Sustainability and Mountain Tourism: The Millennial's Perspective

Evidence from several studies illustrates the different points of view through which sustainability and mountains have been studied over the years. Nowadays, interest in Millennials is increasing but no research has compared Millennials and sustainability in the mountain context. This study aims at defining sustainability with reference to Millennial perception of both winter and summer mountain sports. By analysing data gathered from a sample of 2292 Millennials (Piedmont area), the authors confirm their high degree of sensitivity towards sustainable issues and, above all, discover that there are differences in the sustainable perception Millennials have of both mountain winter and summer sports. More specifically, Millennial perception is deeply influenced by the place where they are used to living―mountains or cities―and by their gender. From a managerial point of view, results have direct implications on the administrators of mountain institutions who can implement appropriate initiatives in order to correctly sensitise Millennials towards mountain sports. Moreover, from a theoretical perspective, the study opens a new scenario on two important topics linked to sustainability, namely Millennials and mountain sports

Dispositivos electrónicos, APPS, Códigos QR, RRSS… La digitalización del senderismo. El caso de Andalucía.

Hiking has experienced a remarkable growth in Spain in the last decades,and Andalusia has not been an exception, since in the last 5 years the number of hikers has increased by 140.44%. There are several reasons for thisgrowth, such as rural development policies, protection of natural areas andrural tourism initiatives, which have attracted new visitors, with hiking beingone of the most popular activities during the tourist stay. Another phenomenon that has greatly helped the growth of hiking has been digitalisation,the use of electronic devices, applications, such as mobiles, smart watches,GPS and social networks, which have influenced the mass disseminationof this activity. The Survey of Sports Habits in Andalusia 2022 revealed that51% of hikers use electronic devices during their practice. An in-depth studyof this survey provides very interesting results, among others, digitalisationhas transformed the way in which hikers enjoy this activity, the reasons forits use, the way of meeting with other hikers or the social activities that aregenerated after the activityEl senderismo ha experimentado un notable crecimiento en España en lasúltimas décadas, y Andalucía no ha sido una excepción, ya que en los últimos 5 años el número de senderistas es un 140,44% mayor. Diferentesmotivos explican este crecimiento, tales como las políticas de desarrollorural, protección de espacios naturales e iniciativas turísticas de carácterrural, que han atraído a nuevos visitantes siendo, el senderismo una delas actividades más demandadas durante la estancia turística. Otro de losfenómenos que ha ayudado en gran medida al crecimiento del senderismoha sido la digitalización, el uso de aplicaciones de dispositivos electrónicos,tales como móviles, relojes inteligentes, GPS y redes sociales, que han influido en la difusión masiva de esta actividad. La Encuesta de Hábitos Deportivos en Andalucía de 2022 reveló que el 51% de los senderistas utilizandispositivos electrónicos durante su práctica. Se han explotado los datosde la encuesta relacionados con el uso de tecnologías de todos los quepracticaban senderismo (9%) entre otras variables. El uso de tecnologíaspor parte de los senderistas andaluces es activo, se han producido cambiosen la interacción social y difusión de la actividad, destacando el uso de aplicaciones móviles, redes sociales y relojes inteligente

Towards understanding digital sharing practices in outdoor sports

Online social networks have made the sharing of personal experiences with others -- mostly in form of photos and comments -- a common activity. At the same time, an ever increasing number of dedicated sport tracking apps on our smartphones allow us to record statistical and biometric parameters from our workouts and, subsequently, share them with family, friends, and other followers. However, it is unclear if the available set of tracking parameters (such as an average speed, or calories burnt during a sports activity) is expressive enough when it comes to sharing in different sports. In our ongoing meta-study across three outdoor mountain sports, we have investigated whether those tracking apps meet the actual sharing requirements of amateur skiers, climbers, and trail runners. Ultimately, we aim to identify both universal and sport-specific needs for sharing. In this paper, we discuss our initial insights