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Urban tourism Edit Entry Comment(0)
For a long time, tourism was associated with centrifugal flows of urban residents
going to the countryside or the seaside for a holiday or an excursion. The
concept of urban tourism only entered the research agenda in the 1980s, when
it became obvious that many cities were developing into important destinations.
Business travel and city trips have always existed, but the leisure motives have
become more important and the numbers of urban tourists have increased
considerably.

The delay of interest in urban tourism can be explained by a neglect in urban
studies to assess the importance of leisure, recreation and tourism in an urban
environment. Further, there was a lack of understanding of the urban tourism
system. The difficulty of separating this from non-tourism functions in the wide
range of urban activities and the tendency to explore the issue of urban tourism
in case studies rather than by conceptual studies have contributed to the slow
progress of urban tourism research. Contrary to other destinations, where the
product (the supply side) as well as the range of activities could be well
described, in the multifunctional urban system the identification of the tourism
function and the multipurpose character of many visits is far more complicated.
Understanding urban tourism and the product life cycle of urban destinations
implies an integrated approach in the analysis of forms and functions. Research
into new methods to identify the role of tourism and tourists in the urban
environment is now in full progress and is the objective of many comparative
studies.

The recent popularity of publications on urban tourism covers aspects such as
trends in demand, creating urban attractions and clusters, urban planning and
policy issues, impact studies, product-place marketing and resource and visitor
management. The concepts which were introduced to understand tourism as a
system needed to be adapted to the urban context. Cities can be seen as a
spatially concentrated spectrum of opportunities (the Tourist Opportunity
Spectrum, also referred to as recreation opportunity spectrum) in which one can
distinguish core elements and secondary elements. The first group refers to the
mix of attractions which are unique and interesting and thus capable of
attracting tourists to the place, whereas the second group includes the range of
urban facilities which support the touristic experience, without being a first
motive for the visit. The group of primary elements of the urban product

includes both the setting of the place (urban morphology, built heritage, green
spaces, waterfronts) and the offer of facilities which allow for different activities,
such as the cultural resources (museums, theatres, exhibition halls and so on),
sport facilities, the amusement sector (such as casinos and theme parks) and
the agenda of festivals and events. These core attractions are supported by
facilities in the hospitality sector (hotels, restaurants, pubs) and in the retail
trade, including shopping facilities and street markets. The latter group can be
considered to be the added value to the urban tourist experience. In some cities,
the shopping opportunities are becoming so attractive to the extent that they
can be considered as a core product for the market of shopping tourism (the
Mall of America in Minneapolis, USA, is quickly assuming this core position). In
most cities the core products belong to the public domain, whereas the
supporting facilities result from initiatives in the private sector. This
interdependency partners is typical for the supply side of the urban tourism
product.

Historic cities, in particular, hold many opportunities to develop tourism
products based on cultural heritage resources. The trend towards
tourismification of cultural heritage responds to a

growing market for cultural tourism. The markets for city trips and for cultural
tourism and shopping tourism are growing and are strongly interrelated.
Several surveys indicate in the ranking of motives of urban tourists, the
predominant role of visiting a unique and interesting place. Visiting museums,
discovering interesting architecture, learning about the history of a place and,
above all, seeing the well-known landmarks have become important aspects in
the experience. This type of behaviour is typical for city trips and short breaks
and also penetrates in the market of business travel. However, distinguishing
the market segments in urban tourism remains a difficult exercise because of
the complexity of motives and behaviour patterns.

Seeing the high potentials of urban tourism and the wide range of facilities
which benefit from such earnings, many cities are now exploring the possibilities
of developing tourism as a lever to diversify and stimulate for the urban
economy. This has become a key instrument in many urban revitalisation
projects, in urban waterfront development plans, in the upgrading of cultural
activities (such as festivals and events), in the conservation of historical

heritage and even an incentive to redesign urban shopping areas. The success
of the urban product mix has even led to a stage of saturation in the product life
cycle of several historic cities. The issue of carrying capacity and sustainable
development has become a major concern in urban management policies. In
addition, this market of urban destinations, particularly in Europe, is becoming
highly competitive. The traditional top destinations such as London and Paris
are now competing with numerous 'new' urban choices, such as Berlin,
Barcelona, Munich, Prague and Dublin.

Gradually the focus of tourism research is moving from the place-marketing
issues towards a discussion on resource and management strategies. The
competitive advantage and, as such, the chances of the sustainability of the
urban forms and function now lie in developing cultural tourism products with a
strong local identity (sense of place capacity) and with the image of uniqueness
and authenticity, despite the strong globalisation trends in the tourism market.
The combination of sustainable development in which the physical and social
impacts of tourism can be monitored and the economic benefits optimised
requires a new approach in urban planning, a strategic marketing and
management policy and a better understanding of the touristic experiences in
the urban environment. Understanding the synergy between tourism activities
and other urban functions is necessary in order to develop and sustain urban
destinations of a high quality both for these temporary and permanent
populations.

Further reading

Ashworth, GJ. and Dietvorst, A. (eds) (1995) Tourism and Spatial
Transformations, Wallingford: CAB International. Cazes, G. and Potier, F. (1996)
Le Tourisme Urbain,

Paris: Presses universitaires de France. Getz, D. (1991) Festivals, .Special
Events and Tourism,

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Hinch, T.D. (1996) 'Urban tourism :
perspectives on sustainability', The Journal of Sustainable Tourism 4(2):
95-110.
Jansen-Verbeke, M. and van Rekom, J. (1996) 'Scanning museum visitors:

urban tourism marketing', Annals of Tourism Research 23(2): 364-75.

Page, S. (1995) Urban Tourism, London: Routledge.