Benefits and vulnerabilities in Slovakia

Overall, climate change could increase the touristic appeal of the central and eastern European countries. Only minor effects are expected from climate change though, as cultural tourism, which is not dependent on climate, is more important. Increasing summer temperatures will result in a positive effect for northern regions like the Baltic. However, in many regions summer tourism is still in its infancy. Among the countries that will experience positive climatic effects by 2030, Estonia (partly because of its proximity to Finland), Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland are the most dependent on tourism (1).

Positive impacts are expected for cycling tourism and water sports. Negative impacts are expected for water tourism due to the decrease in rainfall totals and their non-uniform distribution in summer. Lower located centres of ski tourism (up to the altitude of 1000 m) will be more vulnerable with less snow, irregularity in the occurrence of snow cover, and shorter skiing season. On the other hand, positive impact is expected at higher localitites (above 1200 m) with more snow, longer skiing season, and strong frost reduction (2).

Adaptation strategies

Several adaptation strategies for tourism in Slovakia have been proposed (2):

• Supporting the development of tourism in the lowlands of Slovakia that have a high potential for the development of several activities that are less vulnerable to climate change.
• Supporting the development of tourism in mountains that have a high potential for the development of staying and relaxation in forests, mountains and the country, and that are less vulnerable to climate change.
• Making efforts to prolong winter season and compensate the lack of natural snow by technical snow in ski centres up to 1000 m.
• Reorienting ski centres in lower mountains to the activities that are less vulnerable to climate change. Neither the constuction of new ski centres, nor investments in existing ski centres are recommended.

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Slovakia.

1. Iordache and Cebuc (2009)
2. Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (2009)