Take The Pulse Part 2 - How to Ascertain and Stem
Negative Overtourism Impacts as Resident Dissatisfaction Grows
Recently, I wrote about destinations with public LGBTQ+ Pride events, suggesting the benefits of taking the pulse of resident perception - pro and con - toward the LGBTQ+ community and Pride, to obtain perspectives that may not otherwise be expressed. These results can be used to help develop appropriate community response strategies to help diffuse rancor and build community.
A comparable situation is reemerging in destinations relative to overtourism. Community push-back and protests have risen as tourism volume has spiked around the world after COVID. In Barcelona, nearly 3,000 residents publicly protested against tourism in early July, following similar actions in northern Spain. Residents are demanding local government to enact measures to reduce tourism. Leaders in Venice, Italy, Amsterdam, Mt. Fuji in Japan, Iceland and even the remote island of Bali have had to respond to the overcrowding disrupting resident quality of life.
As reported in July by Skift’s Dawit Habtemariam, Amsterdam is trying to…balance…being one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations with being a city where locals can feel at home. In response, the city government is capping the number of cruise ships docking at its main terminal, which by 2035, won’t be in Amsterdam’s city center, blocking new hotel development, eliminating all licenses for vacation rentals by 2028, and running a “Stay Away” ad campaign. The country’s tourism office has shifted its focus from primarily looking at visitor volume to developing new indicators that better reflect the local communities’ quality of life and the tourism industry’s quality of jobs. They recognize that traditional metrics like visitor numbers no longer serve as the sole indicator of success.
Amid the overriding issue of overcrowding, two specific concerns seem to be sparking the protests and the governmental responses; the huge numbers of cruise ship passengers disembarking en-masse in destinations, and the lack of available and affordable long-term housing for residents being displaced by short-term rentals for visitors. Yet other, more below the surface issues driving resident ire and less discussed, are conflicts between residents and tourists, including:
between long term (residents) versus temporary (tourists)
between travel class vs working class
between smaller versus larger destinations
between tourism benefits accruing to government or business versus those being most impacted (i.e., residents)
TAG has been closely following these developments and we see a “catch the horse after it has left the stable” approach. Why do we say this? Because the signs of resident dissatisfaction have been evident in many destinations for many years. An important comprehensive article on this subject, Overtourism and Tourismphobia: A Journey Through Four Decades of Tourism Development, Planning and Local Concerns,[1] cites these among its findings:
“Tourismphobia” appeared for the first time in 2008 in an article published in “El País” titled “Turistofobia,” by Catalan anthropologist Manuel Delgado (2008) who drew urgent attention to the emergence of a new touristic class replacing the working class and long-standing local residents, and how this substitution has occurred against the interests of tourists traveling to experience sincere human encounters and authentic urban life.
The commercially expedient practices of policymakers, destination managers and key firms in the tourism sector (especially airlines and cruising) have evidently led to unsustainable and inadvertent tourism outcomes, and excessive dependency on tourism at the expense of alternative economic sectors.
Accordingly, quality of life and well-being of local residents has become central to the emergence of grassroots-led social movements across the globe protesting against the pressures that tourism growth has enforced.
These debates have informed academic research as well as practitioner thinking, and have helped shape policy and planning interventions…however, these have often shifted the problems associated with tourism, rather than fully addressing the underlying root causes.
To address the underlying root causes, they first must be identified. Back to the premise opening this article, the key is to take the pulse of the community, preferably while the proverbial horse is still in the stable. The signs are usually there, and while it may be easier to hope the issue goes away than to delve in, to be a bit clichéd, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Addressing the situation before it reaches the crisis stage is best for all involved.
TAG is well positioned to help destinations take the community pulse to truly understand the situation. We employ a multi-phase approach integrating research and strategy to uncover resident perspective, understanding of an attitude, that goes beyond sentiment, which only measures attitude (not what is underlying). We are available to help you and your destination to maintain the essential balance between visitor and resident needs for overall community well-being.
[1] Overtourism and Tourismphobia: A Journey Through Four Decades of Tourism Development, Planning and Local Concerns, Tourism Planning & Development; Volume 16, 2019 - Issue 4: Special issue https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568316.2019.1599604
Another source for more information: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/10/what-is-overtourism-and-how-can-we-overcome-it/
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