Most of us are familiar with the practice of urban tourism. It is what we see every day in famous cities all over the world. Visitors going to the main tourist highlights to see and to be seen – in the beginning taking pictures to show relatives or to display them at home, nowadays especially focused on social media. Urban Tourism has been growing since the mid 1960’s and for the past 35 years has been identified as one the most important sectors of industry for urban economies throughout the world. Since it provides not only new uses for buildings of historical importance, but also its ability to replace industries that no longer exist, creating new job opportunities. To make it happen, the urban development focused on three main pillars: infrastructure (hotels, congress/convention centers, festival marketplaces), events (focused on sports, music, businesses) and marketing images (illustrating what the city has to offer in cultural/historically related and entertainment activities). It is easy to understand that the main goals were almost entirely economical, focusing on job creation and revenue generation.[1] In fact, in most of the conferences, lectures, articles and people I came across with, a lot has been mentioned about the increasing number of visitors, their nationalities, the length of their stay, what experiences in the country are most significant, etc. There are also, of course, some references on the social, environmental, and cultural impacts it brings to a city, but we are only at the beginning of the journey to find the balance we long for. Although the increasing interest in a sustainable industry, Tourism is still trending towards “surface travelling” (seeing the most in as little time possible) which leads to overuse of disposable goods, decreasing purchase of locally made products and overlook local cultural and heritage activities. [2]
In the tourism industry, professionals are used to have labeled niche markets in which Urban/Cultural Tourism and Green/Ecotourism are most of the times presented and developed separately. In Portugal, Ecotourism is too often linked to rural areas.[3] However, according to experts, Ecotourism” (…) by definition includes parks and green spaces, culture and heritage, and the concept can therefore be just as easily adapted to the urban environment.”[4] We finally arrive to the emerging trend of Urban Ecotourism or Urban Green Tourism which – according to the Green Tourism Association – develops the following pillars:
- Environmental responsibility: protecting, conserving, and/or enhancing nature and the physical environment to ensure the long-term health of the life-sustaining ecosystem.
- Local economic vitality: supporting local economies, businesses and communities to ensure economic vitality and sustainability.
- Cultural diversity: respecting and appreciating cultures and cultural diversity to ensure the continued well-being of local or host cultures.
- Experiential richness: providing enriching and satisfying experiences through active, personal and meaningful participation in, and involvement with, nature, people, places and/or cultures.
The question remains: Can we cover all these components in our travels, without compromising our little time to experience everything a city has to offer? Yes, we can. And in the next posts I will share some thoughts and ideas about it. Stay tunned!
[1] Info retirada do artigo: Promoting green urban tourism: the development of the other map of Toronto
[2] My opinion
[3] My opinion
[4] Info Promoting green urban tourism PP 262