Demarketing

Abstract

Ensuring sustainability at a tourist destination is a challenge which is faced by many nations. The challenge compounds since short term monetary gains often blind the desire for sustainable development. The term overtourism has gained popularity during the last few years as instances of anti-tourism reactions have been reported from several cities like Venice, Shimla, Barcelona, etc. An acceptable solution for countering overtourism has not yet been found because of the subjectivity and complexity of the situation. This chapter focuses on deconstructing the situation of overtourism in different parts of the world and how de-marketing can be used as one of the strategies for sustainable tourism. It shows the demarketing structure in marketing framework by modifying the 5As of tourism. It also shows the marketing mix framework within the domain of demarketing. It provides an insight into the role of de-marketing in striking a balance between the interests of local communities and stakeholders on one hand and enhancing the tourist experience at a destination on the other.

European historic cities and overtourism – conflicts and development paths in the light of systematic literature review

“…Thoughtless implementation of redistribution strategy, following literature examples, is expected to be not only inadequate but also counterproductive (Celata & Romano, 2020; Talk et al, 2023; Żemła & Szromek, 2021). In many cases, demarketing activities (Tiwari et al, 2020) or administrative regulations (Azzahra & Nugrahani, 2022; Nepal & Nepal, 2021) aimed at lowering partially the number of visitors in a city might be the better answer than lowering the pressure in the monumental centers via spreading tourism flows without diminishing the number of visitors. However, in most cases, limiting the number of visitors in an old city and/or entrance fees are difficult or even impossible to introduce.…”

Has COVID-19 brought a temporary halt to overtourism?

“…The issue of contention is that "too" many tourists converge in the same destinations during the same period (Kuščer, Mihalič, 2019;Perkumienė, Pranskūnienė, 2019). The major causes that lead to this are an increase in disposable income, a desire to explore the world, rising options in accommodation and better connectivity than before supported the proliferation of tourism (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020a). Nevertheless, overtourism is not new (Wall, 2020) as the negative consequences of tourism were discussed implicitly if not explicitly in the 1960s.…”

“…Seraphin & Ivanov (2020) consider that focusing on intensive growth related to revenue management would yield profits and avoid both overtourism and undertourism. Similarly, several solutions offered by researchers and policymakers such as the incorporation of demarketing strategies into the marketing mix (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020a), technological solutions to manage overtourism (Hospers, 2019), and tourism education to make destinations smart and sustainable (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020b) etc. However, most of the strategies are related to travel limitations, price differentiation, and increasing prices for a product which raises the question of tourists' right to travel.…”

Czy pandemia COVID-19 czasowo zatrzymała zjawisko overtourism?

“…Kluczowym problemem jest nagromadzenie zbyt wielu turystów w tym samym miejscu i czasie (Kuščer, Mihalič, 2019;Perkumienė, Pranskūnienė, 2019). Głównymi przyczynami powstawania tego zjawiska są: wzrost dochodu rozporządzalnego, chęć zwiedzania świata, powstawanie nowych możliwości w zakresie zakwaterowania oraz lepsze niż wcześniej połączenia transportowe, które wpłynęły na upowszechnienie się turystyki (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020a).…”

“…Do tych propozycji należą m.in. : włączenie do kompozycji marketingowej strategii obniżających popyt (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020a), wdrożenie rozwiązań technologicznych pomagających w radzeniu sobie z problemem nadmiernej turystyki (Hospers, 2019) oraz edukacja turystyczna, dzięki której miejsca docelowe stałyby się "inteligentne" i "zrównoważone" (Tiwari, Kainthola, Chowdhary, 2020b). Jednakże strategie te w większości wiążą się z wprowadzaniem ograniczeń oraz z różnicowaniem i wzrostem cen produktów, co rodzi pytania o prawo turystów do podróżowania.…”