Significance of winter tourism in hilly-and-mountainous areas in Japan

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  • 中山間地域におけるウィンターツーリズムの意義,および地球温暖化による影響
  • チュウサンカン チイキ ニ オケル ウィンターツーリズム ノ イギ オヨビ チキュウ オンダンカ ニ ヨル エイキョウ

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Abstract

Winter tourism, which typically focuses on skiing, is assumed to be one of the few viable industries that contribute to the economy of cold hilly and mountainous areas. Possible global warming, which is expected to occur and is currently a subject of discussion, can pose a major threat to the economy of hilly and mountainous areas by having an impact on skiing activities. Firstly, the onsite expenditure by ski visitors was compared with the gross regional products in Japan. On a nationwide average, the share of the expenditure compared with the gross regional product was 0.15%. However, for hilly and mountainous areas, the share increased to 0.78%. In mountainous areas, the share was assumed to be as high as 3.6%. Secondly, the impact of global warming on onsite expenditure by ski visitors was projected based on scenarios of temperature and precipitation variations. In Hokkaido, the number of skiing resorts, where the mean temperature in Januaryexceeds 3°C and making them “non-viable resorts, ” remained zero; and in most regions of Tohoku and East Japan, it is estimated that this will remain less than 10% until 2080s. However, in Southwestern Japan and regions along the Japan Sea coast, the number of “non-viable resorts” amounted to 30-40% of the number of resorts in the year 1995. This decrease in the number of “viable resorts” is estimated to result in a decrease in the onsite expenditure by ski visitors from 0.75 trillion Yen in the 1995 to 0.65 trillion Yen in 2080s. The decrease in the onsite expenditure was estimated to be lesser than the decrease in the number of “viable resorts.” This is considered to indicate that the number of small-scale skiing resorts would decrease more rapidly under the influence of possible global warming, compared with large-scale resorts.

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