5 ms·

On the same note, why is every city council obsessed with attracting tourism? For whatever reason it's seen as the holy grail of industry.

Markoff 6y ago
I guess people in Barcelona, Venice and Prague would disagree, this is really the best side effect of coronavirus despite the loss of income I will rather have less frequent public transport to save money the whole city (center) occupied by tourists
- xapata 6y ago
  Paris is best in July and August, when the locals leave.
scsilver 6y ago
"Amity is a summer town, we need summer dollars."
Spooky23 6y ago
Easy. Tourism generates sales tax revenue, keeps storefronts occupied and employs people.
ForHackernews 6y ago
It's relatively non-polluting and leads to growth in amenities that can also be enjoyed by locals.
- mc32 6y ago
  On the other hand it requires travel and is based on consumerist culture and selfie assertion “I was there”. We could go to the extreme and qualify it as a type of “appropriation” if we wanted because it’s ephemeral and not immersive.
  - mixedCase 6y ago
    I'm sorry, but can you try rewriting your comment? As a non-native english speaker it's very hard for me to understand what you're trying to imply here.
- pessimizer 6y ago
  Middle-class tourist travel is responsible for something like 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe you meant that it was locally non-polluting? That jet fuel and gasoline burning doesn't pollute the tourist destinations much more than everyplace else, although it pollutes more than almost anything else. edit: changed 20% to 8%. Removed "IIRC." https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-8-of-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-finds https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-8-of-glo...
  - ForHackernews 6y ago
    > That jet fuel and gasoline burning... According to the article you linked: > The rise is largely driven by an increased demand for goods and services – rather than air travel, the research finds. But yes, as far as local job-creation goes, tourism is much more palatable than heavy industry. Would you rather live near charming shops and restaurants or a big factory?
    - philwelch 6y ago
      Would you rather work in a charming shop or restaurant as a minimum wage service worker dealing with the public, or as a better-paid skilled worker in a big factory?
      - ForHackernews 6y ago
        Doesn't matter to the city council. Homeowners pay property tax and vote in local elections. Wage labor commutes in to do whatever jobs they can get.
        philwelch 6y ago
        And without middle-class jobs, you don’t get any homeowners.
lordnacho 6y ago
Naive economics: it's good for us when foreigners come here, give us money, and then leave.
goalieca 6y ago
The services industry is highly sought after in general. It is very labour dependant rather than industrial. With tourism, it cannot be off-shored. Plus, increased foot traffic brings vibrancy to the city. More arts and culture, parks, museums, restaurants, etc.
- philwelch 6y ago
  I would add that it’s also seemingly within the grasp of a city council. Economic hubs will naturally emerge for reasons outside the control of local government, and once established, local government can’t always succeed in sustaining them (eg Detroit) if the private industries there struggle. There are counterexamples to this, but mainly as a result of national and not local policy (Shenzhen, Wolfsburg). Another interesting example of an industry that local governments can influence is filmmaking. Georgia and Vancouver both have huge amounts of film and TV production due to local policies.
OminousWeapons 6y ago
They want job growth but building up a sustainable knowledge based service sector (and to a lesser degree) a skilled manufacturing sector is really hard. You need high quality universities, some mechanism to attract talented people, a thoughtful tax structure, multiple large companies willing to relocate for bootstrapping, infrastructure for startups, and an industry that isn't highly centralized around existing hubs (you're not going to be the biotech place when Boston and SF already are, for example). Building up a tourism sector to generate jobs is trivial in comparison and it's a idea everyone can wrap their heads around without any specific domain knowledge.

Markoff 6y ago

I guess people in Barcelona, Venice and Prague would disagree, this is really the best side effect of coronavirus despite the loss of income I will rather have less frequent public transport to save money the whole city (center) occupied by tourists

xapata 6y ago
Paris is best in July and August, when the locals leave.

scsilver 6y ago

"Amity is a summer town, we need summer dollars."

Spooky23 6y ago

Easy. Tourism generates sales tax revenue, keeps storefronts occupied and employs people.

ForHackernews 6y ago

It's relatively non-polluting and leads to growth in amenities that can also be enjoyed by locals.

mc32 6y ago
On the other hand it requires travel and is based on consumerist culture and selfie assertion “I was there”. We could go to the extreme and qualify it as a type of “appropriation” if we wanted because it’s ephemeral and not immersive.
- mixedCase 6y ago
  I'm sorry, but can you try rewriting your comment? As a non-native english speaker it's very hard for me to understand what you're trying to imply here.
pessimizer 6y ago
Middle-class tourist travel is responsible for something like 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe you meant that it was locally non-polluting? That jet fuel and gasoline burning doesn't pollute the tourist destinations much more than everyplace else, although it pollutes more than almost anything else. edit: changed 20% to 8%. Removed "IIRC." https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-8-of-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-finds https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-8-of-glo...
- ForHackernews 6y ago
  > That jet fuel and gasoline burning... According to the article you linked: > The rise is largely driven by an increased demand for goods and services – rather than air travel, the research finds. But yes, as far as local job-creation goes, tourism is much more palatable than heavy industry. Would you rather live near charming shops and restaurants or a big factory?
  - philwelch 6y ago
    Would you rather work in a charming shop or restaurant as a minimum wage service worker dealing with the public, or as a better-paid skilled worker in a big factory?
    - ForHackernews 6y ago
      Doesn't matter to the city council. Homeowners pay property tax and vote in local elections. Wage labor commutes in to do whatever jobs they can get.
      - philwelch 6y ago
        And without middle-class jobs, you don’t get any homeowners.

lordnacho 6y ago

Naive economics: it's good for us when foreigners come here, give us money, and then leave.

goalieca 6y ago

The services industry is highly sought after in general. It is very labour dependant rather than industrial. With tourism, it cannot be off-shored. Plus, increased foot traffic brings vibrancy to the city. More arts and culture, parks, museums, restaurants, etc.

philwelch 6y ago
I would add that it’s also seemingly within the grasp of a city council. Economic hubs will naturally emerge for reasons outside the control of local government, and once established, local government can’t always succeed in sustaining them (eg Detroit) if the private industries there struggle. There are counterexamples to this, but mainly as a result of national and not local policy (Shenzhen, Wolfsburg). Another interesting example of an industry that local governments can influence is filmmaking. Georgia and Vancouver both have huge amounts of film and TV production due to local policies.

OminousWeapons 6y ago

They want job growth but building up a sustainable knowledge based service sector (and to a lesser degree) a skilled manufacturing sector is really hard. You need high quality universities, some mechanism to attract talented people, a thoughtful tax structure, multiple large companies willing to relocate for bootstrapping, infrastructure for startups, and an industry that isn't highly centralized around existing hubs (you're not going to be the biotech place when Boston and SF already are, for example). Building up a tourism sector to generate jobs is trivial in comparison and it's a idea everyone can wrap their heads around without any specific domain knowledge.