Alpine resorts are looking to develop summer activities in anticipation of global warming increasingly affecting ski seasons.
Loic Bonhoure, chief operating officer of ski resort operator Companie des Alpes, reported the winter snowline in the Alps could recede from about 1,560 metres to 2,400 metres within 20 years.
He told the A World for Travel forum in Nimes: “Climate change is here. Ski resorts are organised for winter. [But] we need to develop activities for summer.
“For ski you can have a lot of capacity – one million visitors a season. Summer activities will be low capacity, will be different activities [and] will have to be developed sustainably to protect the environment.”
He argued: “We have to invest for the long term. In the short term, it won’t be profitable.”
Bonhoure noted: “We often see companies make huge commitments on climate but provide very little proof. But we have biodiversity observatories in all our resorts with scientists working every summer.”
He added: “We have to accelerate. Two years ago we planned to cut CO2 emissions by 6% by 2024 and 48% by 2030. Now we plan to cut 47% by 2024 and to be at zero net carbon by 2030.”