4 ms·

One thing I've been thinking about is, how do you scale tourism? Edit for clarification: For example, the destruction of local environment is a known problem

One thing I've been thinking about is, how do you scale tourism? Edit for clarification: For example, the destruction of local environment is a known problem for places such as Machu Picchu and Venice, to the point where you now need to reserve and pay for a visit to the city of Venice [0] As population gets higher more and more people want to visit the top destinations, and when a new one gets "found" it gets flooded (see Dubrovnik after Game of Thrones hype) Because of physical limitations these experiences don't scale - there's a finite number of destinations in the world and an ever-growing population. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-tourism-register-pay.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-touri...

trgn 4y ago
You don't have to. If the local environment becomes nicer (for americans, not a soul crushing schmear of strip malls and parking lots), people will do more things closer to home. The driving aspiration of the future will be that you live in a place worth visiting. Not a place you look forward to flee 2-3 times a year.
- personjerry 4y ago
  That's just not true, the top tourism destinations are more popular than ever since covid restrictions have laxed, and the destruction of local environment is a known problem for places such as Machu Picchu and Venice, to the point where you now need to reserve and pay for a visit to the city of Venice [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-tourism-register-pay.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-touri...
Torwald 4y ago
AirBnB?
paganel 4y ago
The trend is to de-scale it, most probably airplane tickets will get even more expensive (I'm talking about things here in Europe), not to mention accommodation. It will suck for countries like Greece or Spain, which depend a lot on tourism money, but there's not much that they can do about it.
- personjerry 4y ago
  That's not really solving it, that's just adjusting the point on the pricing curve. That means an increasing amount of unmet demand right?
  - asdff 4y ago
    And that demand will just get met at the next cheapest destination. If they can't afford to fly to dubrovnik they will probably just vacation somewhere else they can afford to versus not go anywhere at all.
  - paganel 4y ago
    You're looking from the pov of the tourism industry (either consumers, in the form of tourists, or from the pov of providers, in the form of tour operators, accommodation hosts and the like), hence the talk about the price curve and the need to adjust it. I was talking more from an outside perspective, and, more importantly, from the pov of an outside direct influence (via more taxes/charges). I do not think air-fuel costs are going to get cheaper again, to the contrary, I think the externalities of airplane flight will start being included more and more into the final price. The same goes for accommodation prices, which are dependent on energy prices (you need gas/electricity to keep a room at reasonable temperatures during the summer and in winter). Those are not going back to cheaper prices, either. And there are all the other related prices, for example car rental prices have also increased dramatically and will most probably remain that way, there's no IC cars replacing the current fleets in the near future (for the simple reason that they won't make them anymore) and we won't build enough EVs at reasonable costs to keep the current car rental market exactly as it is (or as it used to be until very recent, that is). As for the "unmet demand", too bad for the consumers (i.e. potential tourists). The same way the mass tourism industry was invented in the 1930s (give or take), the same way it can be scaled back "societally", by saying things like "if you still want to be a tourist you will do great harm to the ecosystem shared by all of us" (which is most probably true) and similar stuff. No (service) industry has to live forever.

trgn 4y ago

You don't have to. If the local environment becomes nicer (for americans, not a soul crushing schmear of strip malls and parking lots), people will do more things closer to home. The driving aspiration of the future will be that you live in a place worth visiting. Not a place you look forward to flee 2-3 times a year.

personjerry 4y ago
That's just not true, the top tourism destinations are more popular than ever since covid restrictions have laxed, and the destruction of local environment is a known problem for places such as Machu Picchu and Venice, to the point where you now need to reserve and pay for a visit to the city of Venice [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-tourism-register-pay.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/world/europe/venice-touri...

Torwald 4y ago

AirBnB?

paganel 4y ago

The trend is to de-scale it, most probably airplane tickets will get even more expensive (I'm talking about things here in Europe), not to mention accommodation. It will suck for countries like Greece or Spain, which depend a lot on tourism money, but there's not much that they can do about it.

personjerry 4y ago
That's not really solving it, that's just adjusting the point on the pricing curve. That means an increasing amount of unmet demand right?
- asdff 4y ago
  And that demand will just get met at the next cheapest destination. If they can't afford to fly to dubrovnik they will probably just vacation somewhere else they can afford to versus not go anywhere at all.
- paganel 4y ago
  You're looking from the pov of the tourism industry (either consumers, in the form of tourists, or from the pov of providers, in the form of tour operators, accommodation hosts and the like), hence the talk about the price curve and the need to adjust it. I was talking more from an outside perspective, and, more importantly, from the pov of an outside direct influence (via more taxes/charges). I do not think air-fuel costs are going to get cheaper again, to the contrary, I think the externalities of airplane flight will start being included more and more into the final price. The same goes for accommodation prices, which are dependent on energy prices (you need gas/electricity to keep a room at reasonable temperatures during the summer and in winter). Those are not going back to cheaper prices, either. And there are all the other related prices, for example car rental prices have also increased dramatically and will most probably remain that way, there's no IC cars replacing the current fleets in the near future (for the simple reason that they won't make them anymore) and we won't build enough EVs at reasonable costs to keep the current car rental market exactly as it is (or as it used to be until very recent, that is). As for the "unmet demand", too bad for the consumers (i.e. potential tourists). The same way the mass tourism industry was invented in the 1930s (give or take), the same way it can be scaled back "societally", by saying things like "if you still want to be a tourist you will do great harm to the ecosystem shared by all of us" (which is most probably true) and similar stuff. No (service) industry has to live forever.