Overtourism in times of pandemic? Social perception of urban tourism in two global cities: Montreal and Barcelona.
Dolores SÁNCHEZ-AGUILERA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Xavier ROIGÉ-VENTURA, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
M. Habib SAIDI, Université Laval, Canada
In recent years, the great expansion of tourism activity related to the emergence of low-cost flights, together with the supply of accomodation that have driven the digital platforms of tourist services, has made urban spaces -especially those cities that have a rich cultural offer- become preferred destinations. The processes of touristification are observed in many cities and the saturation of some neighborhoods led, in some cases, to a perception of excess associated with the concepts of overtourism and, sometimes, tourismphobia. In fact, these issues have been the subject of numerous studies in the last decade and have been the focus of attention at scientific conferencies, but they have also been present in the citizen and political arena of many cities.
The outbreak of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 opens a period of change. Precisely the urban destinations -first with the lockdown period and then subject to restrictions, both in terms of mobility, of capacity and schedule limitations- are places that have significantly affected the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism activity.
So, does the halt to tourist flows mean the end of overtourism and the rejection of a part of the population? This paper aims to study the perceptions of both citizens and some actors directly involved in tourism activity in two cities relevant to tourism on a global scale, Montréal and Barcelona. In both case studies, the phenomenon of overtourism occupied a central place in the public and media debate. The analysis of the visions of the different stakeholders -through the application of a qualitative methodology based on the study of interviews- makes it possible to review the validity of the perspective on tourism and to adjust or revise, if necessary, the agendas on tourism issues in these cities.
Mots clés : overtourism|COVID-19|urban tourism|social perception|qualitative methods
A105541DS