Baseline Study
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ACTION PLANNING NETWORKS – PHASE 1 TOURISM FRIENDLY CITIES Local community and tourists together for urban sustainability BASELINE STUDY prepared by Anamaria Vrabie Presented to Tourism-friendly cities network and URBACT February 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. 2 1. SECTION 1 – STATE OF THE ART ........................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. The Theme ............................................................................................................................................ 4 1.3. The Policy Context ................................................................................................................................ 9 1.4. City Examples ...................................................................................................................................... 10 2. SECTION 2 – PARTNER PROFILES ......................................................................................................... 13 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 13 2.2. Content ............................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 City profile: Genoa (Italy) ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 City profile: Braga (Portugal) .................................................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 City profile: Caceres (Spain) .................................................................................................................... 24 2.2.4 City profile: Druskininkai (Lithuania) ...................................................................................................... 27 2.2.5 City profile: Dubrovnik (Croatia) ............................................................................................................. 30 2.2.6 City profile: Dun Laoghaire (Ireland) ...................................................................................................... 34 2.2.7 City profile: Krakow (Poland) .................................................................................................................. 37 2.2.8 City profile: Rovaniemi (Finland) ............................................................................................................ 41 2.2.9 City profile: Utrecht (The Netherderlands) ............................................................................................ 44 2.2.10 City profile: Venice (Italy) ..................................................................................................................... 48 2.3. Conclusion and small scale actions........................................................................................................... 53 3. SECTION 3 – SYNTHESIS AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 55 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 55 3.2. Analysis, Synthesis and Proposals for Phase 2 ................................................................................... 55 3.3. Network Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 63 3.4. Network outputs, communication and dissemination ....................................................................... 66 • baseline study Tourism-friendly Cities • 1. SECTION 1 – STATE OF THE ART The State of the Art for Tourism-friendly Cities Action Planning Network frames the latest developments in the tourism industry from social, environmental and economical perspectives to help envision the key integrated areas that cities need to tackle for shifting towards sustainable tourism approaches. It highlights the global tipping point reached by this cross-cutting sector and, as a result, the significant challenges already experienced by cities. Most importantly, it aims to provide a better understanding of the significant changes needed in public policy, both in terms of governance and leadership, with industry and tourists part of the co-design of solutions, alongside residents and local authorities. The information presented here is a synthesis of policy papers, sector analysis, EU reports, statistics and Expert Group reports, private sector studies, as well as institutional documents and examples of good practices provided from Tourism-friendly Cities project partners. 1.1. Introduction Tourism industry is one of the most important of our era. It drives wealth, employment and regional development, and it is expected to experience continuous growth. Tourism, travels and related sectors accounts for 10.3% of GDP in EU and 11.7 % of total employment1. Similarly, at global level, in 2018, the industry helped generate 10.4% of world GDP and a similar share of employment, and has shown enormous resilience over the last decade. The EU welcomed 500 million international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) in 2016, accounting for 40% of the world’s total 2. A long-term study by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) forecasts a growth in European tourism, to an estimated 744 million tourists (+1.8%), or 41.1% of the global market, over the period to 20303. Despite this positive economic outlook, the current growth model of the industry is hardly compatible with the quality of life of local communities, especially in cities or mature destinations. In 2017, Venice, the city of 260,000 received more than 28 million foreign tourists. Barcelona, with its resident population of 1,625,137 received over 30 million tourists. The stark difference in numbers is not only relevant of how much space and amenities a city can offer. It also alludes to the difference between city residents and tourists or, using a different layer, resident taxpayers- consumers. In fact, a recent UNWTO report4 on overtourism in cities recognized the need for the sector to “ensure sustainable policies and practices that minimize adverse effects of tourism on the use of natural resources, infrastructure, mobility and congestion, as well as its socio-cultural impact”. This call for action is amplified 1 European Parliament – Fact Sheet on the European Union, Tourism, 2019 2 World Economic Forum -The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, 2019 3 United Nations World Tourism Organisation - European Union Tourism Trends, 2018 4 UNWTO- ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions Volume 2: Case Studies, 2019 3 / 69 • baseline study Tourism-friendly Cities • by recent street protests1 in several European cities against the overtourism. As recently as April 2019, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Krakow, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Vienna signed a joined letter 2 addressed to the European Commission’s calling for legislative support for curving the “explosive growth” of global short-stay rental platforms. Examples of strategies for managing visitor growth in cities: 1. Promote the dispersal of visitors within the city and 7. Create city experiences that benefit both beyond; residents and visitors; 2. Promote time-based dispersal of visitors; 8. Improve city infrastructure and facilities; 3. Stimulate new visitor itineraries and attractions; 9. Communicate with and engage local 4. Review and adapt regulation; stakeholders; 5. Enhance visitors’ segmentation; 10. Communicate with and engage visitors; 6. Ensure local communities benefit from tourism; 11. Set monitoring and response measures. Source: UNWTO- ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions Volume 2: Case Studies, 2019 It is no surprise that cities are the forefront of the paradigm shift needed from the tourism industry. The urban scale provides the daily interactions where the tourism production system shows its effects and consequences. Local governments are committed to guarantee a balanced impact of tourism in urban areas and on local economies, conjugating the need of economic growth of all the different sectors involved in tourism (mobility, hospitality, culture, tour operators, gastronomy, etc.) and the well-being of temporary and permanent residents. At the same time, local governments need to cope with a sector whose trends are constantly evolving at global level, with the growing role of a series of companies and platforms active at global level on sectors as hospitality and transport, which show the effects of their actions on places as neighbourhoods, streets and buildings where only local governments can find innovative and integrated solutions. Changing from a growth-oriented tourism paradigm, towards one looking at the quality of growth and compatibility to the quality of life of residents is easier said than done. With much of the policy-making around tourism being done at national and European level and with a highly fragmentised portfolio (falling under economic, innovation, cultural,