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Now that the understanding of overtourism has In the three years since Skift f irst def ined “I don’t think Medellin is fashionable or anything been successful in that tourism has grown, but
essentially gone mainstream around the world, overtourism, much of the global travel industry
a parallel trend – undertourism – is playing out has completely changed its mindset for how
in some emerging destinations that are framing it plans and manages tourism’s many aspects.
themselves as peaceful yet exciting alternatives Destinations confronting overtourism head-on,
to the packed streets of other cities. such as Barcelona, Venice, and Kyoto, have
admitted a problem, and others that don’t yet
As undertourism enters the industry’s collective have crowds are doing what they can to ensure
consciousness, offbeat destinations or those their cities and towns don’t become overrun.
with new stories to tell are marketing immer-
sive experiences that build relationships with We’ve already seen multiple destinations activate
people, places, culture, and community over undertourism messaging in recent years. Oslo,
Instagram-worthy photo ops and mass touring. for example, launched a campaign in 2017 that
focused on “rescuing” tourists f rom popular
Destinations used to be satisfied with meeting cities like Paris and bringing them to Norway’s
visitor arrivals and spending goals that they set capital where museums generally lack crowds,
for the year and left areas such as economic restaurant reservations are easy to get, and public
development and destination management to parks have plenty of free space.
other organizations. In recent years, overtourism
has turned the destination marketing model Post-peace deal Colombia hasn’t wasted time
on its head as many organizations realize their shaping its new image with tourists and inter-
responsibility to either manage visitor growth national investors. The city of Medellin, once
before it’s out of control or make a plan to not considered one of the world’s most dangerous
become the next Barcelona or Venice. In the short as a center for drug trafficking, has focused on
term, this might mean forgoing some revenue. infrastructure investment for its residents as the
But more destinations are acknowledging that a city enters a new chapter. The mountainous city
handful of affluent travelers are better than many constructed cable cars to help residents get from
cash-strapped tourists, and having the right plan their homes miles above the downtown core
increases the high spenders’ likelihood to return. to the central business district, and it’s quickly
become one of the most successful municipal
Destinations increasingly say that they’re committed turnaround stories. Now that residents from the
to spreading tourism beyond congested areas to mountains can easily access the city center, they
neighborhoods in need of tourism spending, or can also tap into the growing economic impact
grow tourism during less popular seasons. But the that tourism is bringing to the city in the form
dispersal approach, if successful, only marginally of more employment and cultural opportunities.
shifts the problem elsewhere rather than solving
it. This approach is often taken before businesses AS UNDERTOURISM ENTERS
in these neighborhoods are fully tourism-ready
or willing to accommodate visitors, or before the THE INDUSTRY’S COLLECTIVE
off-season actually has compelling offerings that
could rival the high season. CONSCIOUSNESS, OFFBEAT
DESTINATIONS OR THOSE WITH NEW
Muiderslot Castle, just outside of Amsterdam,
recently rebranded itself to Amsterdam Muider- STORIES TO TELL ARE MARKETING
slot Castle in a bid to lure tourists from the city
center. Amsterdam’s tourism board is promoting IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT BUILD
the castle and Muiderslot’s website, which assures RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE, PLACES,
tourists that the castle is easy to reach, but there
is limited parking and taking the train or bus CULTURE, AND COMMUNITY OVER
involves multiple transfers. Tourists don’t want
to worry about transportation, yet Muiderslot INSTAGRAM-WORTHY PHOTO OPS AND
Castle is asking them to figure it out.
MASS TOURING.
34 Skift
like that, but more people are looking at it,” they’ve created a prime example of the adage
said Ana Maria Moreno Gomez, director of the ‘be careful what you wish for.’
Medellin Convention and Visitors Bureau. “In the
past, we put all the city’s garbage in a mountain; Kyoto residents are angered by the traffic and
now we’ve transformed that area into a garden.” congestion that tourism growth has caused, and
the government has responded by running an
Indeed, Medellin has embraced the green experiment that analyzes cell phone data. The
economy in the last decade as it discards its experiment is ongoing and tracks the time of
violent past. The city has made biodiversity day when the most cell phones are present in
and sustainability the face of its tourism value the destination, usually in the early- to mid-af-
proposition, a ref reshing decision in a world ternoon hours. Kyoto’s Nijo Castle has already
riddled with destination mismanagement and adjusted its opening times as a result of data that
climate change. was gleaned from the experiment. As Japan’s
government has made tourism a key pillar of its
Gomez said Medellin is creating more offerings economic growth in recent years – it is aiming
outside of the city such as coffee farms so that for 40 million international arrivals by 2020 for
those attractions help prevent overtourism within the Tokyo Olympics – the tourism organization
the city. “The new Colombian [President Iván found that only 18.2 percent of local residents
Duque Márquez] talks a lot about the orange are satisfied with tourism.
economy, which includes all of the creative
industries such as arts and culture,” she said. Some tour operators have been fighting overtourism
for years. Intrepid Travel, for example, published
Without a vibrant orange economy, tourism can’t a “not hot list” for 2019 for Asia that promotes
take root. More destinations are cultivating their itineraries for alternative destinations such as
orange economies in neighborhoods beyond “Sumatra is the new Borneo” and “Bukhara is
their fabled tourism districts to get tourists the new Angkor Wat.”
interested, while ensuring these are long-term
plans. “Now Medellin has a long-term tourism Global tourism arrivals hit 1.3 billion in 2017,
plan and each new administration can’t change according to the United Nations World Tourism
the plan,” said Gomez. Organization, and tourism arrivals have grown for
seven straight years since the official end of the
Puerto Rico is another case of undertourism in 2008 to 2009 global financial crisis. Post-financial
practice. While parts of the island continue to crisis, many governments turned to tourism to
struggle, Puerto Rico has also made significant help reverse course on their flagging economies,
progress in recovery efforts and bringing back and that strategy helped to make tourism the
tourism since Hurricane Maria in September largest industry in a tiny place like Iceland, which
2017. Tourism officials are working to portray the Skift covered in-depth in 2016.
island as an alternative to crowded Caribbean
islands where U.S. travelers would likely spend Many governments, however, didn’t anticipate
most of their time at an all-inclusive resort rather that consumers’ discretionary spending patterns
than engaging with the local population and would trend so dramatically to intangible experi-
businesses. Tourism officials continue to promote ences such as travel, and that’s caused political
the cruise business, but they want tourists to and tourism leaders to rethink how, when, and
fly in and spend a week in a hotel where more where they market tourism. Amsterdam, Barce-
tourism dollars often stay with local communities. lona, Venice, and Kyoto still contain unknown
treasures and unbeaten paths if you know where
Kyoto, Japan, is different f rom Oslo, Medellin, to look and when to go. The answer for these and
and Puerto Rico. The Japanese city has been a other destinations is not to undersell because
well-known stop on a Japanese tour for years, but of overtourism but to adopt smart strategies for
its profile has recently spiked as the Japan National marketing the alternatives that tourists didn’t
Tourism Organization has launched marketing know they loved.
campaigns focused on getting travelers beyond
gateway cities like Tokyo. The campaigns have
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