Empty deckchairs on a deserted beach -
© 123web / Pixabay
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced global tourism players to reinvent themselves in 2020, according to a study published by our partner The Conversation.
Some solutions found could now be used to fight overtourism (the negative impact of tourism on the quality of life of citizens or the quality of visitor experiences).
The analysis of this phenomenon was carried out by Damien Chaney, teacher at the Normandy management school (Le Havre) and Hugues Séraphin, lecturer at the University of Winchester (England).
These images have toured the world in recent months: the canals of Venice finding peace and clarity, the paradisiacal beaches of Thailand emptied of their visitors, the Champs-Élysées seeming a little larger than usual ... Among the many effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, those in the tourism industry are particularly visible and sensitive.
Defined by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as “the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts of it, which influences excessively and negatively the quality of life perceived by citizens or the quality of visitor experiences ”, overtourism brings together all the negative consequences attributed to this sector.
Long before the pandemic, Venice overwhelmed by visitors © CC BY-NC-ND (via The Conversation)
In recent years, it has become a major concern of players in this industry.
One figure is indicative of this development: with 1.4 billion international tourists according to the UNWTO, 2018 was the ninth consecutive year of growth for the sector.
The UNWTO expected to cross this milestone in 2020, but its forecast came true two years earlier.
Several factors explain such an increase.
Beyond the demographic aspects linked to the increase in the world population, the first reason is none other than the development of mass tourism.
The generalization of paid holidays in many industrialized countries, associated with an increase in purchasing power, made it possible from the 1960s to open up tourism to a large part of the world population.
This first wave was followed by a second, in the early 2000s, with the emergence of new segments of visitors from, among others, China.
At the same time, the cost of travel has fallen considerably, driven by the economic growth of tourism, but also by the appearance of new business models, such as low-cost airlines and Airbnb.
Added to this is a general tendency among all tourism stakeholders to seek growth at all costs, guided by the weight that the sector represents in multiple economies.
This favors the short term but without thinking about the potential long term consequences.
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Today, many tourist sites in the world are victims of their success and receive more visitors than their infrastructure theoretically can accommodate.
The consequences are human, particularly with regard to the living conditions of local populations, but also and above all environmental: CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases, pollution of natural spaces, consequent need for energy and water, etc.
The Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru, for example, saw its annual attendance increase from 200,000 visitors in 1987 to more than 1,500,000 in 2018, causing wear and tear on the stone surface.
The problem is such that initiatives, institutional and individual, are becoming more and more urgent.
Unesco, for example, threatened to remove the Croatian city of Dubrovnik from the list of sites inscribed on the world heritage of humanity if the local authorities did not reduce the number of tourists there while in Venice, the inhabitants demonstrated on numerous occasions against the impact of the number of tourists on their quality of life.
To tackle the problem of overtourism, several strategies are being studied or have already been put in place: from educating tourists to the occasional closure of sites, including increasing prices and taxes, or spreading out tourists during slack periods.
However, the scope of these actions remains limited because they come from within the sector, that is to say from actors who are themselves strongly involved in tourism.
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Previous studies have shown that, in general, for radical changes to take place, an external shock is necessary.
Despite its disastrous consequences on the sector, a recent study also considers the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to fight against overtourism.
Because of its unpredictable nature, but also its unprecedented power, the Covid-19 pandemic has indeed forced tourism players to reinvent themselves.
In October 2020, an almost deserted beach on the very touristic site of Phuket (Thailand) © Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP
In Lourdes, an e-pilgrimage
The authors of the article take the example of Lourdes.
As the third pilgrimage in the world, the site has been hit hard by Covid-19.
The most important measure taken by the structure to face the crisis has been radical, to say the least: the creation of the first virtual pilgrimage in the world, “Lourdes United”.
Organized on July 16, 2020, this virtual pilgrimage took the form of a 15-hour marathon, with multiple online events.
The article reports that not only Lourdes benefited greatly from this radical strategy since 80 million
followers
attended the event, but also that by going from a physical event to a virtual event, Lourdes found an unexpected solution to the event. problem of overtourism.
In Thailand, the return of wildlife
Another interesting example comes from Thailand, which has been able to use the health crisis to pursue more sustainable tourism.
Several local sites have long been confronted with a problem of overcrowding, be it Bangkok, Phuket or even Maya Bay, thus generating multiple environmental damage.
But the global blockade following the first wave of Covid-19 has resulted in all these sites being closed to the public.
Calm found in Thailand during months of confinement © Wikimedia CC BY-NC-ND
The Thai authorities were then able to observe in real conditions to what extent radical actions benefit the fight against overtourism.
The closure of parks during the pandemic, for example, allowed natural habitat to regenerate and bring back wildlife, such as whales and turtles, to some sites.
On the strength of this forced experience, the authorities made the decision to close the parks every year for two to four months, from 2021, in order to improve the conservation of the areas.
What the examples of Lourdes and Thailand highlight here is that the exceptional circumstances provided by the Covid-19 crisis have enabled tourism players to adopt exceptional strategies that could not have been taken in time. normal.
Despite its disastrous consequences on the tourism sector in the short and medium term, the Covid-19 crisis could therefore have positive consequences in the longer term.
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This analysis was written by Damien Chaney, teacher at the Normandy management school (Le Havre) and Hugues Séraphin, lecturer at the University of Winchester (England).
The original article was published on The Conversation website.
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