Fact, Fiction, or Food for Thought? Tourism Consultants Network - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tom Buncle, Managing Director, Yellow Railroad Ltd.

‘Overtourism’: Fact, Fiction, or Food for Thought?

Tourism Consultants’ Network Conference Manchester 22nd Nov 2018 “The Challenge of Destination Management: Balancing Growth and Sustainability”

Tom Buncle

• Managing Director, Yellow Railroad
• Writer & lecturer:
• Hon. Prof. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
• destination branding & marketing
• travel trends & crisis recovery
• CEO, Visit Scotland
• Visit Britain: USA, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia

Rwanda Norway Mozambique England Caribbean Scotland Barbados Wales Kenya Cameroon Bosnia Tunisia Jordan Nice, France Namibia Gabon Malta

Consultancy Projects

Southern Africa

‘Overtourism’

• The Issues
• The Reality
• Solutions

‘Overtourism’

What are the Issues?

Overtourism: The Issues

• Too many people in one place at one time
• Visitor experience devalued
• Residents’ quality of life disrupted
• Residents’ tolerance stretched
• Natural and historic environment threatened
• Reputation risk
• Destination decline

When is enough enough?

Overtourism: The Issues

‘Overtourism Poster Children’

Residents Visitors 2016 Ratio Visitors: Residents Venice 55,000 28 million 509:1

(80k p day @ Euros 3 av)

Amsterdam 850,000 17 million 20:1 Barcelona 1.6 million 32 million

(only 8m in hotels!)

20:1 Iceland 332,000 1.7 million 5 :1 Isle of Skye 10,000 60,000 6:1

Overtourism: Visitor Experience

Expectation vs. Reality

Photo credit:s Brightside.me

‘Overtourism’

What’s the Reality?

Overtourism: The Reality

UNWTO: ‘4 Myths’

• Not about numbers

It’s about managing capacity

• Not ubiquitous

Localised issue – popular ‘hotspots’

• Not a ‘tourism-only’ problem

Residents use services and infrastructure too

• Technology/smart solutions alone won’t solve congestion

Need integrated plan

UNWTO ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions (Sept 2018)

Overtourism: Residents’ Tolerance

Residents are voters, visitors aren’t

Overtourism: Residents’ Tolerance

Source: TCI Research France, Newsletter - Sept 2017 (survey of 800+ residents in Barcelona, Amsterdam & Paris)

‘Overtourism’

Is There a Solution?

Overtourism: Solution

UNWTO: Solution

• Governance:

“Re-think current practices”:…….

• Close cooperation among tourism

and non-tourism administrations

• Measures cannot focus only
• n altering visitor numbers and

tourist behaviour

• Focus also on local stakeholders
• Need to understand residents’ attitudes

towards tourism and engage local communities

UNWTO ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions (Sept 2018)

Overtourism: Solution

Control Mechanisms: Quotas / limits

• Rome: tour bus ban/restrictions
• Bhutan: c. 140,000 visitors p.a.
• Galapagos: no. of ships, 4 nts p.ship
• Dubrovnik: 2 ships p. day
• Antarctica: ship size (400 pax) & 100 pax max on land
• Lord Howe Island, Australia: 400 max at one time
• West Coast Trail British Columbia: 6,000 visitors p.a.
• Bermuda: 10,000 beds cap; Ibiza, Majorca
• Forbidden City, Beijing: 80,000 pax p. day
• Sistine Chapel, Rome: 6 million visitors p.a.
• Hobbiton, New Zealand: 550,000 visitors p.a.

Overtourism: Solution

Control Mechanisms (cont.)

• Closure: Boracay, Philippines (6 mths); Maya Beach, Thailand (indefinitely)
• Access Management:
• segregation of visitors & residents: Venice turnstiles
• advance tickets only/car park pre-booking: Muir Woods, CA. Zion ++ may too
• Regulations – licensing:
• party size: Temple Bar, Dublin; Bhutan – no independent travellers;
• water source (Mozambique)

Pricing:

e.g. user/entrance fee; bed/tourist tax:

• NZ $35 tourist tax; city tax: Rome 3-7 euros; Amsterdam 6%; Edinburgh?
• Bhutan $200-250 min. spend p. day;
• timed differential pricing (e.g. Uffizi);
• wildebeest migration $200 p. vehicle (Masai Mara, Aug 2018: c.100,000 visitors & 300 vehicles in 1 spot)
• Investment freeze: Barcelona, Seychelles?

Overtourism: Solution

Restrictions on whole property rental: 60-120 days San Francisco, Paris, London, New York, Reykjavik et al

Overtourism: Solution

Control Mechanisms (cont.)

• Traffic flows

e.g. car ban – shuttle buses – pedestrian zones: Zermatt, Angkor Wat

• Advance booking / timed ticketing

e.g. Machu Picchu, Cinque Terre, exhibitions, attractions – Shard, London Eye, Yoho National Park, British Columbia;

• Focus on iconic nodes

e.g. Katla Geopark & Snaefellsnes, Iceland

• Replica attractions

e.g. Tutankhamun tomb, Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc, France.

Overtourism: Solution

But, what value authenticity? replica …………………..or remains?

80%

(City University NY)

Overtourism: Solution

Facilitation - DMOs

Marketing:

• Spread visits seasonally
• Spread visits more widely across the destination
• Information (apps) to aid visitor planning
• Technology – big data management
• ‘Demarketing’ – rely on social media? (e.g. Amsterdam)

Product:

• Develop off-season products & offers
• Work with local authorities & businesses

to manage visitor flows

Overtourism: Solution

Facilitation (cont.) Policy & Planning:

• Destination Management Plan (DMP)

Awareness:

• Explain issues
• N.B. tone

Education:

• Info for visitors: online, print, signage
• Training for guides, tour ops et al
• Appeal to visitors’ better nature

Cinque Terre, Italy: Visitor Management

Challenge:

• 2.5 m visitors in 2015 – cruise & coach pressure
• Environmental damage
• Congestion – residents’ & visitor tolerance

Solution:

• Cinque Terre card: access to paths & sites + train & bus
• Conservation guidelines for tourists
• Limit = 1.5 m visitors (2016) – counter devices on roads
• Advance ticket sales
• App for visitors showing congestion levels by time

5 fishing villages (UNESCO) connected by cliff trails

BUT……It’s Not All Bad

Consolidated sentiment for Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris - 800+ interviews conducted

• nline in sept 2017, spread over touristy and non touristy districts in each city.

Source: TCI Research France, Newsletter - Sept 2017

Overtourism: Solution

Destination management: “the virtuous circle” Responsible tourism development

‘Overtourism’

Overtourism: Conclusion

Overtourism is an issue

But………

• Mostly only in certain places, at certain times

So……...

• Destination management planning is required

Otherwise……

• Policymakers may turn their backs
• n this critical economic driver

Thank you !

Tom Buncle Managing Director www.yellowrailroad.com @TomYellowRail