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The future of glacial tourism in a world where ice leaves

Tourists admire the Aletsch glacier.

Tourists admire the Aletsch glacier, the largest in the Alps.

Keystone / Anthony Anex

Climate change threatens glacial tourism. Among other questions arises: how to save this vital sector for local communities? A researcher from the University of Lausanne has some adaptation strategies on hand of the future.

For centuries, glaciers have been exercising a deep fascination on humans. Notable tourist attraction, they attract millions of visitors to the Alps every year in Europe as elsewhere on the planet, from North America to New Zealand.

Glaciers are a source of income for local communitiesExternal link. Ski stations, hotels and mountain guides depend directly or indirectly on their presence.

“The melting of glaciers does not necessarily mean the end of tourism in glacial environments.”

Emmanuel Salim, expert tourism expert

In Switzerland, they contributed to the emergence of alpine tourism and the development of ski lifts. Inaugurated in 1912, the Jungfrau railway is the desire to facilitate access to the glaciers of the Bernese and Valais Alps.

However, these same glaciers always melt faster due to climate change. Many could disappear almost completely in the coming decades, impacting ice and mountain tourism. This is one of the reasons that prompted the United Nations to declare 2025 international year of the preservation of glaciers.

The decline in these ice fields complicates access to huts as well as high altitude summits. The melting of glaciers and permafrosts destabilize the soil on which mechanical mounted and other tourist infrastructures are based. Activities such as mountaineering and the visit of ice caves, as on the Rhône glacier in the Swiss Alps, will no longer be possible everywhere.

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The fact remains that the fascination felt by confronting the glaciers, or what remains will not disappear completely.

Based on concrete cases in Switzerland and France, Emmanuel Salim, associate researcher at the University of Lausanne and author of a study on the future of glacial tourismExternal linksees three possible solutions to ensure the survival of the sector: geotourism, dark tourism – or dark tourism – and virtual reality.

“La Fonte des Glaciers does not necessarily imply the end of tourism in glacial environments,” sums up Emmanuel Salim in Swissinfo.

Accent on scientific value

Glacial tourism has long been based on the aesthetic appeal of glacial environments, says the researcher. We visit the Alps, Iceland or national mountain parks in the United States to admire, among other things, the natural beauty and the majesty of the glaciers.

Emmanuel Salim

Emmanuel Salim

University of Lausanne

But they also have a scientific and educational value. They testify to the impacts of global warming. In this regard, the Aletsch Glacier (in Switzerland), the largest sea of the ice in continental Europe, is an interesting case, according to Emmanuel Salim.

The Aletsch region, in Valais, is an important destination for skiing and other winter activities. In summer, thousands of people take the ski lifts to reach the panoramic views of the glacier.

Its cast iron reduces its beauty, but at the same time strengthens its scientific value, explains Emmanuel Salim. “The decline in the Aletsch glacier makes it an ideal place to observe the effects of climate change on the landscape live. This scenario opens up new opportunities for the development of geotourism. ”

Geotourism at Aletsch glacier

Geotourism is a form of tourism that highlights the geological and geomorphological characteristics of a place. It helps visitors and visitors to understand the history of the earth and its natural processes. Grand canyon explorations in the United States or ETNA excursions are part of it.

In the areas where glaciers melt, geotourism is an interesting approach, judges Emmanuel Salim. On the Aletsch site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pro Natura environmental NGO has offered excursions for years to discover its glaciological and geological characteristics and local biodiversity. Applications for smartphones, brochures and educational trails help raise awareness of the effects of temperature increase.

“The development of geotourism can be an effective strategy to get rid of the main resource, namely the glacier, and guarantee tourist interest, including when the ice has disappeared,” said the researcher.

A person walking near the Aletsch glacier

The Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland could attract tourists interested in the geological characteristics of this UNESCO World Heritage area.

Keystone / Anthony Anex

Dark tourism on the sea of ice

The second approach plans to develop postglacial tourism. According to Emmanuel Salim, this perspective could apply to the Glacier de la Mer de Glace, the most frequented in France, with 450,000 visitors in 2024. This glacier could no longer be visible from the observation point of the Montenvers, above Chamonix, from 2050.

According to studiesExternal link Led by the researcher with tourists in the place, their main motivation is to see the glacier before he disappears. Many visitors also express the wish to better understand climate change and its impact on the evolution of the glacier.

“These motivations are often associated with the concept of dark tourism,” explains the researcher. This form of tourism (“Dark Tourism”) consists in visiting places associated with a natural disaster or a tragic event. The Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland or the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Chernobyl are among the best known destinations.

In terms of the sea of ice and other glacial sites, the tourism transition “from the last chance” to dark tourism could allow operators in the sector to promote a new type of experience. The regions so far covered with ice would become places of commemoration of glaciers, as for Okjokull in Iceland and Pizol in Switzerland, and reflection on the consequences of the “climate disaster” caused by humans.

“With this transition to dark tourism, the accent is no longer put on the glacier itself, but on the impact of the human being on the environment,” translates Emmanuel Salim.

View of the Glacier de la Mer de Gli, in France, from the Montenvers Belvedere.

View of the Glacier de la Mer de Gli, in France, from the Montenvers Belvedere.

Keystone

Virtual reality at Mortratsch

Another track is that of using new technologies. Virtual reality makes it possible to reconstruct the missing glaciers and to visualize the future evolution of existing specimens. In this scenario, attraction is no longer the physical glacier, but its virtual representation.

An experience of this type is already possible for the Swiss Glacier de MortratschExternal link. In the center for visitors near the lower station of the Diavolezza cable car, the public can follow the history of the glacier and the whole region since 1875 by means of virtual reality glasses and visualize projections for 2100.

Studies are rare to relate to the use of virtual reality in glacial tourism. But research on its use for the preservation of archaeological sitesExternal link In the Arctic suggest that it could prove to be good efficiency to transmit a strong message, says Emmanuel Salim. “It is undoubtedly an innovative approach.”

>> Discover the dead glacier with virtual reality:

External contents

Anticipate the disappearance of glaciers

The three strategies do not exclude each other, according to the researcher. Tourist operators can combine them according to the context and the offer they wish to offer. Anyway, to ensure the viability of the sector, you will have to know how to anticipate and adopt a holistic approach, underlines Emmanuel Salim.

“This is the only way to maintain activities around the concept of glaciers, including when they are no longer the main attraction. Or that they have disappeared. “

Text reread and verified by Gabe Bullard, translated from Italian by Pierre-François Besson/Op

aspen.coleman
aspen.coleman
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