7. Boracay beach closure: the role of the government and the private sector

Reil G. Cruz; Giovanni Francis A. Legaspi

Chapter

Requires Authentication

7. Boracay beach closure: the role of the government and the private sector

Reil G. Cruz
Reil G. Cruz

Search for this author in:

De Gruyter De Gruyter Brill | Google Scholar
and Giovanni Francis A. Legaspi
Giovanni Francis A. Legaspi

Search for this author in:

De Gruyter De Gruyter Brill | Google Scholar

or

Purchase Chapter PDF

$42.00

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Explore this Subject How to publish with us

This chapter is in the book Overtourism

The following part of the book comprises eight examples of overtourism, illustratingthe widespread nature of the phenomenon, its characteristics and its causes. Two ofthe case studies, Thailand and the Philippines (Chapters 7 and 8), show the prob-lems that emerge when a lack of control over development results in overdevelop-ment, which is accompanied by severe environmental problems. In such cases, thesituation is made worse by extensive media promotion. In these cases, the solutionto the issues was in the form of the closure of highly popular tourist areas.Three examples are cities of considerable size (Barcelona, Venice and Prague,Chapters 9, 10 and 11), where one might expect tourist numbers to be relatively in-conspicuous among residents, but this is clearly not the case. In Barcelona and afurther chapter Prague (Chapter 11), the rental of residential accommodation by tou-rists has become a major problem in recent years despite efforts to counter thistrend. While Venice has been exposed to tourism for centuries and negative opin-ions upon their presence noted over a century ago (Ruskin, 1980), the issues ofcrowding and problems of behaviour have been exacerbated by an increasing influxof cruise ship passengers and day visitors staying in hotels outside the city limits.In Prague and Barcelona, the presence of tourists staying in rental accommodationhas been a major problem that has grown rapidly in recent years despite efforts tocounter this trend. All these examples illustrate the problems faced when key ena-blers of tourism growth lie outside municipal control, cruise ports and hotels in thecases of Venice and Barcelona, and low cost airlines in the case of Prague. Whenlooking at a smaller city such as Lucerne (Chapter 12), the issue is more specific.This case relates to the overly successful promotion of the town to a specific market,the Chinese, and the subsequent impacts on the town centre through coach trafficand pedestrian behaviour.In the case of the Hajj (Chapter 13), a very different scenario is described, bothin terms of the scale of the tourist numbers, millions of visitors in a very short pe-riod of time, and in terms of the obligatory and religious nature of the visits. In thiscase, it is not possible to close the site or to alter significantly the behaviour or theconcentration of the visitors, nor the time at which the visitors come, which meansthat there are limited solutions to mitigate the problems. The key approach taken toreducing overtourism has been massive investments in infrastructure and facilities,which are implemented with religious and political sensitivities in mind.The final case study (Chapter 14) examines overtourism in rural areas and revealsthat although the scale, in terms of numbers of tourists and residents involved insuch areas is very different to that in cities, many of the causes of overtourism aresimilar. In particular, a key factor enabling overtourism in all cases is the emphasisgiven to economic growth by national, regional and local authorities. Moreover, thelack of foresight is a common feature in many of the case studies. The case of the Isleof Skye illustrates what can happen when municipalities ignore or fail to anticipatetourist needs in terms of local facilities (public toilets, parking, etc.). Such capacityproblems often goes hand-in-hand with an all-too-common tendency to ignore thePart II: Case studies93

You are currently not able to access this content.

Not sure if you should have access? Please log in using an institutional account to see if you have access to view or download this content.

Purchase Chapter PDF

$42.00

The following part of the book comprises eight examples of overtourism, illustratingthe widespread nature of the phenomenon, its characteristics and its causes. Two ofthe case studies, Thailand and the Philippines (Chapters 7 and 8), show the prob-lems that emerge when a lack of control over development results in overdevelop-ment, which is accompanied by severe environmental problems. In such cases, thesituation is made worse by extensive media promotion. In these cases, the solutionto the issues was in the form of the closure of highly popular tourist areas.Three examples are cities of considerable size (Barcelona, Venice and Prague,Chapters 9, 10 and 11), where one might expect tourist numbers to be relatively in-conspicuous among residents, but this is clearly not the case. In Barcelona and afurther chapter Prague (Chapter 11), the rental of residential accommodation by tou-rists has become a major problem in recent years despite efforts to counter thistrend. While Venice has been exposed to tourism for centuries and negative opin-ions upon their presence noted over a century ago (Ruskin, 1980), the issues ofcrowding and problems of behaviour have been exacerbated by an increasing influxof cruise ship passengers and day visitors staying in hotels outside the city limits.In Prague and Barcelona, the presence of tourists staying in rental accommodationhas been a major problem that has grown rapidly in recent years despite efforts tocounter this trend. All these examples illustrate the problems faced when key ena-blers of tourism growth lie outside municipal control, cruise ports and hotels in thecases of Venice and Barcelona, and low cost airlines in the case of Prague. Whenlooking at a smaller city such as Lucerne (Chapter 12), the issue is more specific.This case relates to the overly successful promotion of the town to a specific market,the Chinese, and the subsequent impacts on the town centre through coach trafficand pedestrian behaviour.In the case of the Hajj (Chapter 13), a very different scenario is described, bothin terms of the scale of the tourist numbers, millions of visitors in a very short pe-riod of time, and in terms of the obligatory and religious nature of the visits. In thiscase, it is not possible to close the site or to alter significantly the behaviour or theconcentration of the visitors, nor the time at which the visitors come, which meansthat there are limited solutions to mitigate the problems. The key approach taken toreducing overtourism has been massive investments in infrastructure and facilities,which are implemented with religious and political sensitivities in mind.The final case study (Chapter 14) examines overtourism in rural areas and revealsthat although the scale, in terms of numbers of tourists and residents involved insuch areas is very different to that in cities, many of the causes of overtourism aresimilar. In particular, a key factor enabling overtourism in all cases is the emphasisgiven to economic growth by national, regional and local authorities. Moreover, thelack of foresight is a common feature in many of the case studies. The case of the Isleof Skye illustrates what can happen when municipalities ignore or fail to anticipatetourist needs in terms of local facilities (public toilets, parking, etc.). Such capacityproblems often goes hand-in-hand with an all-too-common tendency to ignore thePart II: Case studies93

You are currently not able to access this content.

Not sure if you should have access? Please log in using an institutional account to see if you have access to view or download this content.

Purchase Chapter PDF

$42.00