ABSTRACT
Urban tourism, as a social, cultural, and economic field, has been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a reverse effect of this crisis, however, there is a recent shift away from the dominant logics of performance and efficiency towards mindfulness, serenity, and similar concepts that shape the everyday life of an increasing number of people. All these terms are related to the semantic field of Muße, a word derived from the German language, which is defined as the experience of moments of freedom, indulgence, placidity, and recreation. Following the idea that social phenomena are reflected and reproduced in tourism, the objective is to explore how and where tourists experience Muße in urban tourism. A focus on Muße first enables a better understanding of tourists' travel behaviour, expectations, and needs. In the same vein, it is possible to examine tourism place-making since the need for Muße produces and transforms individual tourists' worlds of experiences. Although place-making practices and experiences have been widely studied, their relationship to Muße remains to be explored in urban and tourism research. With the aim to study practices and places of Muße in urban tourism, the presented qualitative content analysis draws upon 84 interviews conducted with tourists in Barcelona, Florence, and Paris in 2019. Findings show that the practice of sitting is relevant for experiences of Muße with a particular impact on place-making. Six categories are suggested to illustrate how Muße can be effective while tourists are sitting. This includes a detailed discussion of the spatial dimensions of Muße. In conclusion, places of Muße are highly individual, intangible, and complex. Insights into the characteristics of Muße and engagement with this new concept in international tourism research can be used as resources to study tourist place-making and support the planning for sustainable tourism development. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Tourism Geographies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Purpose: With the rapid development of sharing economy, travelers are facing choices between conventional hotels and the peer-to-peer sharing accommodation in urban tourism. The purpose of this study is to examine how travelers form their preferences in such choice situations and whether/how their preference formation mode would change with the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A relative preference model was constructed and estimated for both domestic and outbound tourists, based on two waves of survey data collected before and after the COVID-19. The results of this study were compared to derive the evolution of preference formation patterns. Findings: A set of 15 key value attributes and personal traits was identified, together with their differential effects with the pandemic. Their divergent effects between domestic and outbound trips were also delineated. Based on these findings, the competitive edges and advantageous market profiles were depicted for both hotel and sharing accommodation sectors. Originality/value: This study contributes to the knowledge of tourists' preference between accommodation types and adds empirical evidences to the impact of the pandemic on tourist behavior patterns. Both hotel and sharing accommodation practitioners can benefit from the findings to enhance their competitiveness.
ABSTRACT
Urban tourism had to deal with the critical effects of the pandemic, as it undermined one of the fundamental traits of modernity: the mobility of people and goods. Focusing on a group of Italian cities, this paper presents some theoretical issues, recent tourism trends and discusses the changes in tourist accommodations triggered by the Covid-19. The analysis, based on data from a range of sources (official statistics, google trends, InsideAirbnb and Airdna), shows the persistence of some trends already observed before the pandemic outbreak, with the risk of new expulsions and inequalities. © 2022 Franco Angeli Edizioni. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Regeneration agendas and inbound tourism flows have long been considered a remedy for economic crisis. In port cities, a prominent role in urban regeneration is played by the waterfronts, which have been undergoing radical makeovers worldwide since the 1960s. The city of Cagliari stuck to the same recipe, promoting a series of regeneration initiatives and implementing a series of policies to boost the tourism sector. This study combines the use of primary and secondary sources and the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data to create a useful picture of both current reality and historical development of the city. It demonstrated that development strategies promoted in Cagliari, rather than balancing tourism promotion and local community needs, contributed to the amplification and acceleration of the touristification process. Therefore, many of the challenges posed by overtourism, dread in the literature, are today faced by Cagliari and its inhabitants. In addition, the study also identifies in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic a unique opportunity to reverse the touristification process and to achieve a sustainable manner of tourism development. Therefore, it offers some policy recommendations to define principled urban regeneration models, alternatives which are able to achieve urban revitalization while avoiding touristification. © 2023 by the author.
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This work explores the ways in which COVID-19 has affected the discourse on public tourism planning in Copenhagen and how policies meet the challenges of the climate crisis. Inspired by the concept of ‘governmobility', we explore changes in discourse on how urban tourism policies aim to ease and control access, mobility, and circulation. The implementation of the DMO Wonderful Copenhagen's ‘localhood' strategy has tried to cope with issues of over-tourism by engaging locals who also have access to the attractions and experiences offered to tourists. Meanwhile, the planned growth in international tourism, despite the COVID-19 lockdowns, has not been dismantled but rather reaffirmed. This includes plans for major extensions of Copenhagen Airport. Development corporations in tourism and urban development thus try to reconcile sustainable development with economic growth, which is apparent in the 2022 ‘Comeback Copenhagen' and ‘Planet Copenhagen' strategies. Copenhagen aims to become the most sustainable tourist destination, without taking into consideration that the main greenhouse gas emissions come from the ways tourists travel to and from the destination. © 2023 The Authors
ABSTRACT
According to the United Nations Population Fund (2020), half of the world's population live in cities, and the number is estimated to rise to 75% by 2050. Although urbanization is seen as a major challenge from a health point of view, the development of urban wellness tourism offering would ideally benefit both tourists and locals. The growth rate of wellness tourism during the years 2015–2017 was almost twice as fast as global economic growth. Holistic wellness refers to the balanced elements of body, mind and spirit. This study argues that many European city destinations could provide the holistic wellness elements to their visitors.Tourism destinations continue competing with each other in a globalised marketplace, even more post-Covid-19. As a result, cities will invest considerable resources in their marketing activities and place branding. By recognizing and highlighting wellness tourism offering in their marketing, some urban Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) could stand out in this growing competition and get their share of wellness tourism growth.This study examines, which elements contributing to holistic wellness are currently being displayed on the visit.com websites of selected urban DMOs (N = 32) in the European Union. This is done using qualitative content analysis methodology. The findings indicate that there are several European cities that already display elements of urban wellness in their marketing. The practical implication for the DMOs in question could be to actively start developing their place brands towards urban wellness tourism niche by highlighting the supply of urban wellness they already have, for example, at their visit.com sites.
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After 2010, a sharp increase in tourist visits was recorded in urban municipalities, and they became the most important group of tourist municipalities (with about 29% of all tourist arrivals and 36% of all foreign tourist arrivals in Slovenia in 2019). A large part of the growth in tourist visits was in the municipality of Ljubljana, which recorded 18% of all tourist arrivals and 23% of all foreign tourist arrivals in Slovenia in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic hit urban municipalities the hardest. At the end of the article, it is pointed out that, on the one hand, Ljubljana has become one of the fastest growing and most important tourist destinations in Central Europe and, on the other hand, the increased tourist visits to Slovenia have not been reflected in the visits of other urban municipalities such as Celje, Murska Sobota, Velenje, Slovenj Gradec and Krško, which are far behind in both the number of tourists and the share of foreign tourists. This clearly shows that their tourist potential is relatively low and that the development of the tourist offer and infrastructure is still pending. © 2022, University of Ljubljana Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought tourism to an abrupt halt. Supply-side stakeholders suddenly found themselves in a lockdown with unusable assets, unprofitable investments and jobs in jeopardy. Using qualitative research, we take a closer look at how they dealt with this unprecedented crisis in the Slovenian urban destinations of Ljubljana and Maribor. Our results show that existing policy and strategy mechanisms did not equip the supply-side stakeholders to tackle the pandemic challenges. However, both institutional ad hoc responses were quick and to some extent adequate. © 2022, University of Ljubljana Press. All rights reserved.
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The aim of this research is to find out and analyze the reasons for the stagnation of the tourist attractiveness of the urban tourist heritage of the city of Constantine (the old city), and try to make objective suggestions so as to activate the attractiveness of the urban touristic heritage of the city of Constantine all over again, particularly after the Corona crisis that has put the tourism sector in the city into an almost total immovability. In this regards, a questionnaire was used as a tool for the study, and in order to obtain and analyze information through the selected sample of the city's population. In virtue of which, the results obtained from this study lead to diagnosing the complex problems of the tourists' urban heritage along with the various risks threatening the same, which negatively affected the city's tourist attractiveness;inclusive of negative human behaviours, in respect such as disrespecting the values of this heritage and various illegal practices on its spaces, in addition to weak governance and management mechanisms, thus making the city's urban heritage in a waiting state. [ FROM AUTHOR]
ABSTRACT
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology for shaping the tourist spatial identity of the city and to take advantage of it to discover alternative urban outdoor spaces. As the number of indoor visitors has been limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, open urban areas such as streets, squares and parks have become more important tourist locations. Design/methodology/approach The assessment methodology consists of two basic steps. In the first step, the authors look for places or points that are carriers of spatial identity. For this purpose, the method of mental mapping is used. In the second step, statistical methods are used to evaluate the spatial suitability for the most common tourist activities. To obtain a holistic picture, a temporal component is included. Findings The application of the methodology is presented in the form of a case study. The obtained research results provide an insight into the spatial situation of the city of Maribor (Slovenia, Europe). Tourist spatial identity of a city depends on time. Based on the value of spatial sensitivity indicator and the suitability of activities, it is possible to adapt the tourist offer to the temporal component. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is an original perspective on the spatial identity of tourists. The presented approach could be integrated as a good practice in any other city worldwide. It supports the identification of suitable outdoor tourist places that are memorable, cosy, multifunctional and can be recommended by city guides (mobile or printed books). Every city has many hidden gems that tourists have yet to discover.
ABSTRACT
European cities have experienced an intense growth in tourism and other related mobilities. This pressure on urban centers has increased the public's perception of the need to design more sustainable tourism policies that deal with the various associated dilemmas. This article compares the tourism policies of eleven European cities considering what governments have introduced, or avoided, in their tourism policy documents. The objective is to observe the extent to which these actions directly related to sustainability are being incorporated. The results indicate that local tourism policies are moving away from a model of public action based only on considering the economic impact of tourism and are starting to work with a wider range of associated impacts. In this scenario, the ideas of balance and sustainability find a much clearer accommodation. This research presents a pre-crisis tourism framework that can be challenged during post--Covid19 transitions.
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This study aimed to evaluate the spatial accessibility of tourism attractions in the urban destination city. An analytical framework for assessing urban tourism accessibility at different spatial scales was proposed to provide references on the interaction of urban transport and tourism systems. In addition to the travel time-based measure, a modified gravity model integrating the tourism destination attractiveness, urban transport system characteristics, and tourist demand distribution was developed to evaluate tourism accessibility in this study. Real-time travel data obtained from the Web Maps service were used to take the actual road network operation conditions into consideration and improve the accuracy of estimation results. Taking Nanjing as an example, the analysis results revealed the spatial heterogeneity of tourism accessibility and inequality in tourism resource availability at different levels. Road transport service improvement plays a dominant role in increasing tourism accessibility in areas with insufficient tourism resources, such as the outskirts of the destination city. As for areas with abundant attractions, authorities could pay attention to destination attractiveness construction and demand management in addition to the organization and management of road network operations around attractions during holidays. The results of this study provide a potentially valuable source of information for urban tourism destination management and transport management departments.
ABSTRACT
The Spanish real estate and its ‘sea and sun’ tourism model, were profoundly disrupted during the Great Recession of 2008–2014 As a result, hedge funds and their speculative operations have favoured an intense process of urban touristification in the largest Spanish cities, especially over the past ten years. The aim of this paper is to examine how the COVID-19 crisis has triggered shifts in the supply of short-term rentals and the type of demand of such rentals. By taking into account such changes, we will address the potential changes that the current pandemic scenario might bring between the ‘classical’ real estate market and short-term rentals in Spain.
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Tourist flows are not uniformly distributed in the city, but tend to polarize around the symbolic and nodal places of it. This situation can have two outcomes: on the one hand, the urban regeneration and the creation of places shared among residents and visitors;on the other hand, the construction of enclavic places which lead to crowding out of the resident population. The pandemic may perhaps be considered a reset and restart phase for a rethinking and reconstruction of the urban tourism system, involving all agents (tourists, enterprises, local communities, public authorities, etc.) within an innovative, dynamic and sustainable planning. In recent years, Barcelona, the leading city in European tourism, has seen the rise of phenomena such as: overtourism and the overcoming of the carrying capacity;touristification;tourist gentrification;and tourism-phobia. Barcelona intends to reconcile the needs of city and tourism, also addressing the current pandemic situation, through studied plans and strategies, promoting culture and the offer diversification, the redistribution of tourists, sustainability, the participation and cooperation of stakeholders.
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This article explores the current dynamics in the policy field of urban tourism and new approaches to sustainable urban tourism that have emerged after years of growing tensions and controversial debates in the pre-COVID 19 era. By using a critical interpretive approach of a discourse-based deconstruction, the case of Berlin and its novel approach of ‘city-compatible tourism’ are used to analyse how, in the context of a proclaimed policy change, an expansion of the understanding of urban tourism and its possible modes of regulation is taking place. It illustrates how different ideas and conceptions from different discursive knowledge formations converge, promising an innovative policy approach but with some inconsistencies, leading to a diffuse policy discourse on sustainable urban tourism. By underlining the generally complex nature of implementing the concept of sustainable tourism, the paper finally argues that a more profound negotiation of the essential goals and principles of sustainable tourism in an urban context is necessary to initiate a fundamental change in policy practice. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of European Planning Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The event we are facing at a global scale, the COVID-19 pandemic, can be considered a real death blow to the real markets, in general, as well as to a local heritage-based tourism market, in particular. The closing of both near and distant "borders," due to the imposed social-spatial limitations-as an early answer to the pandemic-has hugely affected the micro, small, and medium businesses within their local contexts. This article aims to identify how and if an alternative tourism offer might take/give a kind of advantage of the urban features and cultural layers of Tirana by positioning it as safe tourism in the current long wave of post-pandemic. Tirana is proposed as an experimental open lab. The adopted survey methodology was based on both traditional urban analyses as well as on an e-survey aimed to catch the overall common inclination in the city's vocation for an unconventional tourism offer. The paper is mostly focused on the survey as the base material from which to get further information to be used in subsequent co-planning and co-designing phases.
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This article aims to verify the resilience of urban tourism in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, and identify its main features, taking the city of Malaga as a reference. The methodological approach provided by the economic analysis will be used to analyze the dynamics that have been registered in the accommodation market, both conventional (hotels) and short-term rental tourist housing. The data refer to demand, supply and price indicators for the period between September 2018 and the same month in 2021. The results of the analysis show clear signs of recovery in the tourism market as of spring 2021. More specifically, the role that residents of Spain acquire in the demand for hotel accommodation is confirmed. Likewise, in the peer-to-peer market, it is confirmed that, months after the lifting of mobility restrictions, the activity levels reached before the pandemic were exceeded. On this basis, it seems pertinent to reopen and rethink the debate on the carrying capacity of cities and the advisability of regulating the tourist accommodation market.
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This research aims to examine the tourist recognition of the different attractions of the four most populous Spanish-speaking cities in Latin America: Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, and Lima, and determine the factors that group these attractions and evaluate their degree of importance. Factor analysis technique was used to reduce the perceptions into relevant factors. The methodology used is quantitative, transversal, and non-experimental. The results indicate that the tourist attraction of a city has four main factors: the nucleus, the tourism ecosystem, Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events (MICE) and shows, and the related services. The research has theoretical implications because it determines that tourists perceive attractions at four levels in these Latin American cities, each of which is made up of tourist attractions different from those mentioned in the literature. The research has practical implications, since officials and those responsible for tourism in Latin American cities can improve their plans by considering the factors of tourist attraction that generate a greater influx of tourists in the cities examined.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of measures to combat Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on competitiveness in tourism in Nigeria taking strategic dexterity as the moderating variable. Design/methodology/approach Survey research design approach was used for the study. A total of 235 valid questionnaires gathered from the personnel of ten urban tourist centres in Nigeria were used to examine the goodness of model fit, measurement model and structural correlations between constructs. Partial least squares structural equation modelling approach (PLS-SEM) using Advanced Analysis for Composite (ADANCO 2.2.1) was used to evaluate the hypotheses. Findings This study finds that travel restriction, boarder closure and strategic dexterity were significant to competitiveness, among which border closures has generated the highest path coefficient. Moreover, the study finds a significant moderating role of strategic dexterity between travel restrictions, border closure and competitiveness. Future studies can reproduce the study by incorporating mediating variables covering the all-tourist centers in Nigeria. Research limitations/implications This study might be valuable for tourism-related stakeholders, researchers and policy makers as the result finds indicate strong effect of travel restrictions, border closure on competitiveness of urban tourism. Equally, the study provides new insight as the findings shows a significant moderating role of strategic dexterity between travel restrictions, border closure and competitiveness. Practical implications This study might be valuable for tourism-related stakeholders, researchers and policy makers as the result finds indicate strong effect of travel restrictions, border closure on competitiveness of urban tourism. The study provides new insight as the findings shows a significant moderating role of strategic dexterity between travel restrictions, border closure and competitiveness. Originality/value This study is among the few that analyses the effect of measures to combat COVID-19 pandemic on competitiveness in the urban tourism: strategic dexterity as the moderating variables. This study also contributes methodologically through the introduction of PLS-SEM approach.