Papers for the 2017 Workshop will be selected on the basis of full drafts. Papers must be submitted as Word documents via the online submission system. Submissions by email will not be considered.