April 30, 2020 – How will the coronavirus affect one of the scourges of travel in the last few years – overtourism? Acclaimed tourism guru Doug Lansky on a must-watch video for Croatia’s tourism chiefs.
Does anyone remember the word ‘overtourism’? From memory, it entered the mainstream English language a few years ago, as a way to define the issue of too many tourists in one place at one time.
And it was only a few months ago.
And until just a few months ago, Croatia’s tourism strategy seemed to be focused on numbers, numbers, numbers. Insane growth in a short time saw private accommodation beds double from 400,000 to 800,000 in just a few years, lured by great tax incentives. So good in fact, that many people took advantage of them, paid almost no tax on the earnings, and then made enough in 4-5 months so that they did not have to work for the rest of the year.
Things have changed with corona. A lot. And while the health risks and economic downtown will be extremely painful, so too does corona give us the chance to reassess our lives and our priorities.
And our tourism.
I met Doug Lansky at the Crikvenica International Heath Tourism conference in Selce last year, where I – along with everyone else in the room – was extremely impressed with his excellent keynote speech, Successful Tourism.
So impressive in fact, that Lansky was hired for two more keynote spots planned for earlier this year, EPIC 2020 in Dubrovnik and One Day or Day One #hrturizam2030 in Zagreb. Both have been postponed due to COVID-19.
He may not be travelling, but Lansky is still very active, and recently posted this outstanding overview on tourism, overtourism and the corona effect. It is a must-watch for tourism planners, and I hope our tourism chiefs find the time. For we need another strategy beyond numbers, numbers, numbers.
Destinations have been wrestling with overtourism issues for years. What’s been lacking is a fundamental understanding of the forces behind it, what early-stages of overtourism look like, and the political will to take the necessary steps to solve the problem. This video explains the key underpinnings of overtourism (aka congestion/ overcrowding / unbalanced tourism) and shows how the Coronavirus [COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2] provides an opportunity for destinations to make long-overdue smart and sustainable tourism decisions. Doug Lansky is a keynote speaker and advisor in the tourism industry. Find his TEDx Talks and more info at www.douglansky.com
Among the initial comments:
Very good. I run a yacht in Montenegro and no longer go from Kotor as it’s a cruise ship stop and fifty speedboats have appeared in two years to race guests up and down the bay as fast and cheaply as possible. We don’t even go near the place as the normally still, beautiful water at the end of the bay looks like open sea due to the washes. We saw this happen in Dubrovnik first and so adapted our itinerary and marketing, so the proposals in this film really resonated.
For more on Croatian tourism, visit the TCN travel section.
