About – Smart Altitude

Why Smart Altitude?

Winter tourism is a key driver for the Alpine economy

The tourism sector plays an important economic and social driver for Alpine regions. Every year more than 100 million people visit the Alps, which is about 12% of the world’s tourists. In most Alpine territories, winter sports are still the main tourist attractions and represent a significant source of income. The Alps host 36% of the ski resorts and 84% of the major ski areas, attracting around 20 million skiers each year that generate an annual turnover of €40 billion

Why climate change?

Climate change affects significantly winter tourism

During the last 40 years, the average winter temperature in the Alps has increased by 1 °C and inter-year variability in snowfalls has also become more pronounced. The main impact of climate change is visible in the rise of the rain-snow limit and in the rapid melting of the snow cover at the beginning and end of winter.

What solutions to adopt?

Alpine territories can adopt adaptation and mitigation strategies

Adaptation and mitigation strategies anticipate and reduce the adverse effect of climate change. The design and adoption of these strategies can help ski resort operators and policy-makers of mountain regions in dealing with the new climatic conditions. The new measures and activities can build a new model for alpine winter tourism.

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PARTNER

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space Programe