Sustainable Tourism in the Alps

The Alps are the most extensive mountain range in Europe. Twenty million people live in the area that stretches across six European countries. Lying at the crossroads of trade routes, they suffer from dense road and rail networks. On the other hand, they are also easily accessible to a great number of people due to high paved mountain passes. It is worth noting that the Alps aren’t just mountains but also large cities, like Grenoble, Innsbruck, Trento and Bolzano. They represent a vulnerable ecosystem with a large number of rare animal and plant species, many of which are on the verge of extinction. Climate change significantly impacts their survival.

Tourism in the Alps began in the 18th century when the first mountaineers set foot there and later continued through the construction of large tourist centres (St. Moritz, Merano). It expanded substantially after World War II, first with the advent of summer tourism and shortly after with the construction of winter sports centres. The Alps were considered one of the world’s most important tourist destinations in 2010. Approximately 95 million tourists visit the region each year, of which 60 million are daily visitors.

Tourism is the main industry in the Alps, generating profit, new jobs and reasons for the young population to stay in the region. But it also has negative impacts on the mountain range. Alpine tourism is under pressure because it has to provide tourists with all possible benefits while at the same time protecting nature, which is precisely the reason why tourists come in the first place. Construction of land is spreading even in the high-altitude areas. This disturbs animal and plant life. Introducing traffic also results in CO2 emissions, which pollute the air. One particular problem is ski tourism, which is generally in decline, but it still enjoys considerable investments. Construction of ski resorts in the vulnerable mountain world renders the landscape and results in a shift in the vegetation cycle of plants, also changing the plant species composition. An increasing number of ski resorts need to employ artificial snow-making due to the decreasing levels of snow. It is expensive and harmful for the environment. The issue is mainly the excessive water and energy consumption.

Due to all the negative impacts of alpine tourism, some alpine municipalities have started investing in sustainable tourism. They mainly focus on promoting year-round tourism. This means that tourists don’t visit the Alps only during the summer or winter season but discover the mountain range throughout the whole year instead. Ski tourism is being replaced by other winter activities, such as hiking, frozen waterfall climbing and cross-country skiing. Dobratsch ski resort near Villach, Austria had to be closed in 1998 because the main spring supplying the town was affected by pollution. Today, the former ski resort is a successful natural park and the high cost for the use of the road is what prevents an increase in the number of cars.

The aim of sustainable tourism in the Alps is to introduce tourists to the local providers, discourage them from polluting the environment and encourage them to use local products. The benefits of sustainable tourism were also noticed by the locals and many families decide to open an agri-tourism farm where guests can stay, learn and try out daily household activities while exploring the beautiful surroundings.

Natural parks are of particular importance in the development of sustainable tourism, whether regional or national. The purpose of these parks is to protect nature while finding ways to advertise themselves in an informative and environmentally friendly way. Research programmes are also developed in these parks. Chartreuse Regional Nature Park, for example, unified farmers and cultural heritage. This form of cooperation enables tourists to comprehend the local production, tradition and way of life, so closely linked to the region. National parks often offer more favourable public transport prices and raise awareness with nature trails. In order to slow down traffic, especially in the most vulnerable ecosystems, they occasionally close down high mountain roads.

Another part of sustainable tourism in the Alps is slow tourism, which encourages tourists to take their time to travel the region on foot and by bicycle for a more sport-oriented experience. Slow tourism can be carried out in the form of hiking trails or public transport connections linking one provider to another. What we have in mind isn’t just the catering sector, but also arts and crafts product offerings. Such trails can be found mountainsides of Mont Blanc.

Austrian Alpine Association initiated a series of mountaineering villages. These villages are located in the Alps and they aim to provide high-quality tourist offerings that include the locals as well as economic activities, thus becoming examples of centres of regional development. They preserve their cultural heritage and offer travellers a myriad of outdoor activities while avoiding mass tourism. Mountaineering villages can now be found in all alpine countries.

The Alps are therefore full of hiking trails. Their maintenance depends on each specific country. One of the longest and most spectacular trails, Via Alpina, starts in Slovenia and ends on the beaches of Monaco. It offers entire natural and cultural diversity of the Alps. The Alpe-Adria Trail is also interesting and starts in the Austrian High Tauern and ends by the sea.

We all need to put forth the effort to ensure the Alps remain an area suitable for a walk and getting a breath of fresh air for centuries to come.