Wo l f g a n g S c h obersberger, Veronika Leichtfried, Marisa Raggautz, Patricia Vagners, Barbara Strasser
Z u k u n f t s c h a n c e n d e s A l p i n e n Gesundheitst o u r i s m u s i m R a h m e n d e s Klimawandels
Future Perspectives of Alpine Health Tourism due to Climate Change
SUMMARY It is expected that within the next decades tremendous changes in the world climate will occur, which also affect the Alps. Because those changes in climate will have a negative impact on the environment (less snow, deficits in winter tourism, worse water quality of swimming lakes) it is of the utmost importance for the tourism industry to deal with the problems of this topic and to get creative in offering appropriate packages, especially in the field of Alpine health tourism. The following two examples shall demonstrate the opportunities in Alpine health tourism due to the climate change. These are a) lower temperatures in the Alps as compared to the temperatures in the valleys, which offer a recreational sojourn especially in the heat of the summer, and b) decrease of allergens at higher altitudes, which patients with allergic-atopic illnesses can benefit from in various ways. However, medicine and tourism will have to co-operate tightly to create and implement new verifiable and efficient vacation products, and to optimize their quality on a regular basis. Keywords: climate change, allergy, asthma, moderate altitude, health tourism
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG In den nächsten Jahrzehnten ist mit einer deutlichen globalen Erderwärmung zu rechnen, die auch den Alpenraum in Mitleidenschaft ziehen wird. Gerade weil der Klimawandel mit negativen Aspekten behaftet ist (weniger Schnee, Einbußen des Wintertourismus, schlechtere Wasserqualität der Badeseen), ist es für die Tourismusindustrie bereits jetzt von essentieller Bedeutung sich mit dieser Problematik zu befassen und mit neuen Angeboten, v.a. im Bereich des Alpinen Gesundheitstourismus positive Akzente zu setzen. Anhand von zwei Beispielen wird erörtert, welche Chancen der Klimawandel 27
