ClimTour
Impacts of climate change on Norwegian nature based tourism (ClimTour)
Development of tourism, one of the world’s fastest growing industries, has become an important strategy for regional economic development in Norway. At the same time, climate change is altering the conditions on which tourism is based. Ski-tourism is already being affected by a lack of snow in multiple destinations across the globe, recently also identified to be the case for some of the Norwegian destinations. Tourism, and nature based tourism in particular, is dependent on ecosystem and climate services such as snow, aesthetic landscapes and wildlife, as well as being dependent of well-functioning physical infrastructure such as roads, harbors and telecommunications; all of which is subject to impacts from climate change.
Some ski resorts in Norway will be negatively affected by climate change after a quarter as mild winters become more common. Photo: Recbecca Sortland
The user partners are:
Destinasjon Lofoten
Reisemål Hardangerfjord
Visit Sognefjord.
Den Norske Turistforening (DNT)
Flåm AS
NCE Tourism Fjord Norway
Norwegian research partners:
Western Norway Research Institute
Nordland Research Institute
Uni Research AS
MET Norway
Department of Bioscience at the University of Oslo
Miljøfaglig Utredning
International research partners:
Dr Paul Peeters at Centre for Sustainability, Tourism and Transport, Breda University of Applied Sciences (CSTT)
Professor Daniel Scott at the University of Waterloo, Canada
Professor Bruno Abegg at the University of Innsbruck, AustriaProfessor
Michael C. Hall at the Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Still, little is known about how the Norwegian tourism industry will be affected, or its ability to cope with potential challenges and stress caused by climate change. The overarching aim of the project is to enable a sustainable adaptation to climate change of the nature based tourism industry in Norway.
The sub-objectives are:
Assess climate change consequences for weather conditions critical to the nature based tourism industry
Assess climate change consequences for selected ecosystem services and physical infrastructure critical to the nature based tourism industry
Develop climate change adaptation strategies for the involved user-partners
Develop climate services that can support the tourism industry in comprehending impacts of climate change and developing adaptation strategies and measures.
The tourism industry has responded very positively on this project initiative, seeing a need for better knowledge on these issues. The participating stakeholders will take active part in the knowledge production, in line with the concept of co-production of knowledge. This approach will ensure the quality of the knowledge output, secure ownership to it among tourism stakeholders, and promote the practical use of the knowledge in adapting to climate change.
The project consists of five case studies: Mountain hiking, physical infrastructure, fishing and hunting, winter tourism, and coast- and alpine based tourism. Furthermore, the project will benefit by getting input from some of the highest ranking international researchers on tourism and climate change in the world. The two user-oriented outputs from the project will be a climate services module tailormade for tourism on www.klimaservicesenter.no, and an interactive climate game designed to promote reflections on climate change impacts and adaptation options for tourism.
This short film by Norwegian filmmaker and photographer Johan Wildhagen is made for the ClimTour project to sum up findings, whilst conveying a deeper, melancholic message.