How tourism is transforming cities

In 2023, 1.3 billion travellers criss-crossed the globe according to figures from the World Tourism Organisation. That’s fifty times more than in the 1950s, when international tourists only 25 million people. With revenues reaching $1.4 trillion, the tourism sector has become a key driver of the global economy. It is a driver that is difficult to do without when you are a destination with a rich heritage and tourist attractions to offer. However, while the number of travellers is increasing, the number of destinations chosen does not seem to be changing much. According to the UNWTO, 95% of global tourists visit less than 5% of the world’s land area. This concentration obviously has consequences for the destinations concerned.

Cities under threat

While tourism is an economic windfall that many local stakeholders seek to capitalise on, it can also become a force for change, sometimes resulting in protests from local residents who suffer from its excesses. “Cities are not designed to welcome tourists; they adapt to it, more or less successfully,” points out Rémy Knafou. For the geographer, “the central issue is the acceptability of tourism by the host society.” The development of low-cost travel, the effect of the “instagramisation” of destinations, and the widespread use of accommodation services such as Airbnb: according to him, the rejection of tourism by the population stems from a combination of factors that drive residents out of city centres, particularly through high prices rents. He talks about a process of “touristification”. Others prefer to use the term “overtourism”. ““Overtourism” emerged in public and academic discourse around 2016, driven by the first local protests in cities such as Barcelona,” recalls Davide Agazzi.

Organising overtourism

Faced with this saturation phenomenon, cities are getting organised. “The Barcelona experience has paved the way for other cities, which have seen that it is possible to resist and that bringing together several thousand people in the streets has an impact, particularly on public policy,” explains Rémy Knafou. Some destinations, such as Amsterdam, have therefore introduced visitor limits visitor numbers. The city now limits the development of tourist infrastructure and bans facilities that attract disrespectful tourists. Other cities such as Barcelona and New York now restrict the number of short-term rentals and the use of booking platforms. Still others, such as Copenhagen, are betting on nudging to attract more responsible tourism by rewarding travellers who come by train or choose to cycle around the city. These methods are empirical for the moment, but they aim to change behaviour and rehabilitate a more sensible and reasonable form of tourism.

Tourism at the heart of consultation

Cities now need to integrate tourism more broadly into their development policies, which calls for consultation between visitors and residents.

For Davide Agazzi, “the aim is to involve residents and local organisations more in the city’s development, so that tourism does not generate new forms of inequality. It is not just a question of prohibitions and restrictions, but of designing governance mechanisms capable of pre-distributing and redistributing the wealth that tourism can generate,” he concludes.

Sustainable tourism will therefore be achieved by taking into account the voices of tourists and residents, whether they are long-term residents, temporary residents, such as students, or future citizens, such as young people looking for a place to settle. It will also be achieved by rehabilitating tourism as a desire for encounter and authenticity rather than as a consumerist activity.