Speaker
Description
In the Alps, mountain tourist regions are undergoing a structural transition driven by the tension between dominant industrial tourism-based economies and the effects of global crises such as climate change and shifting sociocultural paradigms.
These dynamics challenge the legacy and traditional practices of alpine tourism, redefining it as a multifaceted phenomenon that engages an increasing number of contexts, evolves into hybrid forms and practices, and intersects with multiple territorial dimensions.
These processes not only generate new pressures and risks for mountain contexts but also offer innovative opportunities that can contribute to a redefinition of territorial balances in Alpine areas.
This paper examines these transformations through the case of Valtellina, a mountain region in the Lombard Italian Alps. With this purpose, the contribution proposes a methodology structured into four main phases. The first phase involves analyzing the dynamics of tourism in the Valtellina area using a clustering method implemented through GIS software. This process enables the identification of homogeneous groups of municipalities within the Valtellina region, based on four key indicators of tourism development. Specifically, this operation has generated six clusters of municipalities involved by tourism development processes that are subsequently classified into four interpretative categories: (1) hubs, (2) emerging destinations, (3) declining areas, and (4) stable locations. Finally, these four categories are compared with the physical-spatial elements directly or indirectly influenced by tourism development, including landscape and environmental resources, accessibility, and mobility systems, as well as services supporting tourism activities.
The cross-analysis of tourism development processes and territorial structures highlights that tourism increasingly manifests as a “territorial question”, involving multiple dimensions and issues that are creating new geographies of alpine tourist territories. These geographies challenge the traditional narratives of attractive destinations and non-touristic sites and they also highlight the rise of hybrid practices that include a broader range of activities often integrated with other sectors and economic activities. Finally, this complex “tourism territorialization” underscores the role of spatial planning frameworks to address the complexity of these processes and guide a sustainable transition in these regions.
| Keywords | tourism ; Alps ; mountain territories; transition |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
