‘Stop Being a Tourist!’ New Dynamics of Urban Tourism in Berlin‐Kreuzberg

Abstract

Berlin is witnessing a massive tourism boom, and parts of it can be described as 'new urban tourism', which shows a preference for off the beaten track areas and 'authentic' experiences of the city. This form of tourism seems especially salient in Kreuzberg. It is here that an openly articulated critique of tourism attracted national attention in 2011 and has not ceased to do so since. This article aims to better understand the conflictive potential of (new urban) tourism in Kreuzberg. We argue that the readily expressed negative attitudes against tourists and the easily accepted link between tourism and gentrification have to be explained against the backdrop of certain housing-market dynamics. Rising rents and a diminution in the number of flats available for rent are fuelling fears of gentrification in Kreuzberg, while the interest shown in new urban tourism and the comparatively low-priced real-estate market in Berlin result in a growing number of holiday flats. Although adding only slightly to the tightening of the housing market, holiday flats render complex processes of neighborhood change visible and further sustain an already prevalent tourism critique.

Regulating Airbnb: how cities deal with perceived negative externalities of short-term rentals

“…The 'post-tourist' (Feifer, 1985) wants to be regarded as traveller rather than tourist, looking for an authentic experience 'off-the-beaten-track' (Maitland, 2010). This so-called new urban tourism (Füller & Michel, 2014) does not imply that people have diverged from touristic highlights altogether; rather they mix visiting these highlights with performing leisure activities in more local areas (Maitland, 2010). In cities, this implies that an increasing share of visitors is moving away from tourist enclaves to find accommodation in residential neighbourhoods located close to the historic centre, but not planned for tourism (Maitland, 2010;Ioannides et al, 2018).…”

“…What is more, tourism in general and STRs like Airbnb, in particular, are said to contribute to gentrification (Cócola Gant, 2015;Füller & Michel, 2014). This is increasingly the case with STRs since commercial investors are buying up residential properties, turning them into permanent (and often illegal) Airbnb accommodations (Gurran & Phibbs, 2017).…”

“…Fang, Ye, & Law, 2016;Holm, 2016). However, complaints about increasing rents, neighbourhood changes and nuisance are widespread (Espinosa, 2016;Oskam & Boswijk, 2016); for example concerning the liveability and housing availability in Barcelona (Cócola Gant, 2016) and Berlin (Füller & Michel, 2014).…”

Cultural Heritage and Urban Tourism: Historic City Centres under Pressure

“…Investigative work is also being done on the effects of the recent expansion of the tourism footprint in spaces that up to now had not seen visitors. These spaces may be local neighbourhoods in large tourist metropolises like Berlin [52]; historic quarters in cities that are part of leading sun and sand destinations, like Palma de Mallorca [53]; or historic centres in emerging regions like Latin America [54,55] and China [56]. In more recent studies, a frequent theme is the spread of tourism rental accommodation in urban centres.…”

When the spell is broken: gentrification, urban tourism and privileged discontent in the Amsterdam canal district

“…In this respect, tourism has been likened to a performance in which visitors strive to play the part of a local by consuming local customs. 7 The continuous search for authentic experiences can trigger processes of commodification as some aspects of local identity and culture are exploited for profit. 8 This process of commodification is associated with economic and cultural globalization, including the emergence of a global capitalist economy, increased availability of mass transportation and new communication and information technologies, but it has also been produced locally by city governments.…”