Tourist Dispersal: A Pre-COVID Strategy

Made Possible by the Post-COVID City?

Joe PeachMay 7, 2020

Cast your mind back to another era: early 2020. One of the biggest challenges facing many European cities at the start
of this year was how to deal with a seemingly relentless influx of tourists. I wrote about how Lisbon turned to tourism for
economic recovery after the global financial crisis – an approach which was hardly unique. At events in the early months
of this year I heard from representatives of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Utrecht, Lisbon and Porto, each sharing the same view
that tourism levels, while economically beneficial, were proving socially challenging.

In each case, the desired solution was the same – encouraging tourists to stay and explore outside the historical urban
core (which I wrote about in a post on food and drink tourism in Edinburgh). Fast forward to present day and this
challenge could hardly seem more alien.

The global spread of COVID-19 has put most European cities in a state of lockdown, or slowly emerging from it. Travel
for leisure has all but halted. Holiday planning is on hold, and it is unknown when or how tourism will return. Some
regions are considering the creation of restricted travel zones, with a New Zealand-Australia travel bubble mooted and
discussion in Greece focusing on tourism from central and eastern European nations, where infection rates are lower or
recovery stage more advanced.

Urban tourism is unrecognisable. But with this global event potentially acting as a reboot for numerous industries, is now
the ideal time for a tourist dispersal strategy, even if the circumstances in which it would be deployed could hardly be
more different?

At a talk in Lisbon’s Urban Information Centre in February, Dora Lampreia from the Municipality of Lisbon
discussed Cultura em Expansão (Expanding Culture) – an event launched in 2014 in Porto with a goal of spreading
cinema, theatre, dance, music, and performance art experiences across the city. Designed with economic and social
accessibility in mind, the free programme mainly occurs away from the urban core, reducing the barrier to entry for those
on lower incomes who live less centrally.

Another event in the city has a similar goal. Museu da Cidade (City Museum) is a cultural programme which relies on
‘exhibition stations’ dotted across Porto, aiming to reach more residents but also encourage visitors out of the city centre.
Lampreia explained that while tourism has been “very important for the urban renewal of Porto”, both of these events
have evolved to become part of the city’s strategy to disperse tourists.

Cultura em Expansão, Porto

One of the key motivators behind encouraging tourists out of the city centre is a more even distribution of economic
benefits. Drawbacks, such as impact on housing supply for locals, noise pollution and cultural and community change,
are also minimised. This approach is attractive to those responsible for urban tourism strategies because it keeps the
revenue coming in while minimising negative effects on residents.

So why might this make sense in a city recovering from COVID, where tourism overload is unlikely to be an issue? As
cities aim to return to a version of normal – new, next, or whatever we might call it – a functioning economy will be
important, with distribution of tourism benefits potentially contributing to a recovery where people benefit more fairly.
Though it is realistic to expect the economic boost of tourism to be smaller in at least the short term, revenues are likely
to exist on some scale.

In many European cities, the rapid halt of tourism just as swiftly transformed the short-term rental market. Centrally-
located properties, once used as family homes but switched to short-term rentals alongside the tourism boom, have
found their way back to the long term rental market. Effectively dispersing tourists would potentially allow a longer-term
return of sustainable communities in central areas which were traditionally residential.

Challenges exist, and not just the desire to return to a pre-COVID status quo. A drop in tourists could match the drop in
short-term rentals, with visitors choosing to visit central areas, staying in hotels or similar. Though this would still support
the potential development of local sustainable communities, it wouldn’t contribute as much to a fairer economic recovery.
Additionally, while many cities have invested in tourist infrastructure outside city centres, partly due to expensive and
restricted centrally-located land, developments aren’t as advanced, nor as attractive. Though cities like Porto have
created attractive cultural event programmes outside city centres, projects like these, if they exist at all, are typically
infrequent and unestablished.

Tourism will change in the future, with people potentially travelling less or differently. The goal of tourist dispersal
emerged from over-tourism, but the desire for a fairer distribution of economic benefits and environments which are
conducive to the development of sustainable communities makes sense for a city regardless of its social and economic
situation. There will be minimal appetite in the long term for the approach to government intervention seen in early 2020,
so strategies will need to work within a level of control deemed reasonable. Though the future of urban tourism is
unknown, it is an opportunity for the shaping.