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F.acT: Why is this topic relevant for the Tyrolean tourism industry?
Sarah Schiffer: Climate change is particularly evident in Alpine destinations, for example through changing temperatures, reduced snow reliability and glacier retreat. These changes have a direct impact on tourism offerings. At the same time, many tourists lack awareness and knowledge of this issue.
They are often generally aware of climate change and its negative effects, but lack awareness of the direct link between their own behavior and the consequences. Destinations therefore have an increasing responsibility to develop sustainable offers and promote knowledge transfer.
Climate hikes offer a way to make climate change directly visible and sensitize tourists to ecological connections. As this offer is new and has been little researched to date, it has great potential for the Tyrolean tourism industry in the future.
F.acT: What methodological approach did you use in your work?
Sarah Schiffer: I conducted a qualitative study as part of my master's thesis. I conducted 14 semi-structured expert interviews with stakeholders from Alpine regions where climate hikes are already being implemented. Sustainability managers, KLAR managers, hiking guides and biologists from regions such as the Kaunertal, Saalfelden-Leogang, Seefeld, the Montafon and the Alpbachtal were interviewed. The results were evaluated using qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz.
F.acT: What are the core results of your work and what significance do they have for tourist destinations and businesses?
Sarah Schiffer: The results show that climate hikes are particularly effective at imparting knowledge by demonstrating direct experiences of nature and visible climatic changes such as glacial melting. Interactive methods such as measuring water temperatures increase awareness of climate change and ecological relationships. The hiking guides play a particularly important role here, as they influence the learning success through their teaching methods.
However, the challenges with climate hikes are the low level of awareness, the lack of evaluation after the hikes and the sometimes deterrent effect of the term "climate hike" on the participants.
For tourist destinations, this means that climate hikes represent an effective sustainable offer that sensitizes tourists to climate change and ecological interrelationships and strengthens awareness and closeness to nature in the tourist region.
F.acT: What specific recommendations for action do you make in your Master's thesis?
Sarah Schiffer: My recommendations for action:
Further develop content: Expand with interactive and digital content, e.g. gamification, booklets or apps.
Increase awareness: Integrate the concept of sustainable knowledge transfer of climate hikes more strongly into existing tourism offers, e.g. on a bike tour.
Change the term: Use alternative terms, as "climate hike" often acts as a deterrent.
Expand cooperation: Further cooperation, for example with school education networks or the local population, in order to reach additional target groups.