Questions and Answers: COVID has reduced mass tourism – and some cities want it to stay that way

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, cities that usually hosted thousands of tourists a day got a taste of life without mass tourism – and some of them don’t want all of these people back.

A gradual reopening after the pandemic gives many popular travel destinations the opportunity to try new methods. Venice, plagued by overtourism for a long time, has forbidden prevent large cruise lines from entering its waters. Amsterdammers feel that they “got her city back”And the city council has launched an online advertising campaign encouraging visitors to soak up the city’s culture, but warning“ annoying tourists ”- especially the big stag and hen parties that previously streamed into Amsterdam’s red light district. The legislature in Maui is trying to get one Tourist taxwho proposes a 3% tax for visitors to hotels and short term rentals and who is the island’s mayor Please to airlines to plan fewer flights.

Each idea, in some way, aims to balance tourists’ much-needed income with the damage huge crowds can wreak in natural or historical places and the needs of their own residents. We asked Jessica Sewell, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, how cities can meet these needs in a post-pandemic restart.

Sewell’s research explores connections between culture and urban planning. She works on many projects Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities of the UVA on a digital City guide to cultural landscapes in Suzhou, Chinawhere she previously taught at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. The guidebook aims to provide a cultural and historical context for visitors to Suzhou, a major tourist destination in China that is home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Here’s what she had to say on some of the post-pandemic tourism issues.

Q. What questions could you consider when cities reopen to tourists to promote responsible tourism? How does it look?

A. One thing to think about is promoting tourism that keeps people in one place for a while. Bucket list tourism – zooming in to quickly get to a few popular sights and then leaving – does a lot of damage to a city like Venice or Florence. It doesn’t make that much money in the local economy because people may not be staying or staying long enough to eat lots of meals or buy lots of groceries.

My colleague in China, Christian Nolf, looked into the idea of ​​slow tourism. Suzhou is a huge tourist attraction, but people tend to visit the same few places, mainly classical gardens and historic Pingjiang Street. These places are absolutely bullied, but other parts of the city do not get the same number of visitors and do not benefit economically. Cities should think about how to get people to slow down and really experience a place – not just its popular hotspots, but other neighborhoods and smaller attractions as well. Often times, the smaller things you find while strolling through a city are even more memorable than the big, famous sights.

Q. How can cities balance preserving the places and cultures that distinguish them with accepting people so they can see those places?

A. That’s not an easy one to answer. It is a really difficult puzzle that is compounded by the fact that many attractions have to use money from tourists to pay for their own maintenance. I think it’s important to try to spread tourism out over a longer period of time by using things like season tickets and reservations. Many places that had not previously used timed tickets switched to them to control the crowd during COVID. I anticipate many will continue as it helps mitigate the harmful effects of large crowds. The mere distribution of people, physically and over time, helps reduce wear and tear.

Q. What other ideas did you come up with while working in Suzhou?

A. China is shifting from mass tourism – typically large bus tours – to more individual, independent tourism. This shift is part of a larger cultural shift from a more collective mindset to a more individual mindset, influenced by the large numbers of middle and upper-middle class Chinese who travel or study abroad and see other ways of doing things. It offers some opportunities for Chinese attractions to change their approach to tourism.

Some villages have started charging visitors a fee, which is an interesting method, although I’m not sure it’s ideal. It prevents these cities from becoming dependent on the sale of tourist-specific items such as souvenirs or tickets for certain attractions. It also spreads money across the city instead of keeping the money tied to specific landmarks or attractions. This could help support local businesses and bring some benefits to residents.

Q. What role do short-term rentals like Airbnb play in these debates?

A. Short term rentals like Airbnb have many positive aspects. Sometimes it is the locals who own an apartment and the rental income helps them and the local economy support them. It also promotes a type of slow-paced tourism that encourages people to stay longer and spend their money in neighborhoods. It can of course be problematic if it is particularly annoying to a neighborhood or if it is a burden on the local housing market. However, I think that says more about the housing market’s ills than it does about Airbnb.

I think a bigger problem for many big cities arises when very wealthy people buy apartments in multiple locations and don’t spend a lot of time in them. In some large cities, such as New York City or Paris, you will find neighborhoods that look like inhabited, but can no longer support a grocery store or a local business because there are not so many property owners living there. That can really undermine a city.

Q. If you advised cities concerned about the impact of returning tourism after the pandemic, what questions would you ask?

A. First I would ask, “What is your ideal?” Don’t you want tourists? Do you only want a small number or a certain number of tourists? Where are these people supposed to be? How can you make this a better place to stay longer than zooming in and out? How can you change people’s relationship with your city?

Amsterdam is a good example. They said they don’t want so much stag and hen tourism. How do you change the environment to prevent this type of tourism while welcoming other tourists? What kind of tourists do you want?

It’s also important to consider transportation. How many buses do you really want to let in? Do you really want to have those big cruise ships? Idle buses or large ships in a port can actually be much more destructive to a location than the people who are on them. So I would advise cities to think about how they transport people through spaces. Can they park buses and cars elsewhere and let tourists take a tram line? Can they create spaces where people walk and move slowly through the streets and develop a different relationship with a place than in a bus or car?

Finally, you need to think about what else will affect your residents. How can you ensure that affordable housing is maintained? Do you have enough places for people to buy groceries and get what they need to make a living in your city? How can you make your city a good place to live and visit? Often times, planning non-tourism related policies, such as housing policies, can make a big difference.