Travel Megatrends 2019: Undertourism Is the New Overtourism
Skift Take
Skift has covered every angle of the overtourism debate for the past three years and the more we’ve reported on destinations at capacity, the more we’ve realized those places are outnumbered by many others that understand tourism is about quality rather than quantity.
Now that the understanding of overtourism has essentially gone mainstream around the world, a parallel trend – undertourism – is playing out in some emerging destinations that are framing themselves as peaceful yet exciting alternatives to the packed streets of other cities.
As undertourism enters the industry’s collective consciousness, offbeat destinations or those with new stories to tell are marketing immersive experiences that build relationships with people, places, culture, and community over Instagram-worthy photo ops and mass touring.
Destinations used to be satisfied with meeting visitor arrivals and spending goals that they set for the year and left areas such as economic development and destination management to other organizations.
In recent years, overtourism has turned the destination marketing model on its head as many organizations realize their responsibility to either manage visitor growth before it’s out of control or make a plan to not become the next Barcelona or Venice. In the short term, this might mean forgoing some revenue. But more destinations are acknowledging that a handful of affluent travelers are better than many cash-strapped tourists, and having the right plan increases the high spenders’ likelihood to return.
Destinations increasingly say that they’re committed to spreading tourism beyond congested areas to neighborhoods in need of tourism spending, or grow tourism during less popular seasons. But the dispersal approach, if successful, only marginally shifts the problem elsewhere rather than solving it. This approach is often taken before businesses in these neighborhoods are fully tourism-ready or willing to a
