Fuelled by cheap flights, greater affluence, the media and – more recently – new accommodation platforms, tourism has skyrocketed in the post-war period. International arrivals have increased from 25m in 1950, to more than 1.3bn in 2017. Growth of this recession-proof industry is projected to continue year-on-year and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) forecasts it reaching 1.8bn in 2030.
The tourism sector brings with it many benefits: it boosts economies, strengthens international ties, leads to the creation of more events and supports the protection of historic places and the restoration of traditional architecture. There are also trickle down benefits to other industries – the attractions industry being one of them.
However, when places become so geared around tourists that butchers and grocers give way to souvenir shops and most rental accommodation is for tourists, it starts to cause a problem for residents. Last year saw protests by locals in both Barcelona and Venice, complaining that lives in their home cities are becoming unsustainable due to congestion, the prohibitively high cost of living and noise. Tourism experts caution such popularity could eventually lead to the bubble bursting: as locals are forced to move out, the character of the city is lost and then the appeal disappears, along with the tourists.
Tackling overtourism
This situation has led to the start of a conversation on how to manage overtourism. UNWTO recently launched a report (see p59) which studied eight popular cities and concluded 11 strategies, and 68 measures to help destinations spread their visitors across the year and over undiscovered parts of the city.
The report says overtourism comes about through the absence of good management and uncontrolled development and that as numbers increase, tourism must be managed in a sustainable manner for the good of both visitors and local communities.
UNWTO secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, believes there’s a pressing need to set a sustainable roadmap for urban tourism and is confident a solution can be found, saying: “This can be achieved through community engagement, congestion management, reduction of seasonality, careful planning that respects the limits of capacity and the specificities of each destination and product diversification.”
A successful approach
New York is an example of a popular city which manages its tourism successfully.
By actively promoting the off-season, as well as creating new destinations, such as The Rockaways and Governor’s Island, New York has managed to make a visit to the city far more than just a trip to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.
New York’s marketing arm, NYC and Company, gears much of its promotional activity to push the off-season – January to March. “This includes initiatives such as NYC Restaurant week, a signature dining programme involving up to 400 restaurants and also NYC Broadway week, where visitors can buy two-for-one theatre tickets,” says Christopher Heywood, senior vice president, global communications for NYC and Partners.
“The NYC Must-See Week is centred around visitor attractions, offering two-for-one admission to attractions, historic sites, museums, tours and performing arts venues across all five boroughs.”
Public transport also comes into it, with an improved and actively marketed NYC Ferry service, which makes it cheap and easy for visitors to explore other neighbourhoods in the city.
The importance of attractions
There is a great deal visitor attractions can do to ease tourist congestion. Florida, which has a US$60bn tourism industry, wants to be the world’s top travel destination and is aiming for 120m visitors this year. Good management and its theme parks, which both attract and soak up visitors, are key to the success.
The UNWTO report offers up many ways in which visitor attractions could help to ease the problems caused by overtourism, these include offering longer opening hours in peak season, encouraging off-season visits via programming and dynamic pricing, and popular attractions partnering up in marketing initiatives with less central sites, to drive traffic to less-visited areas.