tourism in the smart city:a common place for tourists and residents

Tourism in the Smart City:a Common place for tourists and residents

João RomãoUniversity of Algarve - Hokkaido University

Regional Science Academy Matej Bel University (Faculty of Economics)

Advanced Brainstorm Carrefour Smart People in Smart Cities

Banska ́ Bystrica, August 2016

Questions for a research agenda:

1. Live like a local in a cosmopolitan city

- authenticity, cultural production, diversity;- lack of empirical analysis of the impacts of tourism in urban contexts;

2. Governing the Common urban space

- conflicts, power and participatory processes;

- lack of theoretical approaches to the Common Pool of Resources.

Tourism in the Smart City: a Common place for tourists and residents João Romão

Regional Science Academy Advanced Brainstorm Carrefour Smart People in Smart Cities Banska ́ Bystrica, August 2016

Venice (Italy)

If you are staying in a short term rental (…)

You are directly responsible for displacingthe last remaining long-time resident that were the heart and soul of this city before tourist rental of whole houses all year long in city centers came along (…)(…) helping the cultural desertification of this city.

More houses every day are bought by speculatorsto use them on the touristic market and doing this the prices of the houses and rents have become unsustainable for residents.

The market will drive residents away from this cityleaving only an empty shell for the next generation to visit.

And that, dear Tourist, is a Goddamn Shame.

Enjoy your stay in our former homes.



Nola (New Orleans)

In fact, the poster in the walls of Venice was inspiredby another one, previously created in the city of Nola(New Orleans), with a strong touristic demand relatedto music festivals.

In both cases, there is a cultural motivation for the visit,an interest in local lifestylesand a conflict with the local residents.

But there is more in the press…



Lisbon

Amsterdam

Open letter from the director of the most important museum of Amsterdam and one of the major tourism attractions of the city.



Barcelona(sun and sea + cultural destination)

Resident’s claim for no more touristic apartments

Official intention to introduce limits



Bye Bye Barcelona (documentary about the city and it's relationship with tourism, available in Youtube)



1990: 1,7 million tourists [Olympic games in 1992]2013: > 8 million tourists

4th most visited European city, after London, Paris and Rome (much larger)3rd city with highest number of pictures (Google)



Short term apartment rentals in city centers:Tourist’s perception: Living like a local Experiencing authentic local way of lifeEasy access to cultural, historical and entertainment facilitiesComfort and relatively low cost (compared hotels)Resident’s perception: Loss of ties with neighbors (sharing common spaces)Lack of care, overuse, additional maintenance costsInflation in housing prices and rentalsResidents moving away for city centers

Massification of tourism and cultural lifeTourist’s perception: Opportunity to enjoy authentic local culturesDiverse and cosmopolitan environmentResident’s perception: Loss of cultural identity through the adaptation to preferences of tourists (flamenco, souvenirs)Loss of diversity through the concentration of activities on tourism oriented services

Resident in Las Ramblas: (8 in each 10 persons in the are are tourists):40 years ago, it was a meeting point for people from industries, services, commerce or arts;It looked like the “center of the world”.Today there is no cultural identity and no diversity in the behavior of the visitors of the area.

BerlinInternational symposium and book

Several cities planning to impose limits on tourism growth



Mallorca, Spainthis is an “old question”in summer destinations

These walls have been cleanedin May 2016,before the summer season.



Hosts and Guests, an old question in tourism studies

Doxey (1975) - Irridex (index of irritation): From Euphoria to Antagonism

Euphoria:Visitors are welcome and there is little planning

Apathy:Visitors are taken for granted and contact becomes more formal

Annoyance:Saturation is approached and the local people have misgivings;Planners attempt to control via increasing infrastructure rather than limiting growth

Antagonism:Open expression of irritation and planning is remedial;promotion is increased to offset the deteriorating reputation of the destination

Wall and Mathieson (2006): From Euphoria to Xenophobia



Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) Model (Butler, 1980)

Standard for the evolution of tourism destinations with five stages:- Exploration;- Involvement;- Development;- Consolidation;- Stagnation.



According to the TALC model, until certain moment, the growth of tourism in a region is characterized by a growing involvement of local communities and impacts on local economies.

After that point, overexploitation of tourism resources creates pressure on the local environment or the resident’s life quality, reducing the attractiveness of the place.

This general tendency is not equally observed in all the destinations: each stage can have a different duration in different destinations.

Although this model defines a unique standard of evolution, at least in the first stages, it also emphasizes the dynamic and evolving character of tourism destinations.

The model helps to identify general tendencies, to anticipate problems and opportunities and to create adaptive strategies to respond to the evolution and constraints of tourism activity.

The generalization of “short-breaks”, increasing available income, emergence of low-cost flightsand importance of culture and knowledge for personal development, contributed for a fast and intense growth of urban tourism.

Many cities are currently in Development or reaching the Consolidation / Stagnation stages.



Questions for a research agenda:

1. Live like a local in a cosmopolitan city

- authenticity, cultural production, diversity;- lack of empirical analysis if the impacts of tourism in urban contexts;

2. Governing the Common urban space

- conflicts, power and participatory processes;

- lack of theoretical approaches to the Common Pool of Resources.



Manzanek, J. (2010) Managing the heterogeneity of city tourists

Main motivational factors for urban tourism:- culture and heritage- entertainment- business

All of these factors are clearly related to the daily life of local communities,which implies sharing the local resources with residents.

Other necessary aspects for travellers, related to mobility, food, health care or shopping,also imply sharing resources with residents.



UNWTO (2012) Global Report on City Tourism

What is city tourism?

Trips taken by travellers to cities or places of high population density. The duration of these trips is usually short (one to three days) therefore it can be said that urban tourism is closely linked to the short–breaks market.

New trends in destination development:

1. Experiential or emotional elements which will continue to give way to new, more affordable and accessible forms of enjoyment that will focus on the human and inter-relational dimension.2. The focus on enjoyment will displace partially or even completely the traditional focus on cost. 3. Tourism will strengthen its focus on ethics and will become more demanding in areas such as sustainability and responsibility.4. Tourism as a key factor for the integral development of cities.5. Greater appreciation for harmonious spaces, with nature as a priority.



Potential positive contributions of tourism in urban areas:Cities can offer diverse and flexible tourism products and services;Tourism can brings vitality and dynamism to cities;Tourism brings new patterns and changes to the urban landscape;Tourism connects people and creates relationships;Tourism can play an important role in terms of employment, income and maintenance of urban infrastructure and public services.

The tourism industry has to implement innovative strategies to provide the city with a consistent image and therefore provide significant revenue and added value to its residents.

Challenges for urban management:How to manage the increasing number of tourists in a responsible and sustainable way?How to use urban tourism to improve the quality of life of the local population?How to incorporate ICT ́s to develop smart cities that are more competitive, sustainable, accessible and human?How to measure the economic impact of tourism?How to take reduce the impacts on the environment and promote the benefits of greener tourism?How can we implement tourism action and city development plansbased on adequate decision making processes?

Insuficient literature: lack of understanding of tourism and its effects on cities.



Tourism, a place-based and knowledge based activity:

Co-terminality (direct interaction between producer and consumer)Spatiality (consumption and production of tourism services occur in the same place)Temporality (consumption and production of tourism services occur at the same time)

Permanent interaction between producers and consumers;Tourism destination as multi-product areas for multi-segment markets;Tourism destinations as repositories of information about consumer behaviour.

Potential for the development of practice and place-based innovation strategies.



Tourism, a knowledge-based activity:

Recent developments and innovations in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have radically transformed the tourism business:Transparency, flexibility and interactivity - new practices oriented towards personalized needs

New internet services (“Web 2.0”) enhance collaborative processes:co-creation of services, innovation, governance, education and training

Information, key element to match supply and demand of tourism services.

Potential for the development of knowledge-based innovation strategies.



Boes, Buhalis and Inversini (2016)Smart tourism destinations: ecosystems for tourism destination competitiveness

Tourism destinations as amalgamated and complexecosystems, with co-opetition between different agents.

Development of ICT increases interaction between suppliers, consumers and public institutions,contributing for a better knowledge of destinations by tourists,adaptation of products and services to the preferences of different types of consumers, or active participation of touristsshaping destination image through social media.

Smartness in tourism destinations is critical since the connected, better informed and engaged tourist is dynamically interacting with the destination, co-creating tourism products and adding value for all to share.

Smart tourism destination framework (3 levels):ICT, People and Leadership / Participatory GovernanceInteractions between economic, social and technological actorsDifferent dimensions of innovation based on territorial resources



Lack of attention to the diverse interests, social conflicts or power unbalance within different groups in urban communities. [often found in the “Smart city” approaches]

Helen Briassoulis (2002) Sustainable tourism and the question of Commons

Common Pool of Resources:Natural and human constructed resources characterized by subtractability and nonexcludability:(exploitation by one user reduces the amount available for others, but exclusion of additional users is difficult or impossible)

All the resources are used in common by tourists, locals, and others.

Usually it is difficult, socially unacceptable, or physically impossible to exclude any of these groups from using a given resource

Tourism resources experience the characteristic problems of CPRs: overuse and lack of incentive to invest in maintaining or improving them.

Once they are overexploited, sustainable tourism development is severely threatened:economic wellbeing declines;environmental conditions worsen;social injustice grows;tourist satisfaction drops.



Provision problems:

- demand-side - appropriation activities changing the productive capacity of the resource(“free ride”, related to degradation or exclusion due to overuse by some users);

- supply-side (resources required for the maintenance of a CPR);(investment incentive, related to the lack of incentives for preservation]

Appropriation problems:

- definition of the rights to use, resource assignment and impact of technological externalities.

Local common assets can contribute for tourism development (“place-branding”),potentially generating problems of overuse, lack of protection, and degradation, or leading to an unbalanced appropriation of benefits among the community.



Conventional CPRs:Atmosphere, water, oceans, ecosystems, fisheries, forests, wildlife, grazing fields, …Non-conventional CPRs: streets and transportation systems, ports, urban areas, environmental and socioeconomic costs and benefits, the Internet (cyberspace), the electro-magnetic spectrum, genetic data, traditional transmission (cultural commons), intellectual resources, various types of associations

Tourism Commons:Natural or developed tourism landscapes ( including sociocultural content and dynamics).

Tourists visit local shops, banks, hospitals and use streets or open spaces (tangible resources). Tourists also experience intangible resources:local culture (norms, habits, behavior), smellscape and soundscape – the feeling of the place.

The use of many of many of these resources is spontaneous and unplanned.

Specific tourism related problems on the usage of CPR:Cumulative Impacts (spatial and temporal simultaneity of Impacts from locals and tourists)Volatility of Tourist DemandResource Regimes (diverse property regimes)Decision Making and Planning Structures (Spatial planning affects the state of the commons)Contextual FactorsSocioeconomic, Technological, and Cultural Change



The use of the commons is mediated by different sociocultural value systems: - different interests, aspirations, and expectations regarding resources;- different systems of understanding, norms, behavior, and patterns of resource use.

Examples of this heterogeneity are:- Tourists (temporary users) vs residents (permanent users); - Foreign and local investors (with different knowledge and valuation about the resources);- Small and large investors and institutions (with different power to influence decisions).

Differences in perception about costs and benefits of resource use among heterogeneous and uncoordinated groups can result in overexploitation and degradation.

The heterogeneity of the tourism commons and tourism agents renders the “appropriation problem” (who and how benefits for the resources)even more important and critical.



Positive impacts:

1. Economic growth, generation of cross-cutting wealth and job creation.2. Open, cosmopolitan and multicultural mindset that encourages innovation and creativity.3. Image, visibility and global positioning of the city and the Barcelona brand.4. Business opportunities and attraction of talent.5. Creation, improvement and sustainability of the range of cultural and entertainment options, services and infrastructure.6. Residents' active involvement and participation in the improvement and revitalization of services.7. Diversification and customization of supply.8. Greater professionalism in the industry and a general rise in competitiveness.

Example of an ongoing participatory process for tourism planning:Barcelona, City and Tourism - Dialogue for Sustainable Tourism

Negative impacts:

1. Overcrowding, high concentration and tension in certain areas and spaces.2. Loss of identity, trivialization and uniformity of the city.3. Rise in anti-social behaviors and coexistence conflicts.4. Inconvenience and side effects of tourism experienced by residents.5. Negative perception of tourism among residents.6. Lack of connection between tourism agents and residents.7. Poor redistribution of the wealth generated and poor-quality jobs.8. Fraud and underground economy.9. Excessive government regulation.

132 participants:34% from the private sector;25% from the public sector;18% academics and experts;16% are resident representatives;7% are political groups).

Basis for a Local Agreement for the management and promotion of responsible and sustainable tourism



Allen J. Scott (2016) CITY AND SOCIETY: An Inquiry into the Logic of Urban Development and its Meaning for Work and Life in the Twenty-First Century

Shortcoming in the literature:

Mainstream economics refers to the assets and liabilities that make up the contents of the Commonas cases of “market failure”.

The Common does not stand simply as a collection of aberrant or abnormal secondary outcomes. It is a complementary form of social reality, subject to its own specific structural logics and accompanied by its own specific kinds of effects.

The Common functions as a depository of cues and resources providing materialsfor imaginative appropriation, stimulating learning and innovation in urban areas, and promoting the competitive advantages of cities.



Different models related to the Game Theory have been applied in the last decades in order to analyze and to provide a theoretical support and background for the management of the Common Pool of Resources.

An important novelty within the game theory approach to CPR management can be the inclusion of an “external player” (the tourist), who is not a member of the community where other players interact for the usage and appropriation of resources.

This approach can lead to the development of a new Game Theory model.

In this sense, tourism dynamics in contemporary cities can also be seen as a laboratory for the analysis and development of new models for the management of Common resources.

The degradation of urban cultural resources in different cities and the raising conflicts between resident communities and tourists clearly justify a close attention by spatial scientists.



Conflicts like those identified in Barcelona can be framed by the CPR approach:

Overuse of common resources due to the cumulative impacts of tourists and residents;Lack of incentive for the preservation of Common resources;Inequalities when sharing benefits arising from the exploitation of Common resources.

Thank you for your

attention!

Tourism in the Smart City: a Common place for tourists and residents João RomãoRegional Science Academy Advanced Brainstorm Carrefour Smart People in Smart Cities Banska ́ Bystrica, August 2016

tourism in the smart city:a common place for tourists and residents

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