| Abstract: |
Increasing temperatures and snow-scarce winter seasons challenge the winter
tourism industry, one of the most weather-sensitive economic sectors. In this
paper we assemble a novel dataset matching weather conditions and tourism
flows in a sample of 39 Italian ski resorts in the last 20 years. We study the
relationship between snow conditions, ski passes and overnight stays at ski
resort level by means of a panel estimator with double fixed effects to
quantify the risk of tourism losses due to climate change. We estimate a
positive and significant relationship between snowfall conditions and winter
tourism flows in Italian Alpine resorts. According to our estimates and to
consensus projections on climate variables, in the coming years the impacts of
climate change on ski passes and overnight stays could be significant,
especially at lower altitudes. We also find evidence that providing artificial
snow only has a weak effect on winter tourism flows, pointing toward the need
for a more comprehensive approach to adaptation strategies. |