FS 3.218: Communication in mountains

Access and communication are key issues in the sustainable development of mountain areas. Despite their relative isolation, mountains have always depended to various extents on communication with surrounding areas. The current development of mountain regions cannot be dissociated from the need to communicate the desired tourism offers in the mountains. Communicating mountain activities may be present in several ways, from generic mass tourism to hiking and scientific tourism. Tourist trips respond to expectations created by communication agencies focused on the needs of different tourist profiles. They seek places and experiences but also contribute to the endogenous and competitive development of the selected destinations, which entails great responsibility for the communication that each destination disseminates. Modern communication technologies (Internet, apps, email or others) are new tools to regulate, thus developing the attractiveness of mountain regions raising new challenges to new communication paradigms with a special focus on current tendencies such as communication 3.0. The communication network in sensitive mountain areas, regardless of the activities promoted, must always consider the sustainability issues of these spaces, meaning that these territories need to create a balanced and sustained development model, based on the ability to communicate responsibly. We welcome in this session new mountain communication platforms (analogic and digital) that consider both the livelihoods of mountains and the delicate socio-ecological balance.