i SUBSCRIBE LISTEN

BUSINESS Section 1 Next issue: Lorem ipsum, monocle.com

et ea serum sum quate monocle.com/radio
strum event.
Edition 1 Read more in Business
10/0816/08 on sale: 17/08

TOURISM / VENICE TOURISM / BARCELONA INDUSTRY FUTURE / EUROPE

Nowhere to go
In 1951 Venice had 174,808
permanent residents The Catalan capitals mayor Holiday plans
has introduced a ban on What will tourism look like in 2030?
By 2016 it had fewer than 55,000 new accommodation for
We envisage a world of fewer cruise
tourists. Now what?

The
ships and more Tirana tear-ups.
It is a rare administration that actively writer Matt Alagiah photographer Name Surname
discourages tourists from visiting

death
its own city, that puts its foot down
so firmly it risks deterring even the
right kind of visitor. But in a city
as blighted by cheap thrill-seek-
Barcelona
ers and over-run by penny-pinch-

of
A succession of
ing day-trippers as Barcelona, you left-wing mayors
sympathise. Last year 32 million in Barcelona has
people visited the city, 20 times the effectively halved the
number of permanent inhabitants. tourism industry. They

Venice
To put it in perspective, Paris one
of the most visited cities in the world
with a population four times that of
Barcelona received just four mil-
lion more tourists. To say Barcelona
is over-run is an understatement.
European cities such as Venice, Paris But are the heavy-handed laws
that Ada Colau, Barcelonas left-
and Barcelona are looking at ways wing mayor, is putting in place
have banned Airbnb
outright and no new
hotel has opened since
2017. Those who got in i SUBSCRIBE
before the cut-off have
become millionaires
but the average quality
of the hospitality sector
has fallen.

to limit the number of tourists who appropriate? To some extent, yes. Venice
The city has banned
crowd their streets in the summer. contributed about 1bn to the city last year but the This is three years bringing craft back to the centre. Materas all cruise ships from
But how do you stem the flow monoculture of international tourism threatens the sur- where cities newly restored churches now display modern works from docking and limited
the number of tourism
vival of its heritage and population. local artists alongside their early medieval religious paint-
without putting hotels out of business Recently the city council banned new takeaway fast- stop seeing ings, and Poli Bortone plans a festival of gastronomic and visas to 10,000 a year,
there are now 30-year
and damaging the citys economy? food stalls to privilege our local food, says Paola Mar, rising visitor artisan traditions. waiting lists to visit.
the citys head of tourism. In water-bus queues, locals numbers as Everyone wants authenticity now, not the same thing
And anyway, would our cities even now have priority boarding. More police are on duty to you see everywhere else, says Poli Bortone. You can
Residents have returned
to the city, along with
a gauge of
be better places without any seasonal ticket disorderly visitors, with raised fines for the citys
their success
drink Coca-Cola anywhere in the world but good wine local businesses such
most boorish offenders. Weve had enough of bad thats only in certain places. as grocery shops and PROPERTY / PORTUGAL scheme, which offers people moving French
visitors at all? We examine a few
solutions that cities should consider.
behaviour, says Mar. This is a fight for civility thats
resonating across all of Italy now.
and revel Yet central Matera still feels like a ghost town, inhab-
ited mostly by guests. Until locals move back long term
launderettes, but city
halls coffers are empty Hot property to Portugal for the first time reduced
tax rates or tax exemption for 10 developers
in falling
writer Laura Rysman
A moratorium on new hotels, hotel expansions and
numbers.
in decent numbers, it will remain a Disneyland for visi- and some historic
buildings are starting Lisbons housing boom years, is credited with attracting the have set
bed-and-breakfasts has capped the number of beds in
Venice at 47,000 butut this excludes private-home rent- Its where
tors to experience Materan culture without Materan life.
to look ropey. Large French investment highly taxed French.
So could the fact that Frances
up in the
Portuguese
als. Although private rentals put some of tourisms prof- city hall Case study 2: Lucca Prague newly elected president Emmanuel
its into locals pockets, they also drive up the cost and We need to decide if we want this city to be invaded by The Czech capital now The Portuguese property market Macron has promised to signifi- capital and
The Morelli pharmacy in Venices Piazza San Marco has availability of housing. Meanwhile, Mar is working with squeezes masses of tourists who only stay a while or if we want a issues a set number of has been one of the biggest success cantly reduce taxes at home have are helping
a counter in its window tracking the resident population four of Italys other principal destination cities to reg- holiday more stable tourism, says Alessandro Tambellini, Luccas stag-do and hen-party stories in Europe in recent times; an impact on Lisbon and its French to transform
of the citys historic centre. Last year, the head count ulate the Silicon Valley technology giants the way that rentals in mayor. Lucca attracts twice the number of visitors it did permits just 1,000 per after an age in the doldrums it has backers? Before he was elected I
fell to below 55,000, down from nearly 175,000 in 1951; Paris, Berlin and San Francisco already have. It means 20 years ago so the authorities plan bold fixes. year to stem the flow been booming for the past two years. think a lot of French people were and improve
meanwhile, on average in 2016, more than 86,000 tourists that the city is moving in the right direction but more is favour of Firstly theyre collaborating with smaller towns out- Last year 32 million of revellers to the city. And although buyers from across the choosing to come here for the tax the city
visited the city each week. Few places in the world have
as big a problem with mass tourism as La Serenissima.
required. Something should be done to limit the 500-odd
cruise ships that arrive in Venice every year, disgorging
residents side the city to encourage tourists to use Lucca as a base
for exploring the wider region. This will mean that hotels
people visited Barcelona, Some of the worst bars
and clubs have gone out i
continent are cashing in, its France
that is having the biggest impact.
SUBSCRIBE
breaks; itll be interesting to see if
the trend will continue now that hes
while
20 times the number of of business but, as more making
Cities around Europe are falling out of love with tour- more than 1.5 million mainly short-stay visitors. Mar and restaurants dont miss out but locals can also walk Last year French investors overtook in power, says Julien Dufour, man-
ists. Many people wonder if we are entering a new age of also opposes capping total visitor numbers and charging the narrow medieval streets with greater ease by day. residents. To say Barcelona people feel prepared
the British as the biggest overseas aging partner of Odeon Properties. money, of
to return to the city
travel: post-tourism. This is where cities stop seeing rising admission to the citys most sought-after sites. The second plan is to lengthen the tourist season is over-run is again, they have been property buyers in the country, rep- But other factors remain loaded course
visitor numbers as a gauge of their success. Its where city to reduce summer overcrowding and bring money into an understatement replaced by shops and resenting more than a quarter of in Portugals favour. With a growing
hall squeezes holiday rentals in favour of a permanent Case study 1: Matera town year-round; newer festivals such as Puccini Days in restaurants that cater to foreign investment in the country. threat of terrorism, Macrons cut
population. Its when fruit-and-veg shops can get their 9,000-year-old Matera is tackling similar issues. Perched November draws visitors in quieter months. Lucca needs a wider array of visitors. The numbers are most pro- to military spending might add to
rent fixed at a below-market level. Its where anyone on a on a mountaintop, the old town is a mound of caves more public transport, along with more train links to nounced in the capital. In the first French jitters. For a lot of people
Segway faces being locked up. Well, almost. carved into the rock, where locals lived in poverty until the Florence and Pisa. New office space in the centre would Tirana six months of this year we saw a Paris doesnt feel like a safe place to
With Prague and other
Politicians are acting to deliver this post-tourist 1950s, when they were forcibly evacuated and rehoused. revitalise the city by day and events aimed at residents eastern European
39 per cent increase in French cli- live at the moment, says Dufour.
world. In July, Milan banned selfie sticks in its Darsena Those caves have become Materas fortune. Tourism will animate the night. And the reopening of the citys Two years into her mandate and her cities now shunning ents buying in Lisbon compared to Arthur Moreno, co-founder of Stone
neighbourhood; Barcelonas mayor Ada Colau has fined in this archaic town shot up after Unesco declared it a historical market in a few years time will be key. fight to crack down on illegal rentals partygoers, the 2016, says Roman Carel, founder Capital, agrees: There are security
Airbnb; and Paris is also set to force the company to limit World Heritage site in 1993 and has grown again since it of holiday-homes, generally peddled Albanian capital has of property consultant Athena issues within France. And some of
the nights that apartments are rented out. was named the 2019 European Capital of Culture. About the writer: Rysman is a monocle contributor based on Airbnb, led to a deal with the cashed in and become Advisors. Buyers include individu- the destinations that were natural
The long-term displacement of residents from Venice Adriana Poli Bortone, the citys head of tourism, plans in Milan who reports on everything from business to travel home-sharing platform that would the prime city for als, families and the likes of French French markets in the past, such
haunts every place dealing with mass tourism. Travellers to hand 40 caves over to artisans tax-free for the first and design. increase its responsibility for polic- revellers. Albania, media magnate Claude Berda as Morocco and Tunisia, have also
ing its own site and removing nefar- now a permanent EU who, according to reports, plans to become more complicated places in
ious landlords. Colau had already member, has begun invest 450m in the country and which to live.
to regret the free
TOURIST MANAGEMENT / VENICE come down on culprits with fines has already bought 10 buildings in Longstanding cultural links are Clockwise from
movement of people.
Reclaiming the city as high as 60,000 per apartment
and fined Airbnb and HomeAway
Lisbon, a resort in the Algarve and
350 hectares in the beach town
also likely to continue to attract
French investors. There has his-
top left: Si des
essectiunt ex enis
London
To restore Venices historic heart back to full health, the 600,000 each for not doing enough The UK capital, just of Comporta. torically been a strong friendship ea conectotas pario.
to restrict illegal properties. over 10 years after Yet the French arent simply between Portugal and France, says Mint voluptatur?
citys authorities should explore a range of options. So far, so good. Until January, Brexit, is virtually a buying up apartments in Lisbon: Moreno. Until the 1980s, French Onsent alignis nihil
when she passed a law dubbed the no-go for European theyre building them. French devel- was the second language in Portugal ipiet volo et ullabor
special urban plan for tourist accom- tourists. Flights are opers, including Odeon Properties and we are culturally and politically uptati volut lam,
Invest in local life Lengthen the tourist season much more expensive nones aut voluptat
Offices, artists studios and food markets Even Venice is empty in January. Publicise
modation that essentially halts and Stone Capital, have set up in the close. And people here are open to
than before 2019 due moloribus as verios
all keep a city centre dynamic. Ease less crowded times to visit and create any new tourist accommodation, Portuguese capital and are helping us: they appreciate French culture.
to the fact that the UK estrum ducim
the tax and bureaucracy burden for worthwhile events during the off months including hotels, guesthouses and has fallen out of the
to transform and improve the city Portugal has the same values, the voluptatae maio et
business owners, entrepreneurs and to ease summer congestion. aparthotels, from opening, to curb European Common while making money, of course. same currency and a great lifestyle. laut porescia prem
artisans and give them access to disused the number of beds available to trav- Aviation Area. The UK Like the French investors, the pri- I think the rate of growth will slow alit eos aditio eseri
spaces in the city. The new projects will Attract the right tourists ellers. Chaos ensued in a city which government would like mary driver for them has been tax. but we will still see French people nihicillenis et quis
fuel urban activity and, in the long run, Cultural events, well-publicised histories has seen even premium global play- to encourage more Portugals Non Habitual Residence moving here. iuntion serion pa ni
tourist spending. and artisanship attract tourists who want ers such as Four Seasons and Hyatt visitors but tourist
to spend time and money exploring the forced to abandon ambitious plans numbers have fallen by
Improve transport city. Dont spurn backpackers either 5 per cent every year
for luxury flagships in the city after
Accessibility makes local life in the centre
easier and helps tourists visit other less-
although they may not spend big today,
they may end up being the well-heeled negotiations became too protracted since 2020. i SUBSCRIBE
congested neighbourhoods. Make sure visitors of tomorrow. Cruise ships, and expensive. This is catastrophic Lisbon
tourists public-transport tickets cover however, only crowd a city with tourists in tourism terms. It is estimated that The capital has cleverly
the entire city rather than just already for brief, superficial stays. Colau has denied the city 4,000 jobs engineered things so
crowded central areas. and created a negative economic that more wealthy
Treat professional renters just like impact of 300m from just those two tourists with more
Develop alternative itineraries other hospitality businesses developments alone. purchasing power visit
Guides to artisan workshops, artist The taxes and regulations that apply A middle way needs to be found the city. It has increased
studios, historical villas, traditional shops to small hotels and bed-and-breakfasts between trying to limit a bad kind of the number of long-
and much-loved restaurants can lead should also apply to agencies and haul flights into Portela
tourists to explore beyond famous sites. platforms that use apartments strictly
tourism and attacking the hospitality
businesses that bring jobs and wealth Airport (particularly
Happily, artworks are moveable shift for vacation rentals. from a resurgent
some away from the centre. to a city. For instance, what Colau Brazil), encouraged
Give the young a greater say could focus on instead is deterring more four and five-star
Make the city a crossroads for Earlier this year the Italian government the stag and hen parties that choke hotels and limited the
regional travel gave away about 100 castles to people the streets. Taking a tougher stance number of home-stays
Guides to destinations further afield bike aged under 40, provided they had an idea on their antisocial behaviour before that are available online.
paths, wineries, nearby landmarks and for how to use them. This is the kind of Bridge of sighs:
Venices tourist activating an innovative interna-
towns worth a day trip increase the draw initiative that should be copied elsewhere. tional campaign to attract a big-
of a city as a destination and also keep attractions are
visitors around for longer. clogged up with ger-spending visitor would help tip
visitors, displacing the balance in favour of quality over
local residents. quantity. Saul Taylor

20 21