overcrowding – International Institute of Tourism Studies

Creating a Tourism Strategy to Sustain Unique, Thriving Ketchikan, Alaska

amandareiserOctober 28, 2022November 15, 2022Leave a comment

Lovely, once-sleepy Ketchikan has evolved into the Gateway to Alaska and Salmon Capital of the World. Set within the Tongass National Forest on Revillagigedo Island in a salt-water channel, Ketchikan is a steep and narrow town with a creek running through it and a mountain rising immediately east of downtown. Bursting with natural beauty and cultural heritage, it has become one of Alaska’s most popular cruise ship stops.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cruise passengers visiting Ketchikan began to overwhelm the town. In 2019, cruise visitors outnumbered the 14,000 locals 88 to 1. While the 2020 cruise season was cut short and the 2021 season canceled, cruise visitation made a strong comeback in 2022 with arrivals anticipated to match or pass the 2019 season.

Recognizing that the impressive rate of tourism rebound and constant outpouring of cruise visitors could overwhelm their small community, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough (KGB) government partnered with Confluence Sustainability and the GW IITS to evaluate the state of tourism in Ketchikan and help create a plan to sustain tourism, the top industry, while protecting the local people, land, and culture that makes Ketchikan such a desirable destination.

KGB Planning Director Richard Harney captured the essence of the project: “Ketchikan is a host community. Hosting and entertaining people from all over the world is what we do and who we are. We, as a community, invite people to Ketchikan so we can share our culture and heritage, but over the years, we as a community have somewhat forgotten this as the single-day visitors have overwhelmed some of the community. GW IITS has been a huge help to our community in figuring out what tourism looks like in the future. I am excited about where we have come from and where this process will take us.”

The GW IITS began working with the KGB in January 2022 to complete a destination assessment and formulate the Ketchikan Tourism Strategy (KTS).

The first phase of this project included a situation analysis evaluating the current state of tourism and sustainability in the destination. Next, the situation analysis was validated during an onsite visit in July 2022 where nearly 85 local stakeholders engaged in focus groups, interviews, and community meetings (with roughly 300 more participating in this meeting on Facebook live). Simultaneously to stakeholder meetings, a resident survey was conducted to evaluate resident sentiment towards tourism, and a visitor review analysis was completed using online reviews from Tripadvisor to gain visitors’ perspectives. Residents in Ketchikan recognize the importance of tourism in the economy but feel that it can negatively impact traffic and congestion, the natural environment, and more. Tourism management is an important factor for the future of Ketchikan, and residents would like to be actively engaged in this process.

*Richard Harney, Planning Director of the KGB, addresses tourism stakeholders during a KTS workshop*

After evaluating stakeholder, resident and visitor responses, the situation analysis was updated and the GW IITS/Confluence Sustainability team returned to Ketchikan in October 2022 to conduct visioning and planning workshops. Attended by 46 tourism stakeholders, the workshops prioritized key issues previously identified and discussed some potential solutions. To enhance the validity of those discussions with a larger sample, the GW IITS/Confluence Sustainability team set up a table at a local art walk event, an additional opportunity to meet with members of the community and engage another 50+ residents on their views about key tourism issues.

*Residents share their perspectives on tourism issues during the Ketchikan art walk*

Between the site visits, key meetings were held with local governance entities including the Ketchikan Indian Community, the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, the City of Ketchikan, the KGB, and the Chamber of Commerce. A Steering Committee and Community Advisory Committee were regularly consulted throughout the planning process.

The development of the Ketchikan Tourism Strategy will be completed in Spring 2023, including an implementation plan and toolkit to guide Ketchikan to a more sustainable tourism future. For the dedicated community that lives and loves Ketchikan, it’s a key step toward protecting their treasured resources and rich heritage while maintaining a thriving tourism economy.

Overtourism Forum Draws Thought Leaders From Around the World

GW IITSOctober 18, 2018Leave a comment

In collaboration with our colleagues at the Center for Responsible Travel, on World Tourism Day—September 27th—the International Institute of Tourism Studies gathered industry leaders from around the world to share their approaches to the vexing challenges that stem from overtourism.

The forum, Overtourism: Seeking Solutions, was a great success in terms of attendance, media coverage and the sharing of ideas for possible pathways forward. As all presenters stressed, overtourism stems from a complex set of challenges; solutions will need to be multi-faceted and site-specific.

Francesca Street—who interviewed three of our panelists for her CNN feature Can the World Be Saved from Overtourism?—summarized the key takeaway as follows: “Speakers agree that government, locals and tourism companies working together is the best recipe for success. Events such as the World Tourism Day Forum also allow for cross-pollination and sharing of ideas on a wider scale."

Johanna Jainchill, in her Travel Weekly story Experts Talk Threat of Overtourism and Possible Solutions, said: "Among the clearest takeaways from the event was that governments worldwide need to step up and recognize they are the first line of defense in saving their historical cities and natural treasures from being "loved to death."

A few additional takeaways...

Recognize the tipping point: More isn't always better. Determine maximum capacity for your destination and monitor social media to determine whether it's on traveler hot lists.
Plan ahead: Make tourism part of comprehensive urban, regional and destination plans.
Stay flexible and adaptable: What works for historic sites doesn't necessarily work for beach communities, for example. Needs differ and change over time.
Rethink good governance and management: DMOs have a vital role to play beyond marketing; they need to participate in the sustainable management of destinations.
Redirect visitors: Encourage visitors to travel smarter, to seek out hidden gems and to contribute to the protection of the places they visit.

For those unable to attend the forum in person or via livestream, we've posted video recordings of the entire day on the International Institute of Tourism YouTube playlist.

PUTTING CLASSROOM LESSONS INTO PRACTICE IN INDONESIA: STUDENTS CONSULT IN POPULAR TOURISM DESTINATIONS OF BALI AND BANDUNG

GW IITSAugust 13, 2018August 15, 2018Leave a comment

Bali’s palm-fringed Kuta beach, a former fishing village, has become one of Indonesia’s major tourist destinations. Last year, one in three of the country’s 13.7 million overseas tourists went to Bali.

While the influx of visitors has been a boon for the local economy, tourism is taking its toll on the local environment. Kuta beach is now drowning in a sea of plastic garbage, which is so overwhelming that earlier this year, local officials declared a “garbage emergency” across a 3.7-mile (6-km) stretch of coast. While much of the waste washes in from the sea, it’s also generated by tourists and residents. Bali’s infrastructure is just not equipped to handle so many people.

Trash disposal is only one challenge posed by overtourism, the recently coined term for too many visitors, which has become a rampant problem that’s plaguing popular destinations around the world. To help them deal with with their particular tourism challenges, George Washington University students and faculty working under the auspices of the International Institute of Tourism Studies recently went to Bali and Bandung—the capital of West Java— to conduct assessments and make recommendations for future development. The consulting project took place at the invitation of and in collaboration with student counterparts from STP Bali and STP Bandung, local universities whose Colleges of Tourism falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism.

“While tourism brings many economic benefits to the island, it’s also creating pressure on local resources and contributing to major environmental problems such as pollution, water depletion, and waste and water management issues,” explains Taylor Ruoff who was among the group of GWU student consultants.

The team of twelve, which included students from the Masters of Tourism Administration program along with one student who is earning her Masters in International Education, used the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria for Destinations as the basis for their assessment in Bali. These criteria are designed to help tourism destinations and businesses protect and maintain natural and cultural resources, maximizing social and economic benefits for host communities and the environment.

The students made a preliminary presentation of their findings and recommendations in Bali at the 2018 Forum for International Tourism & the Environment (FITE), an annual forum that draws students from Indonesia and around the world to participate in yearly competitions and international conferences on tourism and sustainability. They commended the many businesses on the island that had joined the voluntary certification program Tri Hita Karana, which requires that members uphold specific certification practices, and they also cited a couple of temples in particular that were at risk due to overcrowding.

For their work in Bandung—a large city on the island of Java that mostly draws domestic tourists for its commercial, cultural and culinary attractions—the GWU students worked with graduate students from STP Bandung. Together, they assessed the tourism situation in the outlying villages of Jelekong and Alamendah and offered recommendations for improving community-based offerings for tourists, including homestays with local families.

The students presented their findings to community members and government officials from the two villages. “We’d learned in destination management classes about the benefits of bringing together diverse groups of tourism stakeholders with competing opinions and priorities,” explains Ruoff. “Seeing the discussions unfold in-person was eye-opening. You have government officials looking to bring more people and revenue into the town. You also have locals, whose families have always lived in the villages and they don’t necessarily see the benefits of tourism. It’s difficult to make everyone happy. We tried our best to reflect the interests of all stakeholders in our presentation and final report.”

To discuss solutions to various challenges that Indonesia’s tourism industry faces, Anang Sutono, Senior Advisor to the country’s Ministry of Tourism, will be speaking at the World Tourism Day Forum Overtourism: Seeking Solutions. The event, a joint initiative of GW’s International Institute of Tourism Studies and the Center for Responsible Travel, will take place in the Jack Morton auditorium on September 27th. Click here to learn more.