Climate change and snow tourism in Australia

Abstract. This paper examines impacts of climate change as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCQ on the snow-reliability ofthe Australian ski fields. It is shown that with a «best case» climate scenario for the Australian Alps, all but one resort (Mt Baw Baw) would have at least 60 days of natural snowcover in 2030 and would therefore still be snow-reliable. With a «worst case» scenario in 2070 on the other hand, none of Australia's current ski resorts would be able to operate a profitable ski industry. Possible adaptation strategies of the ski industry to climate change are suggested. It is demonstrated that the more technical adaptation strategies such as snow-making, super-grooming, and snow-farming are well-developed in Australia, while clearly not enough has been done in both the development of non-snow related activities in winter and an enhanced all-season Visitation. This paper therefore argues that Australian ski resorts need to diversify more than they do today or they will ultimately close due to the negative effects of climate change.