An increasing number of visitors has sparked numerous anti-tourism movements in Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Locals blame tourists for driving up housing costs, inflation, and causing environmental degradation. Some affected regions are beginning to take small steps to ease their residents’ concerns.
The tourism boom is driving up prices in shops as well as housing costs, a surge which locals say is complicating their access to housing.
These protests will go nowhere as airlines, cruise lines & governments want the inflows of cash.
It is the working class goobers that are being priced out of tourist attractions. Let them eat cake!
I think that the marketing principle of price elasticity should be brought to bear on the problem of too many visitors. As the price rises fewer customers will buy.
The locality should place entry fees and/ or taxes on locales that are flooded with too many outsiders. Locals who can prove their residency should be exempt. All others should be charged a price that will discourage many. The price can be adjusted until the desired equilibrium is reached.
For example, I love Broadway shows. The last time I visited NYC I wanted to see “A Beautiful Noise.” The ticket price was $300. I gave it a miss. I’m sure that they have consultants who calculate the price that will maximize income.
They operate on the same revenue model as airline seats. As soon as the plane departs or the show starts, unsold seats become worthless. So the goal is to fill every seat. They both have “first class” and “coach” seats that have different costs - although the theater calls them “orchestra” and “loge” and “balcony”.
So I agree - they undoubtedly have formulae or consultants who help them maximize revenue.
“The locality should place entry fees and/ or taxes on locales that are flooded with too many outsiders”
I’ve been saying that for years, in regards to where I live. But the local businesses are in control behind the curtain, and they do not give a rip about the quality of life of the local residents, they care about the dollars the tourists are bringing in, and want to hoover up every last one of them.
Sure, like an airline there are different “classes” of service. But there are also time delimited pricing options. You can get 1/2 price tickets at TIX the afternoon of most shows, and most shows, except for the rare mega-hits, are discount priced at the last minute to get some revenue rather than none. Sometimes they’re discounted if you purchase far ahead. And of course there are scalpers which can operate at the fringes and who have the same incentives as the Producer - to put fannies in the seats - and who sometimes “bail” at the last minute with substantial price cuts rather than just burn the ticket.
There are other avenues: affinity marketing “bring your whole church for the low low price of …” which segment not by the product being offered but the sales segmentation by unrelated interest. There are “Broadway Clubs” which simply gather aficionados and get a bulk discount.
I long for the days when there was a simple price tag on everything. 10¢ for a banana. Full stop. No “Download our banana app” or “Join our Banana Club and earn points!” No help line you have to call to buy a banana, not even a “Buy 6, get a banana free!”.
The single biggest problem for our society is the metal exertion needed to decipher 547 different companies’ ways of buying thing. “Tap here!” “Insert card and pull out quickly” “Leave chip inserted”. “Slide with stripe down”. “Put card on screen”
“Would you like to leave a tip?” Of course you would, otherwise you look like a cheap SOB to the poor girl making your tuna sub behind the counter.
“Handicapped parking here.” “Expectant Mother Space” “Parking for veterans” “Curbside Pickup Station” “EVcharging only” “Contractors Parking” “Employee Of The Month”. OMG, how many ways do we have to segment a parking lot before our heads explode?
And try figuring out bike lanes. Sometimes they’re on the side of the road. Sometimes they’re next to the parked cars. Or the cars park farther out so the bikers will be protected. But sometimes the bikers have to go through intersections and are in the traffic lane. It’s a wonder every biker isn’t already dead, just trying to figure out where to ride.
OK. Sorry., Got a little carried away there. I’ll calm down. Xanax could help, maybe.
That didn’t work at Disneyland. When Michael Eisner became CEO in 1984, he greatly increased the price of entry to the park. American families proved to be remarkably “price inelastic” and continued to visit both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in droves. The spectacle fueled one of the most gigantic rises in excessive Executive Compensation in US history.
No one ever went broke betting on the ignorance and innumeracy of the American people.
Disney is more of a special case. Demand for their parks is driven by people with single digit ages, who do not understand money. DIS has continued to escalate prices at the parks. Management says they will continue to escalate prices until they see a significant reduction in attendance. Not a good look for a company that presents itself as “family friendly”, but there it is.
Mostly, but not entirely. I was shocked to learn that there are adults, seniors, that regularly attend Disney parks without any children in tow. They aren’t there so much for the rides, but instead for the shows, the food, the comfort, and the nostalgia.
Disney Park Attendance:
Under 18 - 15%
18 - 25 - 19%
25 - 49 - 47%
65+ - 10%
So, it appears that a substantial portion of park goers are indeed there on their own volition rather than because “we have to take the kids”. In our case, once all our kids hit their older teens, we pretty much stopped going to the parks.
Master entertainers (William Shakespeare, Walt Disney) know how to entertain diverse audiences at the same event, royalty and peasants, kids and parents. Mr. Laidlaw, my highschool English teacher.
Yes, of course! I was referring to the majority of the 18-25 and 65+ groups. That’s 29% that are very likely there without kids. Some grandparents bring kids, but not all.
