The carbon footprint of active sport tourists: an empirical analysis of skiers and boarders |
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| Authors: | Pamela Wicker |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Sport Economics and Sport Management, German Sport University Cologne, Am Sportpark Muengersdorf 6, 50933 Cologne, Germanyp.wicker@dshs-koeln.de |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis study estimated the annual carbon footprint of active sport tourists caused by snow-sport-related travel in the context of day trips, vacations, training courses, and competitions in 2015. Information about individual travel behaviour, sport profile, environmental consciousness, and socio-economic characteristics was collected using a nationwide online survey of adult skiers and boarders living in Germany (n?=?523). The average annual carbon footprint of snow sport tourists was 431.6?kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in 2015. Boarders had a higher carbon footprint than skiers. Regression analyses revealed that income and number of snow days had a significant positive effect on annual carbon footprint, while environmental consciousness was insignificant. This finding can be explained with the value–action gap and the low-cost hypothesis, suggesting that environmental attitudes were not associated with pro-environmental behaviour in terms of a lower carbon footprint because snow-sport-related travel was perceived as a high-cost situation by respondents. Segmenting respondents by snow-sport-related travel behaviour yielded two clusters, frequent travellers (56% boarders) and occasional riders (43% skiers), which differed with regard to annual carbon footprint, club membership, number of snow days, and performance level. This study contributes to the literature on active sport tourism and carbon footprinting. |
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| Keywords: | Climate change carbon dioxide emissions environmental consciousness pro-environmental behaviour snow sport |
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