tignes - from a “white” to a “green” summer722875/fulltext01.pdf · 2014-06-09 · this...
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Tignes - from a “white” to a “green” summer
A study of Tignes’ development in alpine summer tourism
Tignes – från en ”vit” till en ”grön” sommar.
En studie av Tignes utveckling inom alpin sommarturism
Linda Stridh
Faculty of art and social sciences
Tourism studies
15 ECTS
Supervisor: Marcus Ednarsson
Spring 2014
Abstract
This study focuses on Tignes’ development of their summer season. Tignes is a tourist resort
in the Northern French Alps. Tignes has long been known for their glacier and tourism,
which, as an industry, has been the major focus since the original village of Tignes was put
underwater by the development of a large dam. Tignes is also known for its connection with
Val d’Isère, together creating the Espace Killy ski area.
The summer in Tignes used to be known for summer skiing on the Grande Motte glacier,
3656 meters above sea level. However, like many other winter resorts, Tignes has seen the
effects of global warming and climate change and these effects were especially evident in the
summer. A decision was thus taken to diversify attractions and try to create a different, yet
more classic, summer season.
Through interviews with resort management and access to visitor statistics as well as other
qualitative data it has been made clear that Tignes has developed the summer season
according to a well-planned business strategy and has step by step implemented new
infrastructures, new attractions and other marketing strategies in an effort to develop and
increase summer tourism.
So far these strategies have resulted in a great increase in visitors and in their diversification.
More detailed data is needed for further studies and analysis of visitor demographics.
However it is clear that the summer season still is very much reliant on the winter season for
its existence. There still seems to be a larger potential for the summer season and Tignes
Développement, the resort management, appears to now be working proactively in favor of
this.
Clear links can be done to theoretical models and concepts as well as previous studies and this
has provided another dimension and a clear view of where Tignes stands in its development
as a successful alpine summer resort.
Keywords: alpine summer tourism, tourism development, climate change, management,
visitors.
Foreword
I would especially like to thank Sébastien Mérignargues, director of Tignes Développement,
(director of the resort) for his time and effort in helping me gather material for this study and
for the interview, as well as Coralie Deschamps. Without the collaboration of Tignes
Développement this study would not have been possible.
I would also like to thank Marcus Ednarsson, my supervisor at Karlstad University for
answering my questions and helping me in the writing process.
Linda Stridh, Tignes 2014
Contents
1. Introduction 6
1.1Background and research area 6
1.2 Purpose 7
1.3 Research questions 7
1.4 Limitations 7
1.5 Other definitions 7
1.6 Outline 7
2. Methodology 9
2.1 Scientific approach 9
2.2 Choice of Method 9
2.3 Qualitative interviews 10
2.4 Statistical Analysis 11
2.5 Validity and Reliability 12
2.6 Limitations 12
2.7 Sample selection and evaluation of sources 13
3. Theoretical background 14
3.1 Seasonality 14
3.2.1 Attractions and attractiveness 14
3.2.2 Attractions as a commercial product 15
3.3 Tourist types 16
3.4 Destination development lifecycle 16
3.5 Climate change 18
3.6 Previous studies 19
4. Results 20
4.1 Results from interview and other qualitative results
from document analysis 20
4.2 Statistical results 21
4.2.1 General statistics overview 22
4.2.2 Tignes’ development compared to other resorts 24
4.2.3 Bike park statistics 25
4.2.4 Carte Sportignes statistics 27
4.2.5 Winter vs. summer statistics 28
5. Analysis 30
6. Conclusions 34
7. Reflections 35
8. Bibliography 36
9. Appendix 39
9.1 Questionnaire for interview in original language,
translated version in italics. 39
List of Tables
Table 1. Developments within the summer season 22
Table 2. Tignes visitor statistics 23
Table 3. Tignes vs. other resorts 24
Table 4. Time series analysis: Tignes vs. other resorts 24
Table 5. Index calculation Bike park vs. visitors 25
Table 6. Time series analysis: Bike park vs. general number of visitors 25
Table 7. Index calculation: Carte Sportignes use vs. distribution 27
Table 8. Times series analysis: Carte Sportignes use vs. distribution 27
Table 9. Index calculation: winter vs. summer frequentation 28
Table 10. Times series analysis: winter vs. summer development 28
Table 11. Summer vs. winter frequentation percentage 29
6
1. Introduction
1.1 Background and research area
Tignes is located in the French Alps and is widely recognized as a skiing destination and
winter resort. The village of Tignes was previously located in what is now known as the Dam
of Chevril. Due to a need for power supply, the dam was built and finished in 1952, at which
point Tignes was relocated to further up the mountain.1 It was not until after this that one
started developing tourism activities. Tignes now consists of 5 smaller villages, Tignes les
Brevières, Tignes Les Boisses, Tignes Le Lavachet, Tignes Le Lac and Tignes Val Claret,
ranging in altitude from ~1550m to 2100m. In terms of tourism, Tignes is often referred to as
part of the Espace Killy ski area, which it forms together with its neighbor resort Val d’Isère.
Part of what is considered included in the Tignes ski area is also a part of the Vanoise
National Park2 which comes with its own restrictions in terms of use and development.
Tignes as a tourist destination is changing due to various reasons and particularly so in the
summer. Lately within tourism there have been debates about climate change and how winter
seasons are declining, and Tignes cannot exclude itself from this discussion. Within many
winter resorts, one can observe “responsive” actions against effects of global warming and
actions taken to reduce its effect on income from tourism. Irrespectively of what one believes
to be the reason for declining winters, the summer season is starting to become more and
more important as a way of reducing the pressure on the winter season and reducing
seasonality issues.
This also represents a sort of destination development that is very interesting
and the focus on this phenomenon has fairly recently become part of scientific studies.
However, these studies have focused on winter destinations developing a “green” summer
attraction from previously not having a summer season at all.3 However, this particular study
of Tignes will focus on the process of going from a “white” summer to a “green” summer, as
Tignes used to be skiable all year round with the Grande Motte Glacier as the main attraction,
something which is no longer the case. To an outsider, this is what seems to be the reason that
has prompted a development in other summer attractions, but it is something that needs to be
investigated further to substantiate the claim. Superficially, one can observe the creation of
new attractions as well as the use of other incentives to attract new types of visitors. A search
for other similar resorts with glaciers gave mainly results about how to preserve glacier
tourism, sometimes with fairly extreme measures4, but do mention diversifying as an option
5.
The focus of these studies was thus different than that which I wish to pursue. Other studies,
as mentioned above, focus on “regular” alpine resorts.
The fact that Tignes is not developing a new summer destination but merely
changing its attractions is what makes this study different from previous studies, meaning also
that my study can then serve to give more light to destinations that do include glaciers as an
attraction and maybe separate these from other mountainous resorts. Changing attractions can
also mean a change in image and branding which may be relevant to destination
attractiveness. When it comes to branding within tourism destinations, it is still however
1 http://www.tignes.net/en/practical-info/a-little-history-1213.html, accessed on 2014-06-04
2 http://www.parcnational-vanoise.fr/fr/documentation-en-ligne/doc_download/376-carte-presentation-generale-
du-parc-national-de-la-vanoise.html, accessed on 2014-05-08 3 Flagestad, Arvid., Svensk, Göran., Nordin, Sara. & Lexhagen, Maria. (2004) Vintersportorten – året runt,
Harkman, Linda. (2007) Det gröna sälen – En studie om sommarturism i Sverige. 4 Purdie, Heather. (2013) Glacier Retreat and Tourism: Insights from New Zealand. Mountain Research and
Development. 33(4): 463-472. p.470 5 Furunes, Trude & Mykletun, Reidar J. (2012) Frozen Adventure at Risk? A 7 year Follow-up Study of
Norwegian Glacier Tourism. p.345
7
largely dependent on the attractions in the resort. The same is true for visitors, who come
there mainly for the attraction. It is then up to the resort to build a coherent image with the
visitors. Thus creating a harmonized image of what they offer and what the tourists want to
identify with. Tignes thus faces this challenge as well, going from unique summer skiing into
a more traditional summer role including downhill biking, hiking etc.
All of the above thus creates an interesting area of study. The goal will thus be
to investigate the resort of Tignes, as a case study, in relation to this recent summer season
development.
1.2 Purpose
My purpose with the study is to investigate how Tignes has changed in terms of developing a
multi-attraction summer season from being an all year round winter resort.
1.3 Research questions
To answer the purpose above I have decided on three study questions that are worth pursuing
in order to obtain relevant results:
- Which actions have been taken to develop Tignes as a summer resort and why?
- What are the consequences?
- How has the development changed the number and types of visitors?
1.4 Limitations
The study is limited to the sole resort of Tignes and focuses on the summer season
development as this is judged to be the more substantial change in destination development.
Actions taken during the winter season will therefore not be discussed if they do not impact
the summer season or are referred to in the results found. A limitation like this is necessary as
the scope would otherwise be too large to handle within the restrictions of the study.
1.5 Other definitions
Tignes is used both to describe the resort and sometimes together with the management.
However, when the resort management and their organization in particular are mentioned,
they will be referred to as Tignes Développement or TD in short. Guests, clients, tourists and
visitors refer to people staying in resort for more than a day, otherwise they will be referred to
as day trippers or excursionists.
1.6 Outline
The essay starts with an abstract giving a short summary of the study as a whole. Thereafter
the study starts with some background information as well as a presentation of the purpose
and the corresponding research questions corresponding as well as the limitations of the study
and other relevant definitions. This part presents why Tignes has been chosen and why the
resort is a relevant area of study.
In the methodological chapter, the choice of both qualitative and quantitative
methods is described as well as the respective implications for the study at hand. Discussions
on validity and reliability as well as sections on limitations and sample selections are included
in this chapter.
8
Following this, the theoretical background and related scientific concepts are presented. These
are seasonality, attraction and attractiveness, attractions as a commercial product, tourist
types, destination development lifecycle, climate change and a brief summary of previous
studies. This chapter serves to give a greater depth and explain in detail the touristic concepts
related to the study.
The empirical results are presented afterwards. Firstly the results from the
qualitative interviews with Sébastien Mérignargues and Coralie Deschamps. Secondly the
results from the statistical analysis of the documents Réunion Économique Publique and Bilan
été 2013 including time series analysis tables and graphs. Some other qualitative data from
these documents have also been included.
An analysis of the results as well as conclusions and reflections conclude the
essay and give a complete picture of the research having been carried out through the study
and the findings.
9
2. Methodology
2.1 Scientific approach
I have used two separate approaches in my study as I have used two different methods for
which they are respectively relevant. For my qualitative interviews I had a hermeneutic
approach where there was an element of participatory observation and the content was
analyzed. Hermeneutics as a concept in itself means to interpret6 and means that the
researcher’s analysis and interpretation is of value and helps complete the subjective reality
described in for example an interview. It is thus also the subject’s interpretation of reality that
is of worth to study and not an “objective fact”. A certain element of previous local
knowledge should also be noted as having been used in the study.
For the quantitative method; statistical analys, a positivistic approach was used as it is focused
on facts and numbers and the data was per se not interpreted. According to Hume as cited by
author’s DePoy and Gitlin, the underlying concept is that there is a discrepancy between facts
and how we interpret these.7 Focus according to a positivistic approach should thus be on the
facts. Veal presents this approach as studying the subject from “outside” through facts and
observation and using set models to explain results.8 This will also help achieve more
objectivity within the research and analysis.9
2.2 Choice of method
My intended purpose with the study was to investigate how Tignes, a French alpine resort,
has transformed into a multi-attraction year round resort from a single attraction (skiing)
resort, through focusing on the summer season development, and furthermore the
consequences thereof. Evaluating consequences or effects also mean judging the
successfulness of the development. The appropriate method for doing so will invariably
depend on what the purpose and goal of the study is and the research questions used, as is
described below.
Based on the purpose this meant investigating; how has Tignes’ summer season
changed in relation to a change in attractions? Tignes is different to other traditional skiing
destinations in the sense that they have been able to use the natural attraction of a glacier to
attract visitors in the summer and a previous slogan has been “Ski for 365 days a year”10
However, due to various reasons the glacier is receding11
and the use has started becoming
more restricted in the summer period and Tignes is now trying to diversify its attractions.
The purpose in itself is fairly complex, what does it mean to be successful? To
understand the situation and how well Tignes is doing in the summer, using new attractions, a
quantitative result will provide a fairly clear image. Results of this kind can be obtained
through for example statistics on visitor/tourist nights spent in the area. This is a relatively
easy and common method of measuring success of a tourist destination. However this would
only provide the data of what has happened and does not give insight into the management of
the resort development, in terms of how and why these numbers are changing. And the
quantitative data would therefore only provide a basic image of what is happening in resort.
6 http://www.ne.se/hermeneutik, accessed on 2014-06-06
7 DePoy, Elizabeth & Gitlin, Laura N. (1999) Forskning – en introduktion. p.30
8 Veal, Anthony James. (2006) Leisure and Tourism: a practical guide. p.37
9 DePoy & Gitlin. p.31
10 http://www.skivintage.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ltmID=13122916, accessed on 2014-03-08
11 https://glacierchange.wordpress.com/tag/grande-motte-glacier-retreat-melt/, accessed on 2014-06-04,
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4QDCN_grande-motte-tignes, accessed on 2014-06-04
10
Having someone “explain” in a deeper sense, the actions behind the numbers could allow for
a deeper understanding. Eggeby et al. states that statistics on their own can never prove causal
correlation, but that it still carries a lot of weight within research.12
This means that on their
own, quantitative results may not be sufficient and one needs to be careful in what
conclusions are drawn from the numbers.
Patel et al. also means that the formulation of the study purpose indicates what
type of research method is appropriate; in this case the formulation is open and allows for a
qualitative and/or quantitative method.13
As the purpose is to gain the most complete picture,
a one-method approach cannot be deemed sufficient in this case. If the purpose of the study
had been simpler in terms of evaluating how much summer tourism has increased, a simpler
quantitative study might have been sufficient. However, as the research question becomes
more complex, so does the research method. I have thus chosen to use a multiple method
approach, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data to the study, and then perform the
appropriate analysis as to be able to fully comprehend the situation that is being researched.
2.3 Qualitative interviews
Qualitative interviews are fairly complex and time consuming but also very flexible14
. To
minimize error, due to memory and in understanding, during the analysis process, the
interview was recorded15
using a phone application called Smart Voice recorder16
, allowing
easy transfer to digital format. The audio file was easily comprehendible and sound was
deemed to be very good. Even though the use of a recording device may somehow have
disrupted the subject17
this allowed a more correct representation afterwards, which was vital
for the analysis phase. The interview subject agreed that that the interview would be recorded
and that it was preferable for accuracy afterwards. Disruption is therefore deemed to have
been minimal. The transcription phase was very long as to gain a correct and accurate text file
of what was said, which was then used for analysis. The analysis used to extract important
information was that of sentence concentration as described by Kvale.18
This allows long texts
to be more concentrated and key concepts are identified and extracted and put into a more
usable form. This method of analysis was deemed most appropriate for the subject of the
interview and the results. Key concepts and sentences that were extracted are presented in the
results below.
To gain the most detailed information through this interview method, it was
conducted in the primary language of the subject, namely French. Using the subject’s
maternal language avoided any confusion about what was asked, whereas an interview in a
second language firstly might have interfered with the amount of information that could be
conveyed by the subject and secondly added unnecessary stress to the interview situation, as
explained by Patel and Davidson.19
No language issue was noticed during the interviewing
process, the transcription or the analysis phase. A semi-structured interview allowed some
freedom within the interview, although the results may be more varied as a consequence20
.
The questions were determined in advance and were sent to the interviewee for preparation to
12
Eggeby, Eva & Söderberg, Johan. (1999) Kvantitativa metoder – för samhällsvetare och humanister. p.135 13
Patel, Runa & Davidson, Bo. (2003) Forskningsmetodikens grunder. Att planera, genomföra och rapportera
en undersökning. pp.49-50 14
Bell, Judith. (2005) Introduktion till forskningsmetodik. 4:e uppl. p.158 15
Kvale, Steinar. (1997) Den kvalitativa forskningsintervjun. pp. 148-149 16
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrwq.recorder&hl=sv, downloaded on 2014-03-24 17
Patel & Davidson. p.83 18
Kvale. p.174 19
Patel & Davidson. p.78 20
Kvale. pp.121-122
11
allow a more qualitative discussion, than had the interviewee not been briefed. This meant
that the conversation was more fluid and even though the questions were not done in the exact
order as they had been written, the subject was entirely covered and dealt with.
After the scheduled interview with Sébastien Mérignargues he also introduced
me to their intern Coralie Deschamps, who I afterwards had a short informal interview with as
she is there to help them investigate the weak points and what the next step in developing the
summer season is. This was unfortunately not recorded and there are just some notes from the
interview, these will be taken into account in the results as well. This second interview, as it
was not planned, was slightly less structured, but nonetheless gained insight into the matter at
hand. In a sense she had a very similar viewpoint to me as the researcher as she is working
with the same intent; To understand the summer development up till now, but also to
determine how to develop it further. This information was thus very useful, both in
understanding what tools Tignes’ are using to assess their situation as well as in gaining
another perspective on the research I was undertaking.
2.4 Statistical analysis
A statistical analysis is a quantitative process where one uses statistical models to analyze
numerical results. In this study, available material on visitor statistics and progress reports,
provided by TD, was used and an analysis have been performed to see how visitors/guests
have changed during the development of the summer season in Tignes. These changes mainly
include numbers of visits. TD provided two separate documents, “Réunion Economique
Publique” from July 2013 and a document, known as “Bilan été” describing the frequentation
and key numbers from the summer seasons and its development from 2008 which is when the
last “business plan station” was introduced. The facts and numbers from these documents
have been identified and extracted for the comparison with the qualitative results obtained. It
is important to note that this data is secondary, but there is no way of collecting primary data
on past events and therefore these must be deemed to be acceptable and appropriate for the
situation as the study’s purpose is to investigate developments up till this point in time.
The found quantitative data will be used in a time series analysis as this is
deemed most appropriate for attaining visitor patterns over time periods.21
The statistical
analysis thus serves to help answer the research questions; what are the consequences (of the
actions taken to develop Tignes) and “how has this affected the number and types of visitors.
The statistical results are especially relevant for the second question; “number of visitors” is a
question that is of a numerical value and the correct way to answer it is quantitatively. A
statistical analysis of visitors will help visualize the change in resort and further explain the
consequences of development. It can help determine the developmental trends and compare
different aspects in resort as well as identify key factors. Moreover it can either solidify and
support or contradict results from the interview. The correct analysis method must however be
used and the data must be presented in a relevant matter for this to be of use to the study.
Below in results I have strived to do just that. Graphs or tables will then also help identify
trends in resort development.
The qualitative results found within these same documents will be presented
separately and in relation to the other qualitative results from the interview. Compounding all
qualitative results is judged to be advantageous over using a separating approach which would
make results more fragmental as they would be split into more categories.
21
Eggeby & Söderberg. p.170
12
2.5 Validity and Reliability
Validity and reliability is described by Bell as the 6th
phase, known as verification, in an
interview study.22
It is by Bell described as two parts of the trinity which also includes
generalization.23
Reliability, simplified, is about whether the results will be consistent if the
study was performed in the same setting but during two different times. Bell argues that
reliability comes into question at two particular stages, during the interview, in terms of
leading questions, and during the transcription phase.24
The questions for the interview phase
in this study were formed to be very open and allow the subject to give their own answer.
Validity is about whether the results are relevant to what is being investigated and is
according to Bell something that is present as a sort of checklist during the entire research
process.25
Reliability and validity are important issues that need to be dealt with especially in
the transcription phase of the interview.26
The issue will be about performing a correct
transcription of the interview and using a language that will best convey the conversation that
took place, Bell implies that including a transcription is vital for transparency.27
The
transcription phase was time consuming but this was deemed necessary for a correct
transcription and was also done close to the time of the interview so that memory would not
affect the result.
In terms of the statistical analysis it is important to take into account how the
quantitative data was obtained and that this research process was outside of my, the
researcher’s, control. The data was obtained directly from the responsible party but are what
they have presented publicly as results and can therefore be said to have fairly high reliability
and validity as they could easily be verified by the responsible statistical company.
2.6 Limitations
Limitations with interviews involve the lack of transmission of physical cues such as body
language;28
however, given the purpose of the study, I did not judge it to be important to
record the interview audiovisually. In the interview I recall using hand gestures to describe a
model but this was noted down for future reference and subsequently included in the
transcription phase as to avoid any confusion.
It is furthermore argued that qualitative interviews cannot be objective29
and that
objectivity is something to strive for within research. However objectiveness is a very
complex subject and it can also mean to be free from bias. Kvale argues that an interview can
be somewhat objective but that in terms of interviews it is primarily an intersubjective
interaction.30
In terms of bias it is also important to try to avoid leading questions as to avoid
getting skewed results31
, something which was considered in the creation of the interview
questions. Other issues with qualitative methods include generalization, which will not be
possible as my study is a case study, studying solely the situation in Tignes. Furthermore any
comparison with other resorts will only include previous research. Generalization also
requires a certain size of data and representability.32
However Kvale questions the need for
22
Bell. p.85 23
Bell. p.207 24
Bell. p.213 25
Bell. p.214 26
Patel & Davidson. pp.150-151 27
Bell. p.166 28
Kvale. p.147 29
Kvale. p.64 30
Kvale. p.66 31
Kvale. p.145 32
Kvale. pp.97-98
13
generalizability with the question “Why is so much weight put on generalizability”33
, implying
there is also value in studying a unique situation and still finding valid information. This
means that there is some value in making a case study such as this even if the conclusions
drawn can only be used for the specific situation.
Quantitative methods are limited in the respect that they are “only” numerical, and therefore
lack rich data. Analysis was therefore a simplified process of identifying and organizing
numbers which on their own did not give much insight to the research question at hand.
Limitations of the quantitative data are that they may also not be 100 percent complete.
Surveys using visitor statistics rarely are and it can be assumed that the same is the case for
Tignes. However, considering that the fall out numbers should be fairly consistent, we can
still use the numbers to identify trends and the general direction of the development. Another
limitation to this study is that the quantitative data is secondary. As primary data cannot be
collected one needs to just be aware of the limitations of the data.
2.7 Sample selection and evaluation of sources
The first interview was undertaken with the director of Tignes Développement, Sébastien
Mérignargues. Tignes Développement or TD, is the body that manages the resort of Tignes.
This was the most appropriate subject for the interview as he has access to all the information
that was sought after and can therefore provide the most comprehensive results. A second
shorter, less structured interview was undertaken with Coralie Deschamps, also working for
Tignes Développement, and more specifically, with the role of investigating the summer
season and its potential.
Choosing to focus on Tignes Développement and not on other stakeholders
within the resort was done consciously to get the most reliable and appropriate results. They
are the one body which can be said to have had a consistent role in the development and are
therefore the most appropriate choice of source for the interview. A limitation is that the
results will only show the perspective of one stakeholder.
In terms of the statistical analysis, the data used was also provided by TD. The relevant
numbers were extracted from the documents and put into a coherent and informative form that
allows for easy interpretation. The data is secondary but there is no means of collecting
primary data on past events and therefore these must be admissible. This is the case when
almost any visitor statistics is used as there are national and regional bodies that are usually
responsible for the collection of such. The data used in this study was originally collected by
Comète34
, a large statistics company within the alpine sector, and the information relevant to
Tignes has then been published by Tignes in the documents. The numbers can therefore be
seen as very reliable and valid. A personal gathering over several years would be too time
consuming and not justifiable considering relevant and valid data already exists.
For the theoretical background many printed sources and published articles have been used
and can be considered to have a high reliability which further strengthens the study.
Moreover, the concepts used are very well established within tourism research.
33
Kvale. p.261 34
Tignes Développement. (2013) Réunion Économique Publique. p.4
14
3. Theoretical background
3.1. Seasonality
Seasonality is a concept that is very closely linked with tourism and especially when it comes
to traditional winter resorts. Weaver and Lawton define seasonality as the variations in
demand over the period over a year, and three different situations can be found: high season,
low season and shoulder periods.35
The issue of seasonality is big both in the tourism and
sport sector and thus when it comes to sport tourism, the implications can be big. Higham
presents McEnnif’s statement that “tourism industry issues arising from seasonality ‘are
chiefly concerned with off-peak underutilization of capacity’”36
Furthermore Higham and
Hinch present the idea that tourism seasonality has two underlying major groups of causes;
natural and institutional, meaning factors such as weather and climate or cultural and societal
factors.37
This is still very much true as peak weeks can be identified within the season and
these coincide when major regions have school holidays, a factor which is institutional.38
A
period that restricts especially families in terms of availability to travel. Seasonality can thus
be said to be an interesting factor that affects tourists, business owners, workers, inhabitants
and natural resources. By developing the summer season Tignes is actively trying to change
when high and low season as well as shoulder periods occur. Furthermore it develops a season
where the resort can increase its income and revenue. As mentioned above, seasonality is
linked to climate, and therefore also climate change in some respects. Hill et al. mentions that
boosting the percentage share of summer tourism is seen as an adaptive measure needed by
winter tourism resorts to counteract the effects of climate change.39
This is supported by
Morrison and Pickering who state that development of year-round tourism is an adaptive
measure caused by climate change.40
Moen and Fredman mean that this strategy is the most
promising out of all strategies to counter climate change and that it is beneficial in terms of
reducing seasonality.41
Boosting the summer season also means working with and developing
the resort’s attractions.
3.2.1 Attractions and attractiveness
Attractions are what make a destination worthy of a visit. Weaver and Lawton also categorize
it as a “pull factor” and mean that having a diversity of attractions is something to strive for.42
Sometimes however, attractions become synonymous with destination.43
It is also said that
there is usually a “focal point” or main attraction for visitors.44
For Tignes, the main attraction
used to be the Grande Motte glacier but is now the Bike Park or the Sportignes cluster of
activities. These have been identified through main marketing strategies.45
Both of these have
implications for Tignes as a resort, especially when one considers how Tignes previously has
presented itself as outside and unaffected by climatic seasonality by offering skiing, a
35
Weaver, David. & Lawton, Laura. (2006) Tourism Management. Third Edition. p.209 36
Higham, James. & Hinch, Tom. (2001) Tourism, sport and seasons: the challenges and potential of
overcoming seasonality in the sport and tourism sectors. p.176 37
Higham & Hinch. p.176 38
Higham & Hinch. p.176 39
Hill, Margot., Wallner, Astrid. & Furtado, Jose. (2010) Reducing vulnerability to climate change in the Swiss
Alps: a study of adaptive planning. p.76 40
Morrison, Clare. & Pickering, Catherine M. (2013) Perceptions of climate change impacts, adaptations and
limits to adaptation in the Australian Alps: the ski-tourism industry and key stakeholders. p.174 41
Moen, Jon. & Fredman, Peter. (2007) Effects of climate change on alpine skiing in Sweden. p.431 42
Weaver & Lawton. p.129 43
Holloway, Christopher J. (2009) The business of Tourism. Eighth Edition. p.231 44
Holloway. p.234 45
http://www.tignes.net/en/summer-sports/free-and-a-la-carte-activities-252.html, accessed on 2014-05-21
15
traditional winter activity, year round. However, currently it is actually changing and taking a
more “traditional/classic” approach by offering what is considered summer activities in the
appropriate season. In relations to this it would be interesting for further studies to see how
institutionalized seasonality factors are affecting tourism in Tignes.
Attractions make up the one sector that the destination has full control over in
terms of getting visitors and successfully developing a resort.46
The offer of attractions and
their management is thus very relevant in terms of resort development. Furthermore these
attractions can be natural or artificial, meaning that they can be pre-existing or created with
the specific intention of attracting visitors. Pre-existing attractions however need to be
managed correctly to be considered a tourist attraction.47
Weaver and Lawton stress that just
listing attractions for a destination is not enough but it is imperative to assess attraction
attributes for proper management. These attributes include things such as ownership, market,
status and carrying capacity.48
The management of the attractions can thus be said to be as
important as the actual product/attraction itself. Das et al. describe attractions as the major
factors influencing attractiveness of a destination.49
Other factors described are customer
satisfaction as a measure of attractiveness together with a willingness to recommend it. Kim
and Perdue discuss attractiveness as dependent on destination image.50
The same authors
continue to explain that destination image becomes the main factor for attractiveness because
the tourism product itself is intangible and that people usually lack experience and have
limited knowledge of the destination.51
Many factors can thus be said to affect attractiveness
and it remains a complex concept.
3.2.2 Attractions as a commercial product
If we choose to see attractions as commercial products one can argue that price is a critical
element.52
This is from the standpoint of the concept of the marketing mix, including the
elements; product, price, promotion and place.53
A product is defined as “Anything that can
be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want
or a need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organizations and ideas.”54
The product is the base but needs the other elements to become attractive and in terms of
tourist attractions these are determined by management. A link to the gratuity of attractions in
Tignes can easily be drawn and is an important point of analysis. One can choose to regard
the destination of Tignes as a product in itself made up several different components.
However, it is also possible to regard the specific attractions offered within resort as
individual products which would then provide very specific insight into how each part of the
destination is working and whether they are a successful and useful component to the resort as
a whole. Tourist attractions together with the tourism industry can also be seen as ‘the tourism
product’.55
Holloway argues that selling a touristic product, like an attraction, is like selling a
46
Weaver & Lawton. p.97, 100 47
Weaver & Lawton. pp.100-101 48
Weaver & Lawton. pp.146-147 49
Das, Debadyuti., Sharma, Sushil Kumar., Mohapatra, Pratap K J. & Sarkar, Ashutosh. (2007) Factors
influencing the attractiveness of a tourist destination: a case study. p.103 50
Kim, Dohee. & Perdue, Richard R. (2011) The influence of image on destination attractiveness. p.226 51
Kim & Perdue. p.227 52
Weaver & Lawton. p.222 53
Kotler, Philip., Armstrong, Gary., Wong, Veronica. & Saunders, John. (2008) Principles of Marketing. Fifth
European Edition. p.49 54
Kotler et al. p.49 55
Weaver & Lawton. p.129
16
dream, as experiences are intangible.56
This aspect is important as not everyone will see
perceive the product in the same way. The product thus becomes the experience of the
product rather than the attraction in itself. Given that many attractions in Tignes are outdoors,
weather can also be seen as an important factor in the experience of the product. Essentially
the goal for Tignes is to create new experiences that can serve to lengthen the high season
period over the year, making it less seasonally dependent as mentioned above. Attractiveness
is furthermore a factor in determining the number and type of visitors that will choose the
resort as their destination.
3.3 Tourist types Segmentation of tourists is something that remains important to the tourism industry and
tourism research and allows destinations to identify their key marketing groups. Segmentation
can be done geographically, demographically, psychographically or behaviorally.57
Weaver
and Lawton claim that tourists are categorized into four major types primarily; domestic and
international, stay overs and excursions.58
However, they do recognize that travel purpose is a
main part of what defines a tourist.59
Examples include leisure and recreation and sport
tourists. Needham et al.’s study supports the fact that visitors seek out specific activities to
fulfill motivations and needs.60
For the basis of the study, geographical, demographical and
behavioral aspects are valued above psychographical. Knowing your market is extremely
important for resort development in order to choose the appropriate products and further
develop the resort to accommodate the needs of these people. If one wishes to expand and
attract new markets, the principle remains the same. Knowledge about tourist types and
clientele can thus be judged to be a major factor in destination and product development.
During the development of the resort the numbers of tourists also vary as is explained by
Butler’s lifecycle model below.
3.4 Destination development lifecycle
The Butler sequence is a well-known, used and applied model within tourism research and is,
simplified, an S-shaped curve showing the development of a resort within its lifecycle.61
The
different stages are, as based on Weaver and Lawton’s work62
;
Exploration
Tourism as an industry is practically non-existent and so is the number of visitors. The stage
can be seen as a “pre-tourism” where any visitors must make all arrangements themselves
based on what is available in the local community.63
Involvement
During this stage, number of visitors start to increase, as does the efforts within the
destination to accommodate them. Tourism is seen as positive and income is increased.64
56
Holloway. p.10 57
Holloway. pp.66-69 58
Weaver & Lawton. p.35 59
Weaver & Lawton. p.29 60
Needham, Mark, D., Wood, Colin J.B., & Rollins, Rick B., (2004) Understanding summer visitors and their
experiences at the Whistler Mountain Ski area, Canada. p.239 61
Weaver & Lawton. p.307 62
Weaver & Lawton. pp.308-316 63
Wever & Lawton. pp.308-310 64
Weaver & Lawtn. pp.310-311
17
Development
During this stage a rapid growth can be observed as well as major changes within the resort.
A key factor is for the resort to remain in control of the development.65
Consolidation
This stage involves a decrease in growth rate, however the general trend is still positive.
Tourism exists on a large scale and the economy depends on it. Furthermore, seasonality
issues arise.66
Stagnation
Within the stagnation phase peak number of visitors has been reached and there may be too
much capacity. The resort can be seen as out of fashion and rely on return visitors.67
Decline or Rejuvenation
Decline happens when resorts fail to attract new or return visitors, or when stakeholders do
not try or fail to develop their products.68
Rejuvenation occur when new touristic products are introduced and the
destinations image and unique features once again become attractive. This positive
development is usually a consequence of proactive planning and strategies. 69
An application of this to already established destinations will put the focus within the
consolidation, and thereafter, the stagnation phase. From this point onwards, managerial
decisions regarding long term planning will determine the inevitable fate of the destination;
rejuvenation or decline.70
As mentioned above, Weaver suggests that one reason for decline is
that stakeholders within the destination do not attempt to revitalize the attractions or touristic
products or that these measures fail.71
Rejuvenation is not believed to occur naturally but
through a deliberate decision and development process carried out by stakeholders.72
Weaver
and Lawton suggest that for ski resorts in general, many are now going through the
consolidation stage and stresses that viability is largely climate dependent, despite artificial
snow making.73
However, should an attempt at marketing a resort for its summer attractions be
considered a well-established destination or do we indeed need to separate this development
completely and look at it as a separate resort from the start? This is interesting in terms of
looking at the specific summer development instead of at Tignes as a whole. If we regard the
summer specifically, thus respecting the focus and scope of the study, it may be more
appropriate to place Tignes in an earlier stage of development. Holloway stresses that a resort
will always benefit from being unique and by offering more benefits rather than being an
‘identikit’ destination and furthermore that this, like the Butler sequence suggest, depends on
constant development and rejuvenation.74
Models such as the Butler curve can be useful in
terms of explaining the stages of development in resort as these often remain fairly general
and can be applied globally.
65
Weaver & Lawton. p.313 66
Weaver & Lawton. p.314 67
Weaver& Lawton. pp.314-315 68
Weaver & Lawton. p.315 69
Weaver & Lawton. p.316 70
Weaver & Lawton. p.315. 71
Weaver & Lawton. p.315 72
Weaver & Lawton. p.316 73
Weaver & Lawton. p.143 74
Holloway. pp.215-216
18
The Butler sequence
Source: Butler (1980)75
The results obtained in the study will help further place Tignes on the curve and determine at
which stage in the development they are. This will be done through presenting statistical
results as a graph and through the interview where aspects such as growth and development
are discussed. The curve can also help predict what Tignes can expect in terms of growth and
stagnation, depending on their own actions. The Butler curve, although still somewhat
generalized, remains a measurement tool for development and is therefore still relevant to the
development of Tignes as a summer resort.
3.5 Climate change
When discussing development of tourism one cannot exclude climate change as a factor and
reason for development. The Butler curve above discusses deliberate actions and their effects
but fail to include other factors such as climate that are also affecting tourism potential.
Unfortunately most development is responsive action and not proactive, meaning it is only
when the consequences of climate change has been seen that the action to develop or
counteract is taken. A more proactive approach would be recommendable as it allows a longer
timescale to implement changes. Several studies involving the Alps, alpine resorts and their
future have been done in relation to climate change. Needham et al. also mentioned studies
supporting the summer season as a potential offset to effects of climate change on ski areas.76
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) states that tourism is an
especially climate sensitive sector and furthermore that winter sports tourism is “inherently
sensitive to climatic conditions”77
Tignes situation is as mentioned earlier unique in the sense
that the glacier has allowed “traditional winter sports tourism” outside of the winter season
and therefore what is relevant climatic changes for winter sports tourism is also relevant for
summer tourism in Tignes. Tignes, a high altitude resort might however at least initially
benefit if lower altitude resorts are affected by climate change and have to reduce opening
days, especially in the winter.78
Furthermore, Tignes, like other high altitude resorts in Soboll
and Dingeldey’s study, should be manageable in terms of snow availability even in the
future.79
Climate change is obvious if one looks at the status of glaciers and their retreat over
the last century, including in Tignes. Shijin et al. states the fairly obvious; the retreat of
75
http://www.hotelmule.com/management/attachments/2010/07/26_201007120616002WInG.gif, accessed on
2014-03-14 76
Needham et al. p.234 77
Soboll, Anja & Dingeldey, Alexander. (2012) The future impact of climate change on Alpine winter tourism: a
high-resolution simulation system in the German and Austrian Alps. p.101 78
Soboll & Dingeldey. p.109 79
Soboll & Dingeldey. p.115
19
glaciers also has an effect on glacier tourism.80
It is important to note that Tignes is not
excluded from climate change but in terms of attractiveness for tourism and future potential,
Tignes can still be considered in a favorable position, for all seasons, if one is to draw any
conclusions from previously mentioned research. Moreover a few studies have been done in
relation to these subjects and are therefore relevant to mention.
3.6 Previous studies
Previous studies focusing on summer development include studies such as “Vintersportorten -
året runt”, a project under ETOUR, European Tourism Research Institute”.81
This study
serves to give light to especially Åre, and its development from a winter resort to an all year
round attraction. The study has compared the development to other resorts such as Whistler,
Ischgl and Oppdal. Furthermore it highlights different factors that they have identified as
common factors for success from the different resorts. These include vision, organization,
ownership structure, activities, market, brand, company cultures, natural resources and
cultural heritage82
. In this study parallels can be drawn to how Tignes has been developed and
the success factors are similar and thus further support how Tignes worked with the summer
season so far. The authors further agree that number of visitor nights spent and especially the
increase of such as well as using the resorts capacity is an important indicator of success.83
This supports the need for a quantitative aspect when it comes to measuring the level of
success in development of a resort, which is in accordance with this study.
Another study regarding the development of a summer season in a traditional winter resort
has been carried out by Linda Harkman.84
The purpose of which was to carry out a case study
to investigate Sälen’s potential for development of a summer season and to become a
functioning year-round resort. Harkman’s study includes a brief comparison with other resorts
to be able to compare and evaluate Sälen in terms of current summer activities, strategies for
future development, key stakeholders, target groups and marketing. Harkman concludes that
Sälen sets itself apart by having a separate group responsible for only summer tourism. This is
a contrast to Tignes which has one organization that is responsible for resort management.
Furthermore Harkman mentions success factors in other resorts such as Idre where one has
managed to attract high profile athletes and thus improving the image of the resort.85
The
same strategy is being employed in Tignes. Harkman also discusses the issue of branding and
like the above study mentioned, concludes that it is an advantage of having a strong winter
brand to benefit from, but that it can also be hard to integrate new attractions into an already
existing brand.86
80
Shijin, Wang., Yuanqing, He. & Xiaodong, Song. (2010) Impacts of climate warming on alpine glacier
tourism and adaptive measures: a case study of Baishui Glacier No.1 in Yulong Snow Mountain, Southwestern
China. p.167 81
Flagestad et al. Vintersportorten – året runt. 82
Flagestad et al. pp.6-7 83
Flagestad et al. p.9 84
Harkman. Det gröna sälen. 85
Harkman. p.29 86
Harkman. p.28,30
20
4. Results
4.1 Results from interview and other qualitative results
These results include the qualitative results from the interview as well as important facts and
statements taken from the same documents that have been used for extraction of statistical
results. These have been separated from the quantitative results as to provide a clearer
overview. These facts and information include long term strategy regarding investments and
budgetary allocations as well as other information that is relevant to the content discussed in
the interview.
The interview confirmed that what prompted the development of the summer season was that
the glacier was no longer skiable all year due to climate changes and that one needed to make
the decision whether Tignes should go for a limited one season approach or to keep the
summer season but in a different format. Through the interview, a key action was identified as
a start to the development; the politicians at the time decided in favor of the summer season
when faced with the decision of stopping it in its current form or to change it. This was at the
start of the 2000s. As in many other places the decision was probably taken in a later stage
than it should have as one did not react until the effect of climate change on the glacier was
noticeable.
Through the development the image of Tignes has changed as well from being focused on
skiing to a more traditional summer program, but with certain unique features such as gratuity
and innovation in regards to new activities or attractions. A focus on the change was also put
in place by hosting international Beach soccer events which clearly was not a part of Tignes’
previous image. TD also notes how gratuity is replacing skiing as the differential/unique
factor for Tignes.
The development since have followed multi-year plans that have been carefully put together
and implemented step by step. In short below, the implementations which were a part of the
latest business plan for the resort (2009-2013)
2009: free carte Sportignes
2010: free bike park and lifts
2011: free lifts for pedestrians
2012-2014: consolidation of offer87
Before this, the bike park existed but in a paying form, as did the carte Sportignes. From the
start of the development about 2002, one developed infrastructures such as the Lagon, the
sport beach and football fields. A side note is that the tourism income in 2012, with free
activities is 12000€ less than in 2008 which was the last summer that the carte Sportignes was
not free.88
The strategy for the products and Tignes as a resort was clear and Tignes wanted to create a
versatile and varied offer of activities, which were free. The strategy was to move away from
the one-attraction setup and thus become less dependable on it. Furthermore, one really strong
attraction, equivalent to that of skiing would be hard to create. Creating a wide and therefore
strong array of activities to choose from was seen as the solution. However, the strategy was
to first develop the product to attain a certain value and then add a supplementary value to it
87
Tignes Développement. Bilan été. p.107 88
TD. Réunion Économique. p.31
21
by making it free using the thesis that “A gift is not really a gift if it’s not worth anything”89
The strategy of diversifying was made possible to some extent due to the natural resources
that do exist in Tignes, such as the lake, which is an asset that not many alpine resorts have.
Other attractions, such as the bike park are also dependent on the natural resources.
There is an awareness that Tignes is now still growing in the summer due to constant renewal
and a well-developed plan and that this can change if one stops. They regard staying dynamic
as a vital point to a continued success and realize that even if the growth rate now slows down
the resort will still be doing well, especially compared to other resorts. Other points of
development are seen as summer events, golf and disabled sports. To gain an outside
perspective and investigate weak aspects and points of development a student on a trainee
program, an intern, has been employed.
The success of the long-term strategy can be clearly seen in a comparison with
Val d’Isère who was forced to make their bike park free when Tignes did so, as the two
resorts are linked, but they however lacked the background development to make this move.
Out of the 110 000 people using the bike park in 2013, 85 000 come from Tignes. A clear
long term strategy with part time goals can thus be seen as important.
There is also a belief that the summer season is allowed to exist within its current form with a
strong focus on the product, which also takes the main part of the budget, about 70 percent
because the winter season is so strong and consequently Tignes as a brand, which they take
advantage of in the summer. Only 20 and 10 percent respectively is spent on animations/small
events and communication/marketing. TD decided in the business plan for 2003-2008 to treat
Tignes as a brand instead of as a product leader, meaning a change of focus away from
product qualities and creating a brand that has an added intrinsic value to it.90
The brand
focus, or what sets Tignes apart in the summer, has now changed from skiing to free
activities. A point for the future is to find the correct mix of events and product focus as it is
believed that none could exist successfully without the other. As of right now it is recognized
that there is no major event in the summer, only larger animations during the weeks.
Visitors to Tignes in the summer used to be 80 percent skiers, something which was
considered a mono-culture, another term for a single attraction destination. After the current
developments there are only 10 percent of people who ski, which is an important change,
even when considering that the number of visitors have gone up by 36 percent in the last 6
years. In terms of visitors there are, like the activities, a wider variety of types of tourists in
terms of interests, age etc. This is a contrast to the winter when the stereotypical ski tourist is
still very strong. Targeting several smaller markets through different attractions has created a
larger tourist base and visitor potential. By changing and expanding the activities and
investing in infrastructures they have been able to attract new groups of tourists/markets to the
resort, such as high level athletes and downhill bikers. A difference between the summer and
the winter season is that the typical winter tourist is more stereotypical whereas there are
more different types of tourists in the summer, more diversity.
4.2 Statistical results
The results found from the documents provided by TD are presented below in graphical form
accompanied by an explanatory text.
89
Interview Sebastien Mérignargues, Tignes Développement. 2014-03-13. Author’s translation, see appendix
9.1. 90
TD. Bilan été. p.52
22
The visitor statistics have been collected by the company Comète which is independent and
deals with statistics from resorts all over the Alps.91
It has been noted that the statistics regarding visitors is less detailed than in the winter period
where more information is gathered. The summer period is thus only explained in number of
total visitors. The statistics go back to 2008.
The most relevant method of analysis for this data will be a time series analysis as described
by Eggeby and Söderberg.92
The analysis will include a breakdown to index which will
facilitate the comparison of values as well as defining trendlines for the data. This analysis is
of use when two factors in relation to each other need to be compared in development over
time. How the time series analysis and the calculations have been done is explained more
thoroughly below.
4.2.1 General statistics overview
Table 1. Developments within the summer season
Source: Tignes Développement. Réunion Économique Publique and Tignes Développement.
Bilan été 2013
91
TD. Réunion Économique Publique. p.4 92
Eggeby & Söderberg. p.170
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Fre
qu
en
tati
on
Developments within the summer season
Number of nights
Stays
Carte Sportignesdistribution
Carte Sportignes users
Bike park users
Pedestrians using lifts
23
Table 2. Tignes visitor statistics
Source: Tignes Développement. Réunion Économique Publique and Tignes Développement.
Bilan été 2013.
Comments on statistics above:
- The number of nights and numbers of stays correspond. Stays are multiplied by 6 to
reach the total number of nights as this is the standard amount of days.
- Highlighted numbers in the table are specific numbers mentioned in the documents,
the others have been calculated to an approximation from a percentage graph
displayed in the document.
- The numbers also appear to have been rounded off in the documents, from which they
have been extracted, which may skew results slightly.
- Below the number is the percentage increase using the start year for each category as
100 percent.
Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Number of nights 259500 264690 316590 324378 331800 352200
100% 102% 122% 125% 128% 136%
Stays 43250 44115 52765 54063 55300 58700
100% 102% 122% 125% 128% 136%
Carte Sportignes users 24700 50200 69700 101500 125900 132000
100% 203% 282% 411% 510% 534%
Carte Sportignes distribution 1500 18000 25000 27000 32200 36100
100% 1200% 1667% 1800% 2147% 2407%
Bike park users 23600 55800 80000 100000 111000
100% 236% 339% 424% 470%
Pedestrians using lifts 15000 23600 33400 35000
100% 157% 223% 233%
24
4.2.2 Tignes’ development compared to other resorts.
Other important numbers include the comparison of Tignes’ development compared to other
alpine resorts in France which represent their main competitors. This is one way that success
is often measured. Below is a representation of Tignes’ development in relation to the mean
development of other resorts. This already includes a calculation using time series analysis
and index numbers. However to further clarify these trends a graph using trendlines has been
added. For this part index numbers already existed.
Table 3. Tignes vs. other resorts
Source: Tignes Développement. Bilan été.
Table 4. Time series analysis: Tignes vs. other alpine resorts
Comments: Tignes has compared to the average alpine resort had a very different
development over the past couple of years, showing that there is likely to be one or several
factors that differentiate the resort from its competitors.
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ind
ex
Tignes vs other alpine resorts
Tignes index
General developmentalpine resorts index
Trendline Tignes
Trendline generalalpine resortsdevelopment
25
4.2.3 Bike park statistics
The first complete time series analysis includes a comparison between the increase in number
of visitors and the increase in number of people using the bike park as this has been deemed
to be the main attraction. The base year is thus set to be 2009 as data is not available before
that. The index for 2009 is thus 100. The index is thereafter calculated using by dividing the
value of year x with the value of 2009 and then multiplying by a 100.93
Index = (value year x/ value year2009) *100
The calculations give the following table:
Table 5. Index calculation Bikepark vs. visitors
Year Bikepark Index Visitors Index
2009 23600 100 264690 100
2010 55800 236 316590 120
2011 80000 339 324378 123
2012 100000 424 331800 125
2013 111000 470 352200 135
Source: Tignes Développement. Bilan été 2013 and Tignes Développement. Réunion
Économique Publique.
This gives a graph with the following result:
Table 6. Time series analysis: Bike park vs. general number of visitors
Comments: Shown on the graph is also the trendline which gives displays the mean increase
in the same timeline. From this graph it is abundantly clear that the bike park represents a
major increase compared to the total number of visitors and therefore reinforces its status as
the main summer attraction and a large factor in the summer development process. One
weakness with the Bike Park data is that it includes data from Val d’Isère. This is a limitation
that needs to be noted as the Bike Park is an activity offered by Tignes and Val d’Isère 93
Eggeby & Söderberg, p.173
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ind
ex
Bikepark vs. general number of visitors
Bikepark index
Visitor index
Trendline Bikepark
Trendline visitors
26
combined. It is therefore difficult to separate numbers properly. We can however observe that
the percentage of the number of people using the bike park is increasing, from 2008 where it
is at almost 9 percent of visitors and in 2013 where it has increased to 31.5 percent of all
visitors.
27
4.2.4 Carte Sportignes statistics
If we thereafter look at the carte Sportignes we can see the following development:
Table 7. Index calculation: Carte Sportignes use vs. distribution
Carte Sportignes use
vs. distribution
distribution index users index
Mean number of activities per
card
2008 1500 100 24700 100 16.47
2009 18000 1200 50200 203 2.79
2010 25000 1667 69700 282 2.79
2011 27000 1800 101500 411 3.76
2012 32200 2147 125900 510 3.91
2013 36100 2407 132000 534 3.66
Increase x24
x5
Source: Tignes Développement. Bilan été 2013.
Table 8. Time series analysis: Carte Sportignes use vs. distribution
Comments: The carte Sportignes was made free in 2009 when we can see the big jump in
distribution numbers. However what is especially interesting to look at is that the number of
cards distributed has increased by 24 times and the frequentation only by 5. Furthermore we
can observe a mean number of activities/frequentation per card which has rapidly decreased
as the card was made free. The carte Sportignes is delivered to all tourists in resort who
purchase their accommodation from Tignes agreed list of partners. Furthermore the card can
be purchased if one is not staying at an accommodation eligible for the card.94
Since we can in
no way differentiate between these two groups, a comparison between distribution and use is
more interesting than comparing it to the total number of visitors.
94
http://www.tignes.net/en/summer-sports/sportignes-card-850.html, accessed on 2014-05-21
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ind
ex
Carte sportignes use vs distribution
distribution index
use index
Trendline distribution
Trendline use
28
4.2.5 Winter vs. summer statistics
This study focuses mainly on the summer but it is important to gain a perspective on what the
winter is like in comparison below is a table using visitor statistics from 2008 till 2013
followed by a time series analysis graph.
Table 9. Index calculation: winter vs. summer frequentation
winter vs. summer frequentation
winter index summer index
2008 2104300 100 259500 100
2009 2055000 98 264690 102
2010 2036200 97 316590 122
2011 2059000 98 324378 125
2012 2044800 97 331800 128
2013 2051000 97 352200 136
Source: Tignes Développement. Réunion Économique Publique.
Table 10. Time series analysis: winter vs. summer development
Comments: This show how the summer development is still very much growing compared to
the winter which seems to have stagnated and has remained fairly stable for the past 6 years.
However if we look at a comparison, Tignes’ summer visitors are only up to 12-17 percent of
the winter occupation, as shown below in table 11.
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ind
ex
Winter vs. summer development
Winter developmentindex
Summer developmentindex
Trendline winterdevelopment
Trendline summerdevelopment
29
Table 11. Summer vs. winter frequentation percentage
Summer vs. winter frequentation
percentage
winter summer summer percentage %
2008 2104300 259500 12
2009 2055000 264690 13
2010 2036200 316590 16
2011 2059000 324378 16
2012 2044800 331800 16
2013 2051000 352200 17
Source: Tignes Développement. Réunion Économique Publique.
30
5. Analysis
Looking at what decisions have been taken in Tignes and the visitor statistics one can see that
from 2009 to 2010 there is a strong increase in nights spent in the resort which coincides with
the gratuity of the bike park. Afterwards there is a strong increase in clients using the bike
park but that has now started consolidating and is not increasing at the same rate. The first
year it was free usage, the number of visitors more than doubled from the year before. The
same kind of behavior can be observed in relation to the carte Sportignes, which doubled in
use from 2008-2009 when it became free. Interestingly enough if one looks at how many
Sportignes cards were used and distributed we can see that distribution has gone up to 24
times as many but the frequentations is only 5 times as many in 2013 as in 2008. Pedestrians
using lifts did not have quite the same effect but still increased by 50 percent when made free.
Gratuity as a strategy can thus so far be seen as successful, at least in the initial stages. As
seen above, it is confirmed by the different activities separately. The successive development
and infrastructure investments are also mentioned by Flagestad et al. as a success factor.95
These steps above, related to the relevant statistical figures shows a strong connection
between positive development and active planning. Below is a more detailed explanation into
the factors relevant to Tignes’ summer season development.
Tignes in relation to the Butler curve can thus be placed somewhere in the end of the
development phase or start consolidation stage, which is recognized by TD through their
business plan. The stagnation phase is interesting in the aspect that the summer season already
sees a major underutilization of capacity, even in the current peak periods. However, the
question remains; what can be seen as peak number of visitors and what is the actual limit for
summer tourism within Tignes? The next step will however be to improve further or possibly
face a decline. Active management resort have the intention of keeping Tignes’ positive
development and delving into new markets and attractions to keep the curve going up, and
judging by previous strategies they are in a good position to do so. TD also seems aware of
this concept of destination development which can only be seen as a positive aspect. TD in
the interview mentioned that one wanted a more varied offer and a wider spread of activities
and emphasized being dynamic in further development as a key factor. One can still see that
the bike park now accounts for over 30 percent of the visitors, which is nowhere near the 80
percent that used to be there for skiing but still represents a large number and percentage. TD
seems aware of the concept that Butler curve represents and such knowledge is important
together with a deep understanding for the resort and its assets. Something which is sought,
for example, by employing someone to investigate the specific development and points of
improvement. This kind of asset analysis is also recommended by Weaver and Lawton.96
Furthermore their strategies include several years and can be seen as long-term planning for
the resort. There are so far some areas that have been identified for further development, like
the golf course or disability sports. However, to judge whether these are viable potential
future attractions a more in depth study is needed.
It appears Tignes’ multitude of offers have really made a big impact on the number of visitors
and one can clearly see that the bike park is a strong point for the resort as well as the carte
Sportignes. The bike park is out of the two, the more attractive attraction and a stronger point,
as shown through the quantitative results. The two activities can easily claim the status as
main attractions even though one of them in itself represents a cluster of products/activities.
Flagestad et al. states that summer visitors are often reluctant to book their activities in before
95
Flagestad. p.16 96
Weaver & Lawton. pp.146-147
31
arrival due to factors such as weather.97
This favors a setup like the carte Sportignes where
activities have an ‘à la carte’ setup. The activities are almost considered as a bonus, an extra
that may not attract customers in itself as much as the bike park but will add value to the
product of Tignes. The distribution of the cards has increased more exponentially than the
frequentation. It appears the use of each card has gone down as a consequence as well,
meaning that because the card is free, the people do not feel like they have to make the most
of it, but merely use it for whatever suits them as no financial cost or loss is experienced by
the visitor. Tignes sees this as a positive note and as a way for a tourist to “customize their
week” by only using what they like.98
The gratuity of the card as well as the bike park appears
to have been well thought through and is made possible by the focus on the product within the
budget. A problem that may occur in the future is if Tignes decides it is not viable to spend
the money themselves on making a lot of activities free and an “increase” or add of a price
might make the attraction, or product, less attractive. As is mentioned in the results, Tignes’
tourism income is still not up to the same amount as before the gratuity of the Sportignes card
was introduced, despite the major increase in number of visitors. It is clear that Tignes is
trying to carefully manage its attractions and create an attractive image for itself, even though
the means might be questioned financially.
The current “free” activities exist as the budget allows for a main focus on the product itself,
taking away from other aspects such as marketing. This is deemed viable due to the major
marketing strategies put in place during the winter concerning Tignes as a brand. Tignes has
in terms of the marketing mix positioned themselves with an attractive offer of qualitative
products, gratuity, and furthermore positioning themselves apart from other resorts and they
take advantage of their strong winter brand for marketing purposes. The positioning of Tignes
can also be considered a strong suit as resort management have constantly worked to set
Tignes apart from other resorts, from the start using 365 days of skiing, secondly by hosting
international beach soccer events in an untraditional environment, thirdly by making the
controversial move to free activities and continually by making the brand Tignes stand out.
This may be especially true in the winter but also for the summer season. Furthermore, the
summer season needs this kind of positioning as they have now moved to a more classical
range of summer activities. Gratuity is also recognized as a differential factor. It is recognized
by TD that the summer season in its current form would not be viable if it was not for the
winter. Completely separating the development of the two seasons is thus hard as the methods
used are largely interdependent. A comparison between the two seasons was nonetheless
made to determine the trends of development. The winter season is fairly stable and
somewhat stagnant and furthermore one can even see a slight decline. The logical deduction
from this is that Tignes has reached a carrying capacity and will need a big change to affect
the visitor numbers during its winter season. The summer season is on a strong increasing
trend but has so far only reached 1/6th
of the winter numbers, which shows a great potential
for the future as the infrastructure and basic amenities in terms of accommodation, parking
and so forth already exist.
In terms of clientele there is no other information other quantitative information other than
visitor number and users of the bike park to indicate how the clientele has changed. The
interview indicated that there is a bigger diversity in the summer. However more data on this
would be necessary to fully understand the change and to perform a complete analysis.
Furthermore, this information is needed to more accurately determine target markets. If the
summer season for whatever reason can no longer benefit from the marketing and
97
Flagestad et al. p.20 98
TD. Réunion Économique. p.27
32
communication of the winter season, this information is crucial for further development.
Moreover this is encouraged and new markets are sought after through ex. athlete training
camps, the investment of the Tignespace, a conference and sports complex as well as a
thought of developing the golf course or start developing products aimed at groups of disabled
people. A greater diversity is easily explained by the multitude of activities and attractions
offered whereas the winter is still very much focused on just skiing. By diversifying
attractions one has also diversified the clientele, something which can be both a negative and
a positive aspect. A more diverse clientele means less risk should one attraction disappear but
is also more complicated in terms of marketing. By marketing to a large group, people may
feel less targeted and attracted to the product. It remains clear though, through the quantitative
and qualitative data, that for now the strategy is working. Holloway supports the multiple
attraction theory where he means that a large concentration of different activities provide
added value and improve chances of success.99
A variety of activities is also mentioned as a
success factor by Flagestad et al. in their study of summer seasons in winter resorts.100
Success can also be mentioned as a relative notion, meaning doing better than your
competitor. The statistics show that Tignes is generally doing better than the mean alpine
resort. In a more specific comparison, Tignes appears to be doing better compared to Val
d’Isère, even though the both are closely linked. This is also due to active resort management.
The summer is becoming stronger but one needs to recognize that Tignes’ resources are still
massively underutilized in the summer. Looking at a comparison of visitor statistics, the
summer numbers only reach between 12 and 17 percent of the winter numbers. The winter
season seems fairly stagnant and it would appear at its carrying capacity, the summer however
is far behind and can still show a large growth in visitor numbers. However it is hard to
imagine a scenario where the summer will ever be as important as the winter season. A
question to pose is if there is enough demand for alpine summer tourism, given its
competition with other summer holiday types such as beach and sun, and whether such a
scenario is even possible. The winter season’s advantage is that it plays at its strength and
plays the important yet stereotypical role of skiing holiday in the appropriate season.
Moreover, the summer is recognized as too weak to stand on its own without the benefits of
particularly the winter season’s marketing and image. Flagestad et al.’s study shows that the
summer brand is often dependent on a strong winter one and that the summer one, albeit
weaker will not negatively impact the winter one.101
Despite climate change Tignes is still in a very good position, especially considering altitude
to keep a strong winter season for a long time. Climate change is something which hasn’t
been fully discussed as it does effect winter more so than summer, but it may ultimately have
consequences for the summer if winter starts to decline significantly. Climate change can also
be judged to be a key factor for the initial development of the summer season in its current
state. Natural attractions are a big part of Tignes’ attractiveness touristically but it is also
important to note that some restrictions in terms of artificial development exist due to the
Vanoise National Park. However, the regulations also serve to help preserve the natural
heritage of the resort, especially facing possible climate change effects. However, during the
time period studied it would be impossible to draw any significant conclusions when it comes
to current climate change effects as the time span needs to be much wider than 1,5 decades.
99
Holloway. p.216 100
Flagestad et al. p.6 101
Flagestad et al. p.27
33
Seasonality is still an issue but it is decreasing due to the growth in summer guests. The
general result from the summer season development is a positive trend and that is in line with
counteracting issues of seasonality. The issue will still exist within the season as well, but on
a year round basis the development is positive for the resort as it keeps more people
employed102
and furthermore that inhabitants also can profit from the activities offered.
Although TD doesn’t specifically mention seasonality as an issue it can still be observed as a
phenomenon, and the decision to keep the summer season going the resort showed an
understanding for how the city and its inhabitant could benefit from not being entirely
dependent on the winter season and its tourism income. Being dependent on the winter brand
and moreover a focus on year round branding is mentioned by Flagestad et al. as a factor that
is common for many winter resorts trying to extend to a successful year round resort.103
The final note is that Tignes is wholly dependent on its tourism income and therefore a large
investment and long term strategies as shown are necessary for a successful future. The
strategies and developments seen in Tignes echo those of successful resorts in previous
studies, and although each case is unique, there seem to be a few general factors that can still
be seen as the key to success. These include, among others, activities and asset management,
organizational structure, brand and target markets, all of which are discussed above.
102
TD. Réunion Economique. p.28 103
Flagestad et al. p.7
34
6. Conclusions
The purpose of the study was to investigate Tignes as a resort in terms of development during
the summer season and answer the research questions:
- Which actions have been taken to develop Tignes as a summer resort, why, and what
are the consequences?
- How has the development changed the number and types of visitors?
The purpose was seen as relevant due to the many consequences that exist in tourism due to
climate changes as well as other issues such as seasonality.
The first questions are very detailed in reality but simplified one can see that Tignes has
developed a multi-year strategy that included developing attractions, a major focus on the
product itself and furthermore making it attractive using gratuity and benefiting from the
winter brand. Sometimes it is hard to separate the summer and winter season in this aspect as
the brand of Tignes now includes both summer and winter. However it is very clear that the
management of the resort is very different in the two seasons. The decision to develop the
summer resort has one main factor, the decline of the glacier due to global heating and climate
change. This prompted, although maybe slightly late, the responsive action of developing the
summer season. However it is clear that Tignes has in the short development time gone from
just being responsive to being proactive in their management.
Climate change has to be recognized as a contributing factor to change but in the short time
span that is being investigated it is hard to draw any conclusions on future effects. Summer
can however be seen as a potential offset to climate change effects in ski areas.104
One can
observe that the general development in the Alps is that climate change is changing the way
winter seasons are run, how snow is provided and that in general, a brighter, or slightly longer
future is forecasted for resorts at higher altitudes.105
Having a responsible body of organization that works efficiently according to a well-
established strategy has given clear positive results and show that one can develop and
flourish even when others with the same resources do not. The difference is clearly the
strategy as can be seen through a comparison with neighboring resort Val d’Isère, as stated in
the results, where less planning can be identified. A further investigation into this resort
would however be necessary for a deeper, more complete comparison. It needs to be
recognized, without diminishing the work of the management, that Tignes also has many
natural attractions and even a lake, which has played a major role in the development of the
summer activities and its possibilities. The use of natural resources in developing the new
main attractions is evident in the bike park and the Sportignes card which uses the mountains,
lifts and the lake. The basic structures were thus already in place before development.
Through this development we can see a rise in visitors, in the number of attractions, a change
in image and a change in clientele. As the development is still in a quite early stage it is hard
to draw any conclusions about long term effects of the summer season growth. The number
are however very clear, the last couple of years has been a period of intense growth and
Tignes has successfully gained visitors whilst competing resorts have declined. The clientele
is not described in enough detail to draw any important conclusions but it appears that there is
a greater diversity, compared to the winter season, which is due to a greater diversity in
attractions.
104
Needham et al. p.234 105
Soboll & Dingeldey. p.102., Hill et al. p.74
35
7. Reflections
I believe that Tignes to a certain extent is working in the correct way to develop a more
traditional summer season. It is supported by the fact that previous studies presenting
successful destination development show the same signs and have gone through the same
steps and have a similar organization. Tignes, as a resort, and their destination management
also do seem aware of issues within destination development and are making a continual
effort in trying to develop the summer and have moved from being reactionary to being
proactive which is a key part.
The future will tell whether Tignes’ development of the summer season is a success as there is
still a large potential for further development and growth. It is up to resort management to
stay dynamic and remain proactive to further improve the summer season, which is now
starting to become well established. Another key element lies making it profitable on its own
and less dependent on the winter season.
However as discussed I do believe that uniqueness and finding new niche markets is a main
factor in achieving success. I do not necessarily agree that providing free activities is the best
way to differentiate themselves on the market, even though it has worked so far. The gratuity
is currently made possible because of winter marketing and a product focused budget. The
summer season for now is thus not sustainable on its own, meaning that it is a weak product
in itself. The question is if other benefits that are acquired within the resort make up for the
price currently being paid through potential loss of income? This would also be a point for a
future study.
Climate change is always an interesting perspective and it is important to not just state the
obvious; that winters are getting warmer. In Tignes’ case they might actually see an initial
increase in winter tourism income because of their ideal high altitude location. The summer
season has already seen a change in activity due to climate change effects on the glacier and
for now the summer season seems to be stabilized and no immediate future climate threats
can be identified.
Further studies are needed to really investigate how visitors have changed over the summer as
the current data is very limited. This kind of information is necessary to identify strong and
weak target markets.
All in all, as in any case study, strong and weak points can be found. This study would benefit
from further interviews with other people in resort as well as a more profound statistical
analysis that is more detailed, especially in terms of visitor demographics. Due to time
constraints this will have to be a point for a second case study of the resort, however, I do still
believe some value can be found in the results acquired despite their limitations.
36
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39
9. Appendix
9.1 Questionnaire for interview in original language, translated version in italics.
Quel actions/décisions est-ce que vous (Tignes/TD) avez pris au niveau de développement de
la saison d’été ? et pourquoi ? What actions/decisions have you (Tignes) taken to develop the
summer season? and why?
Est-ce que les conditions du glacier vous ont influencé au niveau des attractions pendant
l’été ? Has the conditions/status of the glacier influenced the summer attractions?
Qu’est-ce que vous voyez comme conséquences, dans la station et au niveau de
touristes/visiteurs ? What do you see as the consequences, in resort and in terms of
visitors/guests?
Est-ce que vous voyez un changement de clientèle pendant l’été ? Have you seen a change in
type of clients in the summer?
Est-ce que vous pensez que le développent de Tignes comme une station d’été a été un
succès et pourquoi? Do you think that developing Tignes as a summer destination has been a
success and why?
Qu’est-ce que c’est la prochaine étape dans le développement de l’été? What is the next step
in developing the summer season?