BACKLASH AGAINST TOURISM Lluis Gene, AFP Protesters at a demonstration in Barcelona on June 10, 2017 against what they claim is a lack of control by the city's tourism management. Anti-tourist banner in Barcelona Toni Hermoso Pulido/Flickr DEFINITION BACKLASH = a strong feeling among a group of people in reaction to a change or recent events in society or politics (www.dictionary.cambridge.org) An antagonistic reaction to a trend, development, or event (www.thefreedictionary.com)
VIDEO and KEY VOCABULARY Ø WATCH THE VIDEO https://www.reuters.com/video/2017/08/05/overcrowding-at-europes-touristhotspots?videoid=372258898 Recommendation: Watch it at least twice without looking at the transcript. Ø WORK ON THE KEY WORDS What are the synonyms for the following words? Hear them in the video and/or spot them in the transcript. The words are given in the order in which they appear in the video. Key Words: holiday hotspots invaded when there are too many people or things in the same place causing/boosting/encouraging inhabitants from a particular place risen, gone up organized cause/encourage go together in a crowd additional Video transcript: Major holiday hubs in southern Europe are being overrun with tourists, and residents say they've had enough. Overcrowding in some of the top hotspots this summer is fuelling an angry backlash from locals. Across Italy, to Croatia and Spain a sharp rise in tourism is making life unbearable for those who call it home. Foreign visitors to Florence and Venice have surged almost 32 percent since 2009. Venetians have staged several demonstrations, calling for better management of tourist arrivals to the floating city. The backlash has prompted many authorities to act. Rome is considering limiting visitor numbers to parts of the eternal city, like the Trevi fountain. The popular Croatian port of Dubrovnik sees more than 5-thousand cruise ship passengers flock to the city every day. It plans to limit vessel numbers to the city. And Barcelona is set to introduce a new tourism tax. Residents who live in these holiday hubs are calling for further protective action. They say they don't want the cities to lose their identities the very identity that attracts tourists to the area in the first place. READING Tourism kills neighbourhoods : how do we save cities from the city break? Elle Hunt -- Friday 4 August 2017 - abridged Across Europe, where increasing numbers of visitors can overwhelm residents in the summer months, the backlash has started. War and a new awareness campaign* has been declared in Venice. Fines* for eating, drinking or sitting on historic fountains have been increased in Rome. And last week, in Barcelona, vigilantes* slashed the tyres of an open-top bus and spray-painted across its windscreen El Turisme Mata Els Barris : Catalan for Tourism Kills Neighbourhoods. The message is clear. What to do about it is less obvious. In tourists and residents battle for supremacy of shared spaces, local authorities are uncomfortably in the middle. The tourism and
travel sector is one of the largest employers in the world, with one new job created for every 30 new visitors to a destination but at what cost to locals quality of life? Xavier Font, a professor of sustainability marketing at the University of Surrey, says cities tend to ask that question when it is already too late. As a consultant for national tourism boards, industry associations and businesses, Font asks not how do we change tourists behaviour, but how do we change tourism so as to manage its impact. If it is to be made better, more sustainable, less of a burden on cities and the people who live in them year-round, the work should have begun well before visitors have bought their tickets. The rise of city breaks 48-hour bursts of foreign cultures, easier on the pocket and annual leave balance has increased tourist numbers, but not their geographic spread. The same attractions have been used to market cities such as Paris, Barcelona and Venice for decades, and visitors use the same infrastructure as residents to reach them. Too many people do the same thing at the exact same time, says Font. For locals, the city no longer belongs to them. One course of action is widening what the city calls the tourism spectrum*... to diversify the image and practices of visitors to the city. Currently, tourists intensity and volume is very unequally dispersed; it is hoped that a greater range* of them, with different motives, priorities and interests, will ease the congestion around the main attractions. This starts with marketing. Venice, has employed a similar strategy as part of #EnjoyRespectVenezia, a new campaign launched last month following a protest against the tourism industry by 2,000 residents. Translated into 10 languages, it publicises fines of up to 500 for picnicking in public, swimming in canals, even lingering* too long on bridges. But it also proposes a better way it is calling detourism : sustainable travel tips and alternative itineraries for exploring an authentic Venice, off the paths beaten by* the 28 million visitors who flock there each year. A greater variety of guidance for prospective visitors ideas for what to do in off-peak seasons, for example, or outside of the city centre can have the effect of diverting them from already saturated landmarks*, or discouraging short breaks away in the first place. Longer stays ease the pressure, says Font. If you go to Paris for two days, you re going to go to the Eiffel Tower. If you go for two weeks, you re not going to go to the Eiffel tower 14 times. Similarly, repeat visitors have a better sense of the culture. We should be asking how do we get tourists to come back, not how to get them to come for the first time. If they re coming for the fifth time, it is much easier to integrate their behaviour with ours. Underpinning* Barcelona s new strategy to 2020 is the understanding that tourism is an inherent and constituent part of the city, not an alien phenomenon: Tourists do not have to be considered passive players but rather as visitors with rights and duties. Everyone has a part to play in facilitating that change of perspective, says Font: tourists, cities, residents and operators. But everyone stands to benefit, too.
As a boy in Barcelona, he would observe belligerent visitors overwhelm his city, drinking at inappropriate times of day, dressed in sombreros. When they made an effort to speak Spanish and try local cuisine ( rather than asking for bangers and mash* ), he recalls locals being more receptive. When tourists dress differently to us, eat differently, and are active at different times of the day, he says, we resent* them much, much more. VOCABULARY Awareness campaign = An organized, systematic effort through various communications media to alert the general population of a given area to anything of significant interest or concern Fines = a sum imposed as punishment for an offense Vigilantes = a person who tries in an unofficial way to prevent crime, or to catch and punish someone To widen the tourism spectrum = increase/broaden/enlarge the range/variety of tourism experience Range = variety Lingering = staying in a place longer than necessary Off the path beaten by = in more isolated or unfrequented places - off the beaten path/track hors des sentiers battus Underpinning = supporting; the base for Landmarks = buildings or monuments Bangers and mash = sausages and mashed potatoes, a traditional British dish Resent = dislike, be angry at/about, be annoyed at/about QUESTIONS about the text Ø At the beginning of the text, what cities are mentioned and what reactions to tourism are described there? Ø Why are local authorities uncomfortably in the middle in the fight between tourists and local residents? Ø What problems linked to some tourists behaviours and to city breaks does the document mention? Ø According to Font, what form(s) of tourism should be developed? And what kind of tourists should cities try to attract: Repeat visitors? Short-stay or long-stay visitors? Why? TIPS for WRITING your answers Ø You need to rephrase the key ideas in your own words. Ø Use for instance different verbs to express criticisms. Ex tourism kills neighbourhoods
Locals blame tourism for killing neighbourhoods Locals hold tourists responsible for destroying their neighbourhoods Local residents criticize tourism for damaging their neighbourhoods Tourists are accused of destroying local culture. Ø Organize your arguments using link words: First / Second / Third ; On the one hand on the other hand ; Ø And show the logic of your arguments. As the number of tourists keeps increasing,.. Although/even if tourism means money for cities, Tourism is one of the largest employers and yet READ/WATCH MORE http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/25/news/economy/tourism-backlash-europe/index.html https://skift.com/2017/08/16/summer-of-overtourism-4-lessons-for-the-travel-industry/ VIDEO - ANSWER KEYS Key Words: holiday hotspots invaded when there are too many people or things in the same place causing/boosting/encouraging inhabitants from a particular place risen, gone up organized cause/encourage go together in a crowd additional Video transcript: Major holiday hubs in southern Europe are being overrun with tourists, and residents say they've had enough. Overcrowding in some of the top hotspots this summer is fuelling an angry backlash from locals. Across Italy, to Croatia and Spain a sharp rise in tourism is making life unbearable for those who call it home. Foreign visitors to Florence and Venice have surged almost 32 percent since 2009. Venetians have staged several demonstrations, calling for better management of tourist arrivals to the floating city. The backlash has prompted many authorities to act. Rome is considering limiting visitor numbers to parts of the eternal city, like the Trevi fountain. The popular Croatian port of Dubrovnik sees more than 5-thousand cruise ship passengers flock to the city every day. It plans to limit vessel numbers to the city. And Barcelona is set to introduce a new tourism tax. Residents who live in these holiday hubs are calling for further protective action. They say they don't want the cities to lose their identities the very identity that attracts tourists to the area in the first place. Nathalie Saint-Jean October 2017