TOURISM FRIENDLY CITIES BASELINE STUDY - URBACT
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ACTION PLANNING NETWORKS – PHASE 1
TOURISM FRIENDLY CITIES
Local community and tourists together for urban sustainability
BASELINE STUDY
prepared by
Anamaria Vrabie
Presented to Tourism-friendly cities network and URBACT
February 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. 2 1. SECTION 1 – STATE OF THE ART ........................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. The Theme ............................................................................................................................................ 4 1.3. The Policy Context ................................................................................................................................ 9 1.4. City Examples...................................................................................................................................... 10 2. SECTION 2 – PARTNER PROFILES ......................................................................................................... 13 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 13 2.2. Content ............................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 City profile: Genoa (Italy) ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 City profile: Braga (Portugal) .................................................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 City profile: Caceres (Spain).................................................................................................................... 24 2.2.4 City profile: Druskininkai (Lithuania) ...................................................................................................... 27 2.2.5 City profile: Dubrovnik (Croatia)............................................................................................................. 30 2.2.6 City profile: Dun Laoghaire (Ireland) ...................................................................................................... 34 2.2.7 City profile: Krakow (Poland) .................................................................................................................. 37 2.2.8 City profile: Rovaniemi (Finland) ............................................................................................................ 41 2.2.9 City profile: Utrecht (The Netherderlands) ............................................................................................ 44 2.2.10 City profile: Venice (Italy) ..................................................................................................................... 48 2.3. Conclusion and small scale actions........................................................................................................... 53 3. SECTION 3 – SYNTHESIS AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 55 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 55 3.2. Analysis, Synthesis and Proposals for Phase 2 ................................................................................... 55 3.3. Network Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 63 3.4. Network outputs, communication and dissemination ....................................................................... 66
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1. SECTION 1 – STATE OF THE ART
The State of the Art for Tourism-friendly Cities Action Planning Network frames the latest developments in
the tourism industry from social, environmental and economical perspectives to help envision the key
integrated areas that cities need to tackle for shifting towards sustainable tourism approaches. It highlights
the global tipping point reached by this cross-cutting sector and, as a result, the significant challenges already
experienced by cities.
Most importantly, it aims to provide a better understanding of the significant changes needed in public policy,
both in terms of governance and leadership, with industry and tourists part of the co-design of solutions,
alongside residents and local authorities.
The information presented here is a synthesis of policy papers, sector analysis, EU reports, statistics and
Expert Group reports, private sector studies, as well as institutional documents and examples of good
practices provided from Tourism-friendly Cities project partners.
1.1. Introduction
Tourism industry is one of the most important of our era. It drives wealth, employment and regional
development, and it is expected to experience continuous growth. Tourism, travels and related sectors
accounts for 10.3% of GDP in EU and 11.7 % of total employment1. Similarly, at global level, in 2018, the
industry helped generate 10.4% of world GDP and a similar share of employment, and has shown enormous
resilience over the last decade. The EU welcomed 500 million international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors)
in 2016, accounting for 40% of the world’s total 2. A long-term study by the World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) forecasts a growth in European tourism, to an estimated 744 million tourists (+1.8%), or 41.1% of
the global market, over the period to 20303.
Despite this positive economic outlook, the current growth model of the industry is hardly compatible with
the quality of life of local communities, especially in cities or mature destinations. In 2017, Venice, the city
of 260,000 received more than 28 million foreign tourists. Barcelona, with its resident population of
1,625,137 received over 30 million tourists. The stark difference in numbers is not only relevant of how much
space and amenities a city can offer. It also alludes to the difference between city residents and tourists or,
using a different layer, resident taxpayers- consumers.
In fact, a recent UNWTO report4 on overtourism in cities recognized the need for the sector to “ensure
sustainable policies and practices that minimize adverse effects of tourism on the use of natural resources,
infrastructure, mobility and congestion, as well as its socio-cultural impact”. This call for action is amplified
1 European Parliament – Fact Sheet on the European Union, Tourism, 2019
2 World Economic Forum -The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, 2019
3 United Nations World Tourism Organisation - European Union Tourism Trends, 2018
4 UNWTO- ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions Volume 2: Case Studies, 2019
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by recent street protests 1 in several European cities against the overtourism. As recently as April 2019,
Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Krakow, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Vienna signed a
joined letter 2 addressed to the European Commission’s calling for legislative support for curving the
“explosive growth” of global short-stay rental platforms.
Examples of strategies for managing visitor growth in cities:
1. Promote the dispersal of visitors within the city and 7. Create city experiences that benefit both
beyond; residents and visitors;
2. Promote time-based dispersal of visitors; 8. Improve city infrastructure and facilities;
3. Stimulate new visitor itineraries and attractions; 9. Communicate with and engage local
4. Review and adapt regulation; stakeholders;
5. Enhance visitors’ segmentation; 10. Communicate with and engage visitors;
6. Ensure local communities benefit from tourism; 11. Set monitoring and response measures.
Source: UNWTO- ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions Volume 2: Case
Studies, 2019
It is no surprise that cities are the forefront of the paradigm shift needed from the tourism industry. The
urban scale provides the daily interactions where the tourism production system shows its effects and
consequences. Local governments are committed to guarantee a balanced impact of tourism in urban areas
and on local economies, conjugating the need of economic growth of all the different sectors involved in
tourism (mobility, hospitality, culture, tour operators, gastronomy, etc.) and the well-being of temporary and
permanent residents. At the same time, local governments need to cope with a sector whose trends are
constantly evolving at global level, with the growing role of a series of companies and platforms active at
global level on sectors as hospitality and transport, which show the effects of their actions on places as
neighbourhoods, streets and buildings where only local governments can find innovative and integrated
solutions.
Changing from a growth-oriented tourism paradigm, towards one looking at the quality of growth and
compatibility to the quality of life of residents is easier said than done. With much of the policy-making
around tourism being done at national and European level and with a highly fragmentised portfolio (falling
under economic, innovation, cultural, environment, transportation, security and many other authorities),
cities have little ready-to-use tools for driving this change. This also presents itself as an opportunity, leaving
room for innovative practices than can harvest collective answers and actions at local level.
1.2. The Theme
This section presents a brief explanation of macro trends causing profound changes in the tourism industry
and urban policy. It takes into account the global flows, as well as recent policy foresights at EU level. It
1 The Guardian- First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe, 2017
2 Amsterdam Municipality- Press release ‘Cities alarmed about European protection of holiday rental’, 2019
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highlights key themes that need to be taken into account in the future Integrated Actions Plans. These trends
are captured in four areas: social, environmental, economic and urban governance.
1. Social Visitor behaviour and demand will significantly change, as a result of demographic shifts
and the growth of a global middle class.
As previously mentioned, the tourism industry is expected to experience growth in the next two decades.
The European market is forecasted to grow at 1.5% each year in 2020-2030. With an estimated of 744 million
arrivals in 2030, the trend also shows the maturity of the European market and, consequently, its more
modest growth rate compared to the Asian market, where the estimated growth rate is 4.9% per year1. Much
of this increase will be generated by tourists with different travel preferences than the current pool of
visitors.
By 2040 the core of domestic and international tourists will be Millennials (born in the early-1980s to mid-
1990s) and Generation Z (born in the late-1990s to early-2010s) generations, mostly middle-class. Both these
demographics grew up with technology and internet, and their demand for tourist products and services is
shaped by their interaction with these mediums 2 . However, their purchasing power will be most likely
different from preceding generations, as they won’t be able to accumulate wealth as easily as past
generations. Moreover, a significant proportion of future tourists will most likely be from emerging
economies in Asia and Africa, adding to the need for further surveys of visitor preferences.
In addition, the projected increase in the over 60s market in the years ahead will also entail a higher demand
for medical tourism and accessible tourism. In Europe 25% of the population is already 60 years of age or
older and that figure is expected to increase to 35% by 20503. A recent study4 commissioned by the European
Commission shows that accessible tourism demand by people with special access needs from the European
Union currently generated in 2012 a total of EUR 394 billion in terms of GDP within the European Union. In
addition, multi-generational travel is expected to rise, adding to the need of accessible design and complex
experiences able to cater a diverse array of interests of the travel party.
Travel preferences of emerging demographics
Consider travel more important than other priorities,
Who: Millennials including buying a home or a car
Values experiences more than ownership
What does it mean: born in the early-1980s to mid-1990s Is are more likely to create their own travel itineraries
than to rely on the advice of travel agents or participate
in package tours, using digital technologies.
Share of the global population in 2020: 2.3 billion
1 United Nations World Tourism Organisation - European Union Tourism Trends, 2018
2 OECD- Tourism Trends and Policies, 2018
3 United Nations- World Population Prospects, 2017
4 European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry- Economic Impact and Travel Patterns of Accessible Tourism in Europe, 2014
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Take more trips annually compared to other generations
– at four or more per year. Trips tend to be shorter in
duration compared to other demographic groups
Likely to pick travel experiences that they consider to be
“authentic” – preferring to head off the beaten track and
“live like a local”.
Appears to be highly influenced by social media and
Who: Generation Z recommendations by peers when making travel
decisions.
They are interested in taking risks on vacations and
What does it mean: born in the late-1990s to early-2010s)
having unique experiences, as well as trips focused on
relaxation
Share of the global population in 2020: 2.6 billion
Source: Airbnb- Airbnb and The Rise of Millennial Travel, 2016; Globetrender- From Boomers to Gen Z: Travel Trends Across
the Generations, Globetrender, 2017; Future Travel Experience- Smart Security boosting passenger satisfaction levels as
“second wave” begins, 2016.
2. Environmental The rapidly evolving state of the environment and the impacts of the climate
change context.
November 2019 brought one of the worst floods of the century for Venice, a few weeks after our team
conducted the baseline study visit. Decades of public and private sector inefficiencies were rapidly exposed
to both residents and tourists alike, prompting the debate about disaster preparedness and resilience on the
top of the public global agenda. Extreme weather events resulting from climate change will become more
common and they will severely disrupt livelihoods, and, consequently, the travel and tourism sector. Larger
seasonal variations are more likely to occur, amplifying the vulnerability of destinations relying on seasonal
tourism.
Thus, investments and a pro-active approach to ensure the sustainable development and management of
cities and ecosystems will be crucial in the next decades. With a current customer reluctance to pay a
premium1 for more environmentally sustainable products or services, a large share of responsibility will rely
on the active collaboration between public authorities and industry. There are several cross-sectoral
synergies that need to be considered for greater resource efficiency:
a. Water – price structures reflecting water scarcity and responsible water management. Tourists
need and consume significant amounts of water, especially through using amenities such as
pools, spas, gardens, using artificial snowmaking attractions etc.
b. Food production and waste – Waste minimisation and attention to local food chains has the
potential of having significant positive sustainability implications.
c. Energy – Both carbon surcharges and incentives prioritizing energy efficiency should continue
to be used and consider a higher-ambition scenario. According to UNWTO’s latest research2, in
1 OECD- Green Innovation in Tourism, 2013
2 UNWTO- Transport-related CO2 Emissions of the Tourism Sector – Modelling Results, 2019
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2016, transport-related emissions from tourism contributed to 5% of all man-made emissions
and are to increase to 5.3 % by 2030 if the current ambition is not increasing.
3. Economic Enabling technologies and automation are likely to continue to disrupt and
transform the sector.
There are probably two known facts about new technologies: (1) they will continue to rapidly develop
and reshape every known system so far and (2) public sector will be sluggish in capturing and regulating
these transformations.
There is positive hype over most of the technological advancements, with industries promising to unlock
more opportunities for people around world, and governments bearing “messages of peace” on the
future of work and disappearance of routine tasks, but not jobs. A humbler reality is that the scale and
long-term effects of current and future enabling technologies is unknown, and one needs to actively
explore the implications sooner, rather than later. For cities, a nudge in this direction is that they are
already experiencing significant disruptions in their physical environment (though the sharing economy
or digital platforms-enabled services), prompting them to take actions, as is the case of our current Action
Planning Network.
A couple of enabling technologies that will most likely redefine the tourism industry are:
a. Digital platforms and social media will continue to inform travel decisions, and, partially,
replace intermediaries such as tour operators. Having a global presence and a global
governance, digital platforms could prove difficult stakeholders to cooperate with, especially
for cities.
b. The sharing economy is here to stay, despite growing criticism. Platforms such as Airbnb,
Homeaway and Coachsurfing, as well as Uber, Lyft, MyTaxi have experienced a constant
increase of users and have changed the very nature of the tourism industry: hosts or drivers
become stakeholders and service-providers, alongside traditional actors such as hotel chains
and licensed taxis.
c. Automation and artificial intelligence will shape the very nature of work. Recent studies
show that a large array of jobs is highly susceptible to be vulnerable to automation1. One key
aspect to be considered here is the current structure of employment in the tourism sector:
many jobs in the tourism sector are seasonal, part-time, low-paid and menial. Moreover, the
sector predominantly hires women, in 2013 women accounting for 56% of the total
workforce involved in tourism in the EU2. Thus, any future change in the field is going to have
an impact on an already vulnerable workforce. But while the disruption impact is imminent,
it seems it’s not necessarily around the corner. As the anecdotal story3 of the world’s first
1 OECD- The Future of Work, OECD Employment Outlook, 2019
2 European Parliament- Tourism and the EuropeanUnion, recent trends and policy developments, 2015
3 Forbes- World's First Robot Hotel Fires Half Of Its Robots, 2019
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hotel hiring robots that recently decided to fire them shows, there is a long way to go until
relevant use cases are developed.
d. Blockchain is set to offer a variety of applications in tourism, from more secure identity
management, efficient communication between various tourism value chains and reduce
costs associated with exchange rates among foreign currencies1. Interestingly, a core value
proposition of the blockchain -based applications revolves around trust, promising a neutral,
secure, transparent and peer-based system. It remains to be seen whether a technology will
succeed gaining the trust that people seem to take away from their communities and leaders.
e. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) will enable virtual tourism experiences,
increasing the array of experiences that can be offered to visitors. On-site experiences at
locations where there are growing environmental or cultural concerns could be effectively
replaced by such alternative interactions.
4. Urban New hybrid forms of governance need to be taken into consideration to allow
Governance cities and urban stakeholders to actively influence the future of the industry.
Cities experience disruption on several local policy areas when they record growing visitor numbers, as shown
in the table below. And there is a fine and flexible line between a city welcoming and actively preparing for
economic growth resulting from tourism and reaching a state of overtourism, especially through the rapid
changes generated by enabling technologies. This diversity of effects has noteworthy implications on the
expected response from local public authorities. Their default structure does not allow fast inter-
departmental cooperation and response, spotting trends, raising awareness on emerging issues, testing new
solutions, eliminating disincentives and actively monitoring the liveability of the city. In some European
contexts, cities might not even have the mandate to address several policy topics, the responsibility falling
under higher administrative levels- regions or national governments.
Causes of overtourism: Type of urban policy that is
being influenced:
The decreasing cost of travel and the increasing volume of low-cost airlines and cheap Environment policy
coach travel, causing more people to take city breaks with multiple short-haul flights Economic policy
each year.
Urban mobility policy
Sharing economy platforms (such as Airbnb) are creating problems in the housing Housing policy
market and forcing rents up.
The use of public space is free for visitors, but maintenance and repair costs must be Local fiscal policy
met by residential taxpayers.
Distribution policies that spread tourists to less visited (often residential) areas, which Social cohesion policy
may inadvertently deteriorate the situation by bringing more tourists into residential Urban planning
areas not fit for tourism.
Strong seasonality that concentrates numbers over time to unsustainable levels. Economic policy
Urban planning
Fiscal policy
1 IBM- Has blockchain tourism reached its next destination?, 2019
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Low-paid tourism jobs that are temporary, casual and insecure without prospects. Economic policy
Emerging markets with substantial numbers of additional tourists travelling Economic policy
internationally and domestically.
Reduced cost and travel time of transportation. Better, including faster and larger Environment policy
aircraft as well as coaches that deposit more passengers with each arrival and arrive Economic policy
more often.
Urban mobility policy
Source: based on initial analysis presented by Harold Goodwin- The challenge of overtourism, 2017.
This is why, the emergence of new governance frameworks such as Destination Management Organisation
(DMO) is crucial for an integrated and participative approach for sustainable urban development. A DMO is
a “leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and
professionals and facilitates partnerships towards a collective destination vision” 1 . It is responsible for
addressing in a holistic way the interactions between the visitors, the industry that serves them, the
community that hosts them and the environment in a broad sense (natural and cultural resources). The
governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public-private partnership model and
covers all the elements that make up a tourism destination (attractions, amenities, access, marketing and
pricing). It is generally funded by contributions from the stakeholders it represents and services it provides.
While the thinking behind a DMO, from a mere marketing role to one of management is a significant
advancement, the fast changes that characterize the tourism sector require nurturing a culture of innovation
for city authorities. In fact, much of the municipal innovation practice of the last decade has revolved around
creatively engaging a broad range of internal and external stakeholders and giving them mandate for bringing
improvements in urban systems. In this context, the URBACT method and the active use of URBACT Local
Groups (ULG) could represent a key opportunity for unlocking the basis of new innovative governance
frameworks at city level for supporting sustainable tourism practices.
1.3. The Policy Context
As also described in the phase I application, the thematic focus of our network- tourism- is strongly linked
to the Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 Thematic Objective 3 Enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs, as it aims
to create an enabling environment at local level for tourism related-industries and SMEs to contribute to
both local economy, and to wider sustainable urban development. Furthermore, the network will focus on
aspects such as the impact of sharing economy platforms, as well as fiscal and non-fiscal incentives available
at local level, which are closely related to the debate on the role played by SMEs in an evolving economy.
The topics of the network are also connected to the action in favour of tourism launched under the
Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME), such as supporting competitive and
sustainable growth in the tourism sector and maximising synergies between tourism and creative industries.
TFC is also actively exploring the environmental sustainability of tourism, topic which is relevant to strategic
direction of EU2020 Strategy of promoting a more resource efficient and greener economy. In addition, TFC
is also focusing on the social sustainability of tourism and how to enhance a positive impact on local
communities.
The topic and sub-themes of the network are also connected to the Action plans developed by the
Partnerships of the European Urban Agenda on different issues. The recommendations for good housing
1 UNWTO- A Practical Guide to Tourism Destination Management, 2007
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policies of the EU Urban Agenda Partnership on Housing, take into account measures to contrast the
explosion of short-term rentals and its consequences on the affordable housing stock in the urban areas. The
negative impact of this phenomenon has been identified as a key challenge by the Housing partnership and
the network can offer valuable elements, taken from the experiences of the cities involved, to prevent
speculation and promote affordable housing policies at local level.
The topics of the network are also focused on the work of the recently launched EU Urban Agenda
Partnership for Culture and Heritage, with whom it will cooperate in order to fuel the Partnership with
contents related to the relationship between cultural heritage and sustainable tourism in cities. The network
will contribute to the activities of the Partnership on Culture and Heritage of the EU Urban Agenda, enabling
the adhesion of its partners to the Partnership and the active contribution to the definition of a European
Action Plan with the innovative contents and approaches emerged along the project, in a mutual exchange
of visions that will go along the Implementation Phase of the network. The elements emerged along the
network activities will fuel also the debate on the implementation of the Action plans of other European
Urban Agenda Partnerships focusing on crucial aspects faced by Tourism-Friendly Cities, such as Jobs and
Skills in the Local Economy, Housing, Urban Poverty, Circular Economy, Digital Transition, Urban Mobility and
Security in Public Spaces.
Furthermore, the network will leverage city partner’s own networks as further described in section 2 and
3, with the aim of progressively disseminating inputs and approaches on an evolving sector, such as tourism,
from different sources. Already during phase I, the Mayor of Braga, Mr. Ricardo Rio has spoken at the Cities
Forum conference on January 30th 2020 on the role of cities for championing sustainable tourism practices
and referenced Braga’s commitment in the TFC network as partner city. The aim of this widespread presence
in different contexts is not only to promote the network activities and results but to be on the forefront of
the debate, combined with a close connection to the orientations of the Cohesion Policy 2021-2027 and in
particular of the European Urban Initiative.
1.4. City Examples
This section provides a summary of the state of the art policy measures currently employed by cities to
champion sustainable tourism practices. Mirroring the cross-sectoral nature of the tourism sector, these
measures cover a large array of actions and reflect innovative practices. Some are initiated by local
authorities, while others by NGOs or companies.
The examples generally stem from the partner cities in the Tourism-Friendly Cities APN in order to reflect a
key challenge connected to urban policy around sustainable tourism: it is not a lack of ideas and practices,
but rather a challenge of scale, coordination, governance and prioritising funding.
In order to give a sense of the profound changes that city stakeholders need to embark on for achieving
sustainable tourism practices, we have used the model of behavioural change-informed policy making which
shows the various possible interventions, mostly from a public sector and hence top-down, perspective. This
is only to show that sometimes prioritising only one (low budget) measure such as providing information
might have little effect if fiscal incentives are not rightly weighted in. For example, several cities in the EU still
give subsidies to local airports, prompting significant seasonal flows or market destinations as party-
experiences, while in the same time focus their awareness campaigns on condemning party behaviours.
Conversely, focusing only on banning something or fiscal incentives, without paying attention to social norms
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and awareness levels of the issue, might also make certain measure ineffective and leave tourists and tourism
industry confused.
This is why, we consider the holistic way (detailed in section 3) in which the Tourism-Friendly Cities APN seeks
to approach the development of the Integrated Action Plans, as well use the ULGs as living labs, one of the
first ever efforts of city-to-city cooperation to actively explore how local communities and tourists can work
together for urban sustainability.
Intervention Eliminate Restrict Fiscal Non-fiscal Persuasion Changes in the Changes in the
category choice choice disincentives/ incentives / Provision physical default policy
incentives and of environment
disincentives informatio
n
City Utrecht - Venice- Genoa- City The Dubrovnik- Venice- Limited FairBnB
examples Ban on Outlaw tax on Goodtraveler Respect number of
hotel non- tourism the city public trash
permits authentic campaign containers
products
sold as
souvenirs
Source: table adaptation after the House of Lords, Science and Technology Select Committee- Behaviour Change, 2011 and
further research conducted by the author.
Utrecht – Experiencing an economic boom and expanding rapidly, the city of Utrecht has adopted end of
2019 a temporary ban on issuing planning permits for hotels and related hospitality functions. This measure
has been taken preventively, until the city can strategically assess how it wants to position itself related to
tourism as a local economic activity. The measure was also informed by the recent overtourism experience
of Amsterdam.
Venice- With growing complaints from local artisans and under scrutiny of the transformation of the
historical city centre in a theme park, Venice is currently considering outlawing shops that sell non-authentic
products sold as souvenirs.
Krakow- In order to preserve the cultural identity and liveability level of its most popular tourist area of the
city, Krakow has adopted in 2018 the Cultural Park special zoning regulations. These cover a large array of
regulations from areas designated for street musicians and urban design guidelines.
Genoa- In 2012, Genoa signed an official agreement between City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce on
behalf of the tourism sector, regulating the level of tax that needs to be paid by hospitality businesses
operating in the city. The mechanism is widely spread in the world, but the current system implemented by
Genoa has two key aspects: it provides a governance and common decision-making process for tourism
stakeholders to influence the destination of funds collected through the tax and, secondly, the city managed
to negotiate with Airbnb to also pay the tax. Negotiations are still ongoing with other hospitality online
platforms, such as booking.com.
The Goodtraveler – The international NGO provides an offsetting scheme for air travel. Environmentally-
aware tourists can buy “clean miles” (offsets) for the distance covered by their flight and the money is
invested by the Goodtraveler in carbon reduction projects. Currently, for 1000 air miles, one has to pay $2.
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Dubrovnik – As a response to overtourism, the city has begun in 2018 the “Respect the city” campaign, aiming
to increase awareness among tourists of the impact of their visit for local residents and general liveability of
the city centre.
Rovaniemi- Situated in the heart of Lapland, Rovaniemi provides an unique environment both for living and
conducting a business. Extreme weather, as well as the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic, requires a lot of
responsibility from every stakeholder in the tourism sector in order to guarantee the safety of visitors and
preservation of the environment. In this context, the “Visit Rovaniemi” agency has compiled a guideline
aimed at businesses thinking of opening up a line of services in the area entitled Tourism ABC. The ABC covers
every regulation that a business needs to comply to.
Venice- The city of Venice decided to limit the number of public trash containers in order to diminish the
chance of tourists not complying to selective waste disposal guidelines. This measure was chosen after
various pilots which included experimentations with various sizes of trash bins, as well as hiring local police
for rule enforcement. The behaviour promoted right now is for tourists and residents to dispose of their trash
in spaces where most likely recycling rules are obeyed: residencies, and hospitality businesses. Fines have
been raised, as well as monitoring measures for residents and visitors to follow the law.
FairBnB – Started in 2016 as a cooperative movement in Venice, Amsterdam and Bologna, Fairbnb is home-
sharing platform booking platform that promotes and funds local initiatives and projects. It is currently
expanding to several European and international destinations and it is expected to be fully operational
platform this year. It aims to offer a fair and less-disruptive alternative to existing home-sharing platforms,
by verifying that only one listing per owner is permitted and investing in local project that can offset the
disturbances brought by increased number of tourists to residential neighbourhoods.
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2. SECTION 2 – PARTNER PROFILES
2.1. Introduction
The TFC partnership is a unique group of cities dealing with the common challenge of making the impact
of tourism more sustainable for their respective urban contexts and local communities, but starting from
different situations which represent the variety of the European landscape of tourism cities and towns.
The composition of the partnership offers a strong balance between cities from more developed EU regions
(Genoa, Venice, Rovaniemi, Utrecht, Dún Laoghaire) and from less developed EU regions (Cáceres, Braga,
Druskininkai, Krakow, Dubrovnik). It also offers a balanced representation of the different European regions,
with a specific focus on the more tourist ones (Southern Europe with Venice, Genoa, Braga and Cáceres;
Central Europe and Baltic area with Krakow and Druskininkai; Western Europe with Utrecht and Dún
Laoghaire; Scandinavia with Rovaniemi; Balkans with Dubrovnik). Three newcomer cities to URBACT were
included in the partnership (Rovaniemi, Druskininkai, Cáceres).
The partnership also reunites an unique array of city experiences and expertise, including elements which
represent some of the main topics recognized by the contemporary debate on tourism: cities symbol of
“overtourism“” such as Venice and Dubrovnik, cities with UNESCO World Heritage Sites or Creative Cities
(Genoa, Venice, Cáceres, Dubrovnik, Krakow and Braga), cities with spa tourism (Druskininkai), cities with
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religious tourism (Braga and Krakow), cities located close to main tourist destinations (Utrecht and Dún
Laoghaire, respectively to Amsterdam and Dublin), cities with seasonal tourism (Rovaniemi and Dubrovnik).
Many of the partners are prominent actors of the debate on the impact of tourism in cities and some of
them are already testing solutions such as imposing limits to the numbers of cruise ship anchoring the
harbour (Dubrovnik), new dispersion techniques and strong awareness campaign targeting tourists (Venice)
or ban on issuing new hotel urban planning permits (Utrecht), while others are dealing with the need of
promoting sustainable tourism after dramatic events (as Genoa, after the Morandi bridge collapse) or in a
wider action of contrast to climate change or global pandemic (as Rovaniemi, situated on the Arctic Circle,
one of the areas of the world most affected by climate change, warming at a rate of almost twice the global
average and currently experiencing one of the worst tourist seasons as a consequence of the outbreak of the
Coronavirus in China).
Other partners are conceiving tourism as a powerful leverage for economic growth and recovery from crisis
in their regions (Cáceres, Braga and Druskininkai), while others are just recently including tourism as a
relevant part of their local economies, but trying to manage the effects created by the sector on housing,
retail, services and mobility (Utrecht and Dún Laoghaire).
Tourism-friendly Cities final transnational meeting pf phase I took place in Braga between January 28-29,2020
The cross-sectoral impact of all these challenges on cities, having strong elements in common, has become
even more clear during the phase I city visits and transnational meetings. Going beyond the mere
comparison of experiences and good practices, TFC partner cities acknowledged their main common
challenges revolved around testing new governance models and being able to listen to stakeholders beyond
the usual suspects/powerful lobby. This is why, all partner cities found valuable expertise to share, that can
be adaptable and replicable also by cities of different size or affected by different types of tourism and inform
each of the IAPs development processes and making use of the ULG to test different governance set-ups and
innovative solutions.
2.2. Content
The content presented below stems from the information requested from each city partner online before
and after the city visits, online calls and conferences, focus groups, site visits and interviews during city
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visits, as well as interactive sessions from the kick-off and final transnational meetings of phase I. It aims
to give an updated state of play for each city, both in terms of its challenges connected to the transition to
sustainable tourism and with progress registered so far on ULG consolidation and securing local resources
for the implementation of phase II at local level.
In order to ensure efficient city visits, we (LE and LP) asked city partners to update their city profile using a
template that we provided. The updated city profiles were presented and further refined in the kick-off TFC
meeting in Genoa in September 2019. I shared afterwards with city partners a baseline city visit factsheet,
which was covering all the methodological and logistical aspects of the visit and was also a tool to be shared
with tentative ULG members. We agreed with each city a deadline until which a draft agenda of the upcoming
visit and a list of stakeholders considered for the ULG would be shared. With 2-3 weeks prior to the scheduled
city visits, we had a call with each host city to review the draft agenda and stakeholder list and make any
necessary adjustments. Most city visits were also attended by the LP and were highly interactive, all of them
having a focus group with the already existing or emerging ULG, in-depth meeting with political
representatives (Mayor or deputy Mayor) and site visits guided by local stakeholders. After each city visit, I
shared the TFC overview presentation and a reminder to the online mapping tool of challenges and potential
focus of IAP and expected city-level changes that became the base of our discussions during the city visit.
Finally, during the final meeting of phase I in Braga end of January 2020 we reviewed as a network the results
of the online mapping tool exercise, and co-designed core elements that are presented in section 3 on
methodology of the transnational exchange and network outputs. A final online conference is scheduled with
all network partners end of February 2020 to review the last versions of phase II application and baseline
study that will be submitted by the LP on behalf of all the network. There will be 7 additional days to integrate
the feedback of the online conference until the final submission deadline.
2.2.1 City profile: Genoa (Italy)
Genoa, with its waterfront, is a city of almost 600.000 inhabitants with thousands of years of history. The
role of the port and industry in the city has, until few years ago, always relegated its historical and cultural
soul to second place, together with the economic potential offered by tourism. What was not secondary, on
the other hand, was its ability to attract investments and people, thanks to services and the high quality of
life. This summary underscores Genoa’s potential that is still dormant today. In 2004, during the events of
the Capital of Culture, Genoa was defined “The last art city in Europe still to be discovered.” Genoa has
changed drastically in recent years. To combat the industrial crisis, a new identity as a cultural city of tourism
emerged, culminating in the recognition as a World Heritage Site on the part of UNESCO in 2006. It became
an attractive place for research and industrial innovation and potential headquarters of a more differentiated
service-based economy.
The city is successfully completing a non-easy transition from the industrial city to a knowledge-driven model,
giving now more room to tourism. This transformation, which physically can be represented by the Porto
Antico redevelopment project designed by Renzo Piano in 1992, required a new city narrative and related
communication strategy. Part of this strategy started successfully thanks to the URBACT project CityLogo,
which gave a new brand to the city (Genova More Than This) and continued with the participation, as lead
partner, to the URBACT project, Interactive Cities. At local level, there is also a strong commitment and effort
by the administration to increase the image of the city as a quality tourist destination. Communication and
branding are just beginning. Now that the tourism potential awareness is at its peak, Genoa needs a new
participatory process, to better build its own identity of historical, sustainable and tourist city and make some
strategic economic decision concerning growth of tourism.
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Also, the disruptive effects of tourism for local quality of life are becoming evident. The offer of short rental
tourist apartments has multiplied, particularly in the historic centre: for travellers, they are certainly an
opportunity to have most of the attractions at hand and to save money. Liguria is the region of Italy with the
highest density of tourist apartments: 2.34 per square km. In Genoa there are more than 1,800 ads only on
Airbnb, about 400 on Expedia and many others on the various platforms for short term tourist rentals, such
as Booking or Homeaway. About 56% of the ads come from small owners who offer only one accommodation
on the tourism market, the rest belong to multi-hosts who manage more than one property. In many cases
these are agencies that manage the properties of owners who live elsewhere or large real estate investors,
who are well aware of the profitability of apartments in the historic centres of cities with a tourist vocation.
Consequently, the price of rents grew rapidly: it is difficult, especially for younger people, to find homes at
an affordable price to start independent life paths. In addition, the classic neighbourhood local businesses
are closing and they are replaced for souvenir shops, while during the low tourist season degradation is
accentuated. As it already happens in other tourist cities where the gentrification process is more
pronounced, the real risk is that the old town will become a district perfect to visitors, but not inhabitants.
Key facts
Partner resources and IAP
Genoa is at key strategic point in its development, as the local economy is only now diversifying to include
tourism as one of its main sectors. This is why, Genoa realizes that it needs to consolidate its ULG practices
to address conflicting visions on growth and direction of the tourism sector for Genoa’s local economy. This
was clearly identified by the partner city, during the city visit and follow up discussion in the ULG. This is why,
Genoa has worked to commit new resources in coordination and animation of the ULG, gather diverse and
strong political support and leverage its existing networks and previous URBACT experience and knowledge.
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a. Political support:
There is strong political support for TFC at local level, as well as a stable political environment- next local
election will take place in 2022. Mrs. Laura Gaggero, Deputy Mayor for Marketing and Tourism, is the main
reference at political level for Tourism-Friendly Cities network. She attended the kick-off phase I meeting in
Genoa, she presented the project during the National Assembly of Italian Municipalities in Arezzo (November
2019) and she often mentions the activities of the network in interviews and round tables. Also, Ms.
Simonetta Cenci, Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, and Ms. Paola Bordilli, Deputy Mayor for Commerce and
Big events, supports the network, each of them for a specific relevant dimension of sustainable tourism: they
attended, together with Laura Gaggero, the first ULG meeting, giving the key guidelines and the priorities of
the City Council for the future TFC URBACT journey. During the city visit, the LE had interviews with all the
deputy mayors mentioned, as well as with Mayor Marco Bucci, all of them confirming their strategic interest
for the sustainable development of tourism industry, as well as the pressure they feel from industry
stakeholders to encourage growth.
b. Networks:
The City of Genoa is an active member of several international networks that are important for the future
capitalization and dissemination of the main outputs of Tourism-Friendly Cities.
First of all, European Cities Marketing, the main EU network for the city marketing and promotion. Secondly,
an international network for cooperation in the field of cultural tourism, called “Si tous les ports du monde”
(chaired by the City of Saint-Malo), and, most importantly, Eurocities, the most important network for the
big cities in EU, where Genoa is currently Chair of two Working Groups, the first one on “City branding and
International Relations” and the second one on “Digital Citizenship”. Both these groups could host sessions
dedicated to Tourism-Friendly Cities during phase II: Eurocities is interested in contacts with our network
and, in the early future, Genoa could promote a new group focused on sustainable tourism.
Finally, as a follow-up of Alter ECO project, Genoa has been invited to take part in the activities of MED
Sustainable Tourism Community, a Community of 18 former MED projects, focused on the development of
a sustainable and responsible tourism.
c. Previous experience and tentative resources for financing the IAP
These are the three main projects that have been successfully implemented by Genoa and are strongly
related to the transformation that the city had in the last 20-25 years, from and industrial and maritime city,
to a city of cultural tourism:
URBACT CITY LOGO (2012/2015): The city of Genoa was partner city of the CITY LOGO project, led by the city
of Utrecht. City Logo set the goal of finding a new and efficient approach to territorial marketing after the
enormous effort of the city in 2004 (European Capital of Culture) and the recognition on the part of UNESCO
in 2006 of its system of Rolli Palaces, which gave a strong contribution to the visibility of Genoa as a tourist
destination. From this came the need for a new logo for the city, and of a coherent branding strategy, to
increase the destination’s reputation of the city in Italy and abroad.
InterregMed Alter-Eco (2016/2018): Alter-Eco was an Interreg Med project, led by the city of Valencia, aimed
at alternative tourist strategies to enhance the local sustainable development of tourism by promoting
Mediterranean identity. Starting from this point came the idea to identify an area in the Genoa’s
neighbourhoods, where pilot actions to discover new tourist routes could be implemented. The actions
identified are therefore aimed at the revitalization of the ancient attractions introducing innovative systems
to satisfy modern-day tourists.
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URBACT Interactive Cities (2015/2018): Genoa led the interactive Cities project focused on the social media
communication to provide an image of the city as a touristic and attractive destination through a shared
storytelling. The use of social media and digital tools in public administrations stayed at the core of this idea.
Also, the development of the IAP in 2020 and 2021 within TFC corresponds to the updating process of the
action plan of the current local development strategy. This will allow an alignment of the activities outlined
in the future IAP with future available funding from EU 2021-2017 programmes, as well as national and
regional funds.
d. Contributing knowledge to the network
The interactive marketplace exercise conducted by the network rendered these core experiences that Genoa
can actively contribute to TFC and especially to the thematic knowledge clusters explained in section 3.
Experience with In order to manage the Tourism Tax management system, starting from 2012 a Board
hybrid has been created involving the Chamber of Commerce (that represents also hotel
governance owners) and Genoa Municipality. The Board decides every year the funding for projects
mechanisms of city marketing or neighbourhood improvement. By doing so, it has also created an
incentive for a large array of stakeholders to adhere and use the same city marketing
strategies and materials. Since 2017 the tax is also successfully applied to Airbnb listed
apartments, after direct negotiations with Airbnb.
Experience with Successful co-design and development of new branding for Genoa, using the URBACT
branding and use Method. Successful adoption of the new branding by city and tourism stakeholders.
of digital tools Ex: https://urbact.eu/make-genoa-part-you
Experience with The open dialogue and the co-creation established in the City Logo ULG, contributed
ULG engagement for a large part to the realization of the new brand identity of the city; the new logo of
the city, Genova More Than This, in fact has been designed by a team of designers,
thanks to the suggestions and the discussion which took place during the ULGs. It was
a participatory approach and this was part of its success.
In addition, Genoa has a strong engagement as Lead Partner of TFC network, offering not only coordination,
but also championing new methodologies and thematic content that can contribute to the knowledge
exchange of the network. This is why, during the kick-off meeting in phase I, LE and LP worked together to
design the living lab of Genoa exercise in order to map the sub-themes of the Tourism-friendly cities
network.
This exercise, the living lab of Genoa, was important not only for mapping sub-themes that our network
should built on, but mostly to introduce the other city partners to a new framework of working- moving
away from showing the positive sides of tourism and richness of (living) heritage towards actively
exploring distressed areas. From this point, Genoa is an uniquely positioned lead partner.
The city does not yet have a strong touristic identity, but it begins to experience growth from the sector
and disruption in its housing market. It has successfully leveraged its previous URBACT experience
(Interactive Cities network) to consolidate a strong ULG-approach in managing what has now become an
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URBACT good practice- the tourism tax management system. Genoa team understands that the decisions
that will be taken in the next couple of years on tourism will have ripple effects for the city’s future.
This is why, we co-designed a city site visits showcasing: urban poverty and informal economy
(prostitution, street commerce) in close proximity of the UNESCO Rolli palaces area complex, waste
management system adaptations for touristic areas, perception of local entrepreneurs towards
uninformed tourists, social businesses relying on tourists as clients and residents engagement in cultural
projects for sharing their living heritage with other city residents and tourists. Each participant attending
the kick-off meeting had a “secret identity” (resident, municipality, tourist, tourism entrepreneur) and a
“secret mission” of uncovering potential social, environmental and economic implications of the things
witnesses and the interviews taken during the site visit. The debates and working group sessions that
followed afterwards informed the main lists of sub themes, which were further refined during partner city
visits and are presented in section 3.
The URBACT Local Group (ULG)
During phase I a large number of stakeholders has been involved in the creation of the ULG for TFC. At the
moment these are the current members: the Chamber of Commerce; Association of Hotel owners; Social
Media Team partners; IgersGenova (community of local Instagrammers); Civic associations; ESN GEG –
Erasmus Student Network; Cultural department of the Municipality; Liguria Region; Aquarium; Porto Antico
Association; Associations of tourist guides; Palazzo Ducale (cultural association); University; Historical old
shops; Cruise Companies; Port Authority; Airport; Convention Bureau; Urban Planning Professionals;
Fairbnb.coop Association. Moreover, Genoa is planning to include the municipal company in charge of the
waste collection system, called AMIU, and different academic departments of the University, such as
Economic Tourism and Urban Planning. Further enlargement of the ULG will be considered on the issues that
will be addressed.
The Project Coordinator appointed the ULG coordinator, Mr. Antonio Pastorino, Head of Participation and
Communication at Urban Planning Department, Genoa Municipality, after a consultation with the political
level and several members of the former ULG. Antonio coordinates the activities relating to the planning of
the areas under transformation, in the frame of the City Masterplan, with particular reference to the
transforming districts, with assessment of the resulting impacts (urbanistic and environmental). He also
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manages the different phases of participation and/or consultation of the stakeholders, taking part to each
stage of the participatory process, and providing reports and feed-backs of the different consultations.
He has also prepared feasibility studies and preliminary projects with reference to new EU call for proposals
where the Municipality of Genoa has applied for funding (in thematic areas linked to urban planning); he has
also managed further development and implementation of the projects, in case of selection, until their
finalisation. Antonio was the coordinator of the metropolitan working groups of CAT-MED project (former
Med project focused on sustainable development in historic Mediterranean cities), composed by public
bodies, associations, NGOs and stakeholders. Preparation of the steering committee of Genoa and the final
CAT-MED conference on sustainable urban development in Genoa (March 3rd/4th 2011).
The first step taken to kick-off the TFC ULG was to involve almost all the members of the previous ULGs
(City Logo and Interactive Cities). Previous members suggested new actors to be considered given the topic
of the TFC network, while other entities contacted Genoa directly to be part of the ULG, as a result of news
they saw in local media about the start of the project, as is the case of Fairbnb Genoa, the experimental
platform for equal tourist rental.
The first meeting took place on December 17th with 25 participants. The ULG saw also the presence of three
Deputy Mayor: Dep. Mayor for Urban Planning, Dep. Mayor for Tourism and Territorial Marketing and Dep.
Mayor for Commerce. The first meeting was the occasion to present the aim of this APN and the path that is
expected to be taken by the city with the help of all the relevant stakeholder. From their side, all the
participants declared their interest in an active exchange with the administration, with a great impact in
acquiring knowledge and opinions on further development directions. A second plenary ULG will be held on
February 26th for a wrap-up on what happened during the Braga transnational meeting and future plans for
phase II.
2.2.2 City profile: Braga (Portugal)
Braga has a rich heritage from different ages, from Roman to Medieval ages and is most associated with
religious tourism. In addition, the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Monte has just recently been awarded the
World Heritage of UNESCO designation. More recently, it was EU Youth Capital and European City of Sport.
These distinctions would not have been possible without the partnership between the city, the local agents
and the commitment of the entire population to participate and contribute to the dissemination of what the
city has the best to offer. This dynamic city, once the youngest in Europe, has also been selected as the
Creative City of UNESCO in the field of Media Arts, concentrating several poles of creativity that interweave
art, science, education, technology and research in a local and cooperative plan. This contagious dynamism
is proof of the commitment in the development of the city to improve the conditions both for the locals and
for visitors.
In the last years, tourism has registered an average growth rate of 19% per year which is expected to
continue. In this process, it is essential to keep the authenticity of the city, as hospitality, simplicity and
openness define the local population. Faced with this exponential growth, one of the aims is to encourage
tourists for longer stays, improving the local economy on a sustainable basis and also being able to consider
shared experiences by both residents and visitors. Several trends connected with gentrification of some parts
of the city have been observed, but there is still insufficient documented evidence for this.
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