© Good Travel Guide, September 2021
The drop in the number of visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic has been a hard blow for the economy in most destinations. However, some cities such as Amsterdam, Prague, Barcelona or Florence were already suffering from over tourism before the pandemic. The crisis has finally been a way to naturally limit the number of tourists, even though in a more drastic manner.
This pause in tourism can be used by destinations as a time to think and implement changes so that they can rebuild tourism based on quality and not quantity. These measures include communication as destinations are rethinking what image they want to promote and which tourists they want to attract. While the old model was to attract everybody, destinations are now thinking of attracting more specific targets such as visitors interested in the local culture rather than just the beaches of Barcelona or new legislation concerning drugs and alcohol in Amsterdam to deter the party goers. Ultimately attracting people with more money to spend and who want to stay for longer and more often
It’s not only about advertising campaigns, cities have also been reorganising bus routes outside of residential neighbourhoods and restricting short term rentals or sale of alcohol to help attract different tourists. A combination of local and country wide legislation over the pandemic is helping to rebrand destinations.
In some cities, results seem positive for the moment with fewer parties in the streets and more museum goers. Read more about it in the Independent.
