Sustainable Tourism is Everyone’s Problem
This may be a familiar sight to you.
Social media and friends often inspire us to seek the most authentic and instagrammable travel experiences. To see amazing landscapes, encounter wildlife we’d never dream of and experience local traditions.
It’s all part of a shift to experiential travel where travellers favor experiences over amenities, which was ranked by the World Tourism Organization as the fastest growing sectors in the next two decades.
The Term For “Sooo Touristy”
As destinations popularize, overtourism has become a rising phenomenon, particularly highlighted in cities like Barcelona, Venice and Reykjavik.
Locals make a living by providing these travel services and products, rippling a series of positive economic impacts. We forget, however, that sometimes our footprints may come at the cost of locals’ comfort and our environment.
Flea markets are great examples.
Some touristy markets sell all sorts of touristy products — city branded T-shirts, magnets and cups that doesn’t say much about the city. It felt like nothing but a tourist trap.
Other markets, however, felt like I was embedding in the local scene. My last trip at Barcelona’s Flea Market (Mercat dels Encants), one of the oldest and biggest in town, it felt more authentic than the cookie-cutter touristy merchandises (which the locals might tell me otherwise).
The stalls sell second-hand antiques, everyday items like textile and kitchen utilities, vintage collectibles and many more artefacts that illustrate its history and times beautifully.
This “touristy” feeling I felt was what I later learned to identify as the underlying concepts to Sustainable Tourism, through a certificate course I recently completed with George Washington University.
As the World Tourism Organization aptly defines it, Sustainable Tourism is
Prior to this, how “touristy” a destination felt was my measure of its sustainability and authenticity.
‘Livable’ to ‘Visitable’
Sustainable Tourism is a broad umbrella term and holistic view to how social, economical and environmental pillars contribute to a destination.
For one of my assignments, we picked a destination to study. I chose Melbourne, commonly a designer’s favourite.
Interestingly, their approach to tourism is stemmed from the concept of ‘livability’.
CityLab, the state government’s innovation lab, applies human-centered design to solve challenges faced by the city and its communities. This inspired the concept of ‘visitability’, which was adopted by the tourism board to improve their services provided to travellers at every point of the journey.
By aligning on the same approach, it became one entity planning the entire city, rather than siloed departments with different agendas.
In Melbourne’s case, designing for livability first means getting the infrastructure right, promoting high mobility and accessibility, local culture and arts.
It makes perfect sense. A livable city will naturally make a great experience for travellers too.
Seeing this openly supported by the government excites me, just thinking about the design possibilities!
Sustainable Tourism is everyone’s problem
Taking this course has completely changed my view on how I travel, and now have a newfound appreciation for tourism planning and its design principles.
By understanding and thinking deeper about how cities work, I am a lot more conscious of my actions and how it impacts the environment.
If you like what you see or have a great travel story to tell, please leave a comment.
