Using data trends measured in 20 cities in Europe having various tourism pressure on residents, research experts point out several key learnings for a Resident Sentiment Index that benchmarks levels of tourism acceptance in destinations.
• In overall, tourism growth acceptance remains a mainstream opinion with 8 in 10 residents stating their city should continue promoting for attracting more visitors in the future;
• “Tourismophia” touches 1 resident in 20 and is not exclusively concentrated in highly touristy districts. However, the share of tourism detractors is highly volatile across cities and vary on a scale from 1 to 10, with a few cities reporting over 10% of tourismophobiacs among their residents.
• Profile of tourism ambassadors and detractors greatly varies per city and dispels stereotypes… Young citizens, for example, may not be the most tourism growth supportive compared to seniors.
• The negative impact on quality of life remains the primary concern across cities, with crowding-related mobility and environmental issues on top of nuisances cause by tourism (noise, traffic, cleanliness…). Housing price rising and disrespectful tourists’ behaviors are also pointed out as tourism related issues.
• 4 in 10 citizens say their town’s tourism policy does not take into account the impact on the life of locals and nearly 6 in 10 residents would like to be more involved in decisions concerning tourism in their town.
Moreover, bridging residents’ perception data with visitor sentiment rating TCI Research collects in its TRAVELSAT Index, the research agency notices that tourismophobia widely impacts destinations’ image, but fortunately does not affect visitor experience with locals’ hospitality… yet.
TCI Research CEO Olivier Henry-Biabaud concludes: “With summer season approaching, it’s a moment of truth for all destinations regarding residents’ attitude. Our data confirm locals’ hospitality if the number one driver influencing visitor experience and destination reputation, therefore for both DMOs and city policy makers, resident inclusion has become a priority for keeping tourism growth sustainable. One transverse challenge found in each city is to map and address concerns from the 5% minority of tourism detractors who talk much louder than the vast silent majority of supporters. On a positive note, the survey confirms that the problem is not growth or tourism concept rejection as such, but the way tourism growth is managed as integral part of the city planning”.
Source: TCI Research