IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jtourh/v4y2023i4p37-617d1293625.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Snowmobiling and Climate Change: Exploring Shifts in Snowmobile Activity Using a Temporal Analogue Approach in Ontario (Canada)

Author

Listed:
  • Michelle Rutty

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Francesca Cardwell

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Grant Gunn

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

Abstract

The multi-billion-dollar snowmobile industry is predicated on natural snowfall and cold temperatures, with a near absence of research that examines industry response to climatic variability and change. Using a temporal analogue approach, this study examines 30 years of climate data (1989–2019), along with operational (grooming hours) and performance (permit sales) indicators, to provide insight into the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the Ontario snowmobile industry in a medium (RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5) mid-century (2046–2060) emission scenario. The results underscore important temporal and spatial variability across Ontario’s 16 snowmobile districts, indicating that snowmobilers are highly resilient to marginal conditions, changing districts and switching from seasonal to daily permits in response to warming temperatures. The findings from this study can inform risk assessments in other major snowmobile markets (e.g., Canada, Europe, USA), with future research needs discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Michelle Rutty & Francesca Cardwell & Grant Gunn, 2023. "Snowmobiling and Climate Change: Exploring Shifts in Snowmobile Activity Using a Temporal Analogue Approach in Ontario (Canada)," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:4:y:2023:i:4:p:37-617:d:1293625
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/4/4/37/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/4/4/37/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Steiger & Daniel Scott & Bruno Abegg & Marc Pons & Carlo Aall, 2019. "A critical review of climate change risk for ski tourism," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(11), pages 1343-1379, July.
    2. M. Rutty & D. Scott & R. Steiger & P. Johnson, 2015. "Weather risk management at the Olympic Winter Games," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(10), pages 931-946, October.
    3. Daniel Scott & Jackie Dawson & Brenda Jones, 2008. "Climate change vulnerability of the US Northeast winter recreation– tourism sector," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 577-596, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hongchao Zhang & Jordan W. Smith, 2018. "Weather and Air Quality Drive the Winter Use of Utah’s Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Francesco Angelini & Paolo Figini & Veronica Leoni, 2024. "High tide, low price? Flooding alerts and hotel prices in Venice," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(4), pages 876-899, June.
    3. Trawöger, Lisa, 2014. "Convinced, ambivalent or annoyed: Tyrolean ski tourism stakeholders and their perceptions of climate change," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 338-351.
    4. Mark Kanazawa & Mark T. Kanazawa, 2016. "Local consequences of climate change: State park visitations on the North Shore of Minnesota," Working Papers 2016-03, Carleton College, Department of Economics.
    5. Rutty, Michelle & Scott, Daniel & Johnson, Peter & Pons, Marc & Steiger, Robert & Vilella, Marc, 2017. "Using ski industry response to climatic variability to assess climate change risk: An analogue study in Eastern Canada," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 196-204.
    6. Daniel Scott & Robert Steiger & Michelle Rutty & Marc Pons & Peter Johnson, 2020. "Climate Change and Ski Tourism Sustainability: An Integrated Model of the Adaptive Dynamics between Ski Area Operations and Skier Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Natalie L. B. Knowles & Daniel Scott & Robert Steiger, 2024. "Climate Change and the Future of Ski Tourism in Canada’s Western Mountains," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-16, March.
    8. Jun Yang & Ruimeng Yang & Jing Sun & Tai Huang & Quansheng Ge, 2017. "The Spatial Differentiation of the Suitability of Ice-Snow Tourist Destinations Based on a Comprehensive Evaluation Model in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-13, May.
    9. Shijin Wang, 2024. "Opportunities and threats of cryosphere change to the achievement of UN 2030 SDGs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Weiying Cai & Hui Di & Xingpeng Liu, 2019. "Estimation of the Spatial Suitability of Winter Tourism Destinations Based on Copula Functions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Christoph Pott & Christian Spiekermann & Christoph Breuer & Michael ten Hompel, 2024. "Managing logistics in sport: a comprehensive systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 2341-2400, December.
    12. Łupikasza Ewa B. & Małarzewski Łukasz & Pham Quoc B., 2024. "The Impact of Circulation Types and their Changing Thermal Properties on the Probability of Days with Snowfall and Rainfall in Poland, 1966–2020," Quaestiones Geographicae, Sciendo, vol. 43(3), pages 47-64.
    13. Aysun Aygün Oğur & Tüzin Baycan, 2024. "How to manage tourism development based on impacts of climate change in Turkiye?," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, March.
    14. Steiger, Robert & Posch, Eva & Tappeiner, Gottfried & Walde, Janette, 2020. "The impact of climate change on demand of ski tourism - a simulation study based on stated preferences," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    15. Emmanuel Salim & Jeanne Fournier & Abraham Ephraim Gerber & Emmanuel Fragnière & Leila Kebir, 2024. "Summer Glacier Skiing Amid Climate Change: What Does Production Transformation Mean For Sustainability? [Letnia Jazda Na Nartach Na Lodowcu W Obliczu Zmian Klimatycznych: Co Oznacza Transformacja P," Post-Print halshs-04789645, HAL.
    16. Fangming Qin & Gezhi Chen, 2022. "Vulnerability of Tourist Cities’ Economic Systems Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: System Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms—A Case Study of 46 Major Tourist Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    17. Yong Zhang & Junhao Guo & Yifan Zhu & Shuohui Chen & Cong Gao & Ruize Sun & Ying Wang, 2024. "Snow Resource Reutilization: Design of Snow Collection and Compression Equipment Based on Functional Analysis Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-28, November.
    18. Anahita Azadgar & Lucyna Nyka & Stefano Salata, 2024. "Advancing Urban Flood Resilience: A Systematic Review of Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model, Research Trends, and Future Directions," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-26, December.
    19. Elizabeth E. Perry & Erin E. Budzyn, 2024. "Advancing Park Climate Planning Through Scaled Inquiry on Regional and Park-Based Ecosystem Services and Place Attachment," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Steiger Robert & Trawöger Lisa, 2011. "Klimawandel und Wintertourismus – Ein Vulnerabilitätsprofil für die Region Tirol," Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 151-164, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:4:y:2023:i:4:p:37-617:d:1293625. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.