Responsible Tourism Conference: Initial thoughts and reflections
POSTED ON October 31, 2024 BY Terry Levinthal
The conference noted that the dichotomy of “a good place to live is a good place to visit” did not follow, in that a good place to visit might not a good place to live.
Yesterday (30 October 2024), the Cockburn hosted a half-day conference on Responsible Tourism a St Augustine’s on George IV Bridge. An audience of around one hundred, in person and on-line, attended and heard seven speakers and two Panel discussions, considering what is Responsible tourism, the effects and fact of overtourism, and issues around capacity management of the City’s tourist and event sector.
A full conference report is under preparation. However, some of the headline items that came to the fore of the Cockburn Team are worth highlighting now.
It was generally accepted that the city had an overtourism problem, but there was considerable discussion on the extent and impact of it. All speakers saw benefits in the proposed Visitor Levy (aka tourist tax) but required clarity on areas of expenditure and on who decides how any money raised should be spent.
All recognised the importance of good data to help drive decision-making, but data collection across disparate organisations was not an objective in its own right. Key was the identification of critical issues and using data to help resolve these.
Other points included:
Need for more engagement – all speakers agreed that greater engagement across sectors was needed, especially with residents and representatives of host communities.
Reality v Perception of engagement – speaking but not listening was a cross-sector issue. Also, assumptions that initiatives were clear, like Forever Edinburgh, were challenged (when the audience were asked if they knew about it, not a single hand was raised!).
Communication was critical – but it needed to be inclusive and avoid becoming a closed feedback loop or echo chamber.
Need for concrete action – from the community, direct and tangible improvements to the cityscape were needed with clear, visible results.
Impact on housing – there was an acceptance of impact but a recognition that it was not a simple of case of “too many Airbnbs”. Wider issues needed to be considered but the move into a more regulated environment was generally (but not universally) welcomed. More action to bring the significant number of publicly and privately owned abandoned or unoccupied residential properties across the city back into use was called for.
Finally, the conference noted that the dichotomy of “a good place to live is a good place to visit” did not follow, in that a good place to visit might not a good place to live. This was part of the essence of responsible tourism, and an important thought to consider in terms of overtourism.
The Conference Report will correspond with the publication of the conference video on the Association’s YouTube channel shortly. Follow us on X or Facebook to find out when.