BUSINESS NEWS


Oliver Martin: ‘Even [tourism dispersal] is not sustainable in the long term. We are going to have to turn to regulations, like visa limits, to cope with demand’


‘Tourism is not a right – we must limit numbers’


Experts issue sustainability warning at Global Resilience Summit. By Lee Hayhurst


Current levels of growth in tourism are insupportable and regulations are needed to make the sector sustainable, the Global Resilience Summit was told. Oliver Martin, partner at Twenty31


Consulting, told the annual event in London that “absolute growth” can no longer be the main aim for the sector. “We have been stuck for a long


period of time in the concept of absolute growth – tourism for the sake of tourism,” he said. “This is a huge problem for the


industry because we are now starting 72 21 NOVEMBER 2019


to see issues around overtourism and sustainable travel problems.” Martin said there is a balance to be


struck between exploiting the tourism asset – the destination – and the gains of tourism to fund conservation. “Sustainable tourism is starting


to shift beyond ecotourism into the mainstream and protected areas can drive real sustainable growth for a whole series of tourism destinations around the world,” he said. Charlie Ballard, global director,


strategic insights, at TripAdvisor, said its data can be used by destinations to


disperse tourism away from hotspots. And he said having the data so you


know where the crisis points will be and how to invest to mitigate those is vital with global tourism set to double in size in the next decade. “That’s a lot of money to be spent


but it’s also a lot of people. How are we going to prepare for that? I see this as the biggest thing we all need to be talking about,” he said. “We have to learn to travel


Continued on page 70 travelweekly.co.uk


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