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Gymnaestrada 07: Exemplary sustainability
"SUSPORT" (SUstainibility & SPORT) is the name given to the environmental and sustainability concept for organisers of sporting events which has been drawn up by the organisers of the World Gymnaestrada 2007 together with the Swiss Federal Gymnastics Festival 2007.
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Pyrenean ski resort to be revived
The Municipality of Vielha in the Spanish Pyrenees has given the go-ahead for the construction of more than 500 apartments and 1,700 parking spaces in the ski resort of La Tuca. The resort was forced to shut down in 1989 as the lack of snow meant it was no longer viable. But now the ski resort is to be brought back to life with the new project.
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Is sustainability marketable in the winter-sports industry?
The aim of the SkiSustain research project is to help create efficient and sustainable business models for ski resorts in the face of climate change and socio-economic changes. Its researchers are looking at ways of developing sustainability as a marketable product and as unique selling propositions for skiing destinations. One product under consideration is a customer-oriented benchmarking which would serve as a guide to snow-sports enthusiasts when selecting the ski resorts of their choice.
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From winter to all-year tourism
The French département of Savoie aims to promote all-year tourism with its 2007-2013 Tourism Plan.
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On the right track - for and with hikers
An international joint venture of eight hiking regions grouped under the heading of Best of Wandern has come up with some innovative ideas for boosting visitor figures and strengthening visitor loyalty.
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From the Dorfmobil Klaus project to the reawakened Merano-Mals railway - "Soft mobility" helps to promote tourism in remote areas
The major problems caused by transit traffic through the Alps dominate the media. And yet it is all too often forgotten that more than two thirds of traffic in the Alps is home-made. So what are the alternatives? This was one of the key questions put to our team of experts.
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Indoor ski venues closing in on the Alps
It's not just in the desert state of Dubai that indoor ski runs are proving increasingly popular, but also in Europe. No snow means no revenue, and the mild weather is giving Europe's ski resorts a serious headache, one which the ski industry is hoping to relieve with artificial snow and indoor venues, regardless of global warming issues.
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Plans for a ski resort in the Natura 2000 region of northern Spain
According to plans by the regional government of Castile-León a new winter sports resort with ski-lift capacities for 32,000 visitors an hour is to be built in the northern Spanish provinces of Cantabria, Leon and Palencia.
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1.5 tonnes of artificial fertilizer for skiing competitions?
The impact of climate change on skiing areas is the subject of the OECD study published on 13 December 2006. It concludes that if a region's average annual temperature increases by one degree, only around 500 of the 666 skiing areas in the Alps could be assured of snow.
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Olympic infrastructures - A bottomless pit?
The infrastructure facilities built for the Olympic Winter Games in Turin in February 2006 have proved an expensive legacy.
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Climate-neutral winter holidays in Arosa
In co-operation with the company ClimatePartner the holiday region of Arosa/CH is the first resort in the Alps to offer climate-neutral winter holidays.
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Environmental management at campsites in South Tyrol
Twelve campsite operators in South Tyrol are planning to introduce an environmental management system as part of the Eco-camping Project.
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Management and Winter sport resorts
A new volume from the series "Journal of alpine research" was published in March. It deals with the management and governance of winter sport resorts.
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Skiers: a species on the verge of extinction?
A new study by WWF Italy shows that snowfall in the Italian Alps has decreased by 20% over the past thirty years and looks at the consequences. The tourism industry, which has been a cash cow for many alpine regions, has come to rely exclusively on artificial snow installations in many cases.
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Sustainable Winter Olympics in Turin?
Back when Turin was running as a candidate to host the Winter Olympics, Piedmont representatives of environmental associations criticised the candidature for its lack of environment-related issues.
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Water consumption high despite dry spells
(27.01.2006) According to data from Arpa Piemonte the Piedmont region/IT had only half the amount of its usual rainfall last year (430 mm). The consequences of this dry spell now include a lack of drinking water and low water levels in the region's lakes.
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International Mountain Day 2005
The theme chosen for this year's International Mountain Day is "Sustainable Tourism for Poverty Alleviation in Mountain Areas". As in the two previous years it is being held on 11 December.
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Holidaying without barriers? A new Interreg project focuses on the disabled
Una montagna per tutti (a mountain for everyone) is the name of an Interreg project between Italy and France that was launched only recently and focuses on people with disabilities.
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Mountains and the modern age: innovative construction at high altitudes
The Austrian Tourist Club [Österreichischer Touristenklub] recently opened the first high-alpine passive building, namely the Schiestlhaus am Hochschwab/A at 2,153 m.
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Via Alpina via the internet
Via Alpina, the project for a network of long-distance hiking trails, now features a new internet website at www.via-alpina.org . The Trails heading provides an opportunity to travel all 341 stages of the Via Alpina virtually, using interactive maps of different scales.
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New publication: Mountaineering villages to enjoy
The latest brochure of the Austrian Alpine Association (ÖAV) features hiking and mountaineering regions in Austria which actively implement the Alpine Convention's Tourism Protocol.
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Trading emissions to achieve "zero emissions" target at the Olympic Games
Turin/I is aiming to maximise the reduction in the output of greenhouse gases during the forthcoming Winter Olympics with the aid of its HECTOR (Heritage Climate Torino) programme launched in 2004.
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Nepalese Sherpas in Tyrol
27 Sherpas from Nepal are currently attending training courses at refuges in Austria's Tyrol province.
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Snowcats and man-made snow as a threat to plant diversity
The number of plant species growing on mountain slopes used for ski trails in Switzerland is eleven percent lower than on adjoining sites. The reduction is especially striking in the case of woody and early flowering plants.
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Italy: mountain peak to be illuminated during the 2006 Winter Olympics
During the 2006 Winter Olympics the local authority for Valli Po, Bronda e Infernotto plans to illuminate the summit of Monviso, the mountain that is the hallmark of the Piedmont.
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New book: the good alpine air
A new publication in the series "Revue de géographie alpine/journal of alpine research" is devoted to the subject of the air in the Alps. The mountain air has played a major role in the history of the Alps since the end of the 18th century.
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Ski area for the Himalayas
The highest ski slopes in the northern hemisphere are shortly to be built in Gulmarg on the slopes of Mount Afarwat in the Indian part of Kashmir. With a budget of 2.5 million euros, a French company is planning to build ski lifts and a 2.5-kilometre-long ski run at an altitude of over 4500 meters above sea-level.
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New EU project: AlpNaTour
The Interreg IIIB AlpNaTour Project has been up and running since the start of this year. The Project focuses on practical ways of integrating recreation and tourism concerns in management planning processes of Natura 2000 sites. The Project is to provide a guideline and checklists for the management of Natura 2000 sites influenced by the economic interests of tourism and recreation.
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Japan: Many skiing regions on verge of bankruptcy
Japan's winter resorts are in crisis. Since the boom years in the early 1990s the number of winter sports enthusiasts has dropped by more than a third. Even on weekends where snow is abundant many of the lifts remain closed. One ski resort in two is on the verge of bankruptcy. And yet in recent years only 4 out of a total of 722 ski areas have closed down; this is because Japanese legislation requires that, in the event of closure, operators dismantle the lift facilities and restore the ski slopes.
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The Alps as a wellness region - New EU project
January 2005 saw the launch of the Alpshealthcomp Project aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the alpine region as a health and wellness destination. The partners of Alpshealthcomp, a project of the EU Community Initiative Interreg IIIB Alpine Space Programme, come from Italy, Austria and Germany, the project itself being endowed with around one million euros.