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The site : revising the tourist offer

Dr Christian REY - President of the Geneva Tourism Office, Switzerland

 

 

Before tackling the question of the site itself, we thought it important to consider the historical background of tourism beforehand.

Although tourism existed at the end of the last century, it only truly got started at the beginning of this century. Initially for the higher income groups, its two main areas of interest were the spa towns/centres and mountain resorts, whilst spa resorts by the sea arrived a little later, as did holidays for leisure and pleasure. The latter only really appeared between the wars when paid holidays were given to a large part of the population.

After the Second World War, tourism was also very strongly stimulated by widely available rail travel and by the arrival of the car. Offering mostly European destinations to begin with, it was enlarged at the beginning of the 1960's with the growth of air transport and the introduction of charter flights. Very quickly a progressive increase in the areas of interest was seen as a ripple effect around the developing transport facilities.

The arrival of fast air travel in the 1970's undoubtedly contributed even further to the development of tourism which by now had now reached global status.

Discussing the globalisation of tourism is highly relevant here. A look at what is available in a small travel agency is ample proof of this.

Even more important than the development of the airline networks which made access to tourist destinations the world over much easier, the drop in transport prices was the crucial factor which caused demand to soar.

Helped by improvements in standards of living and wishing to travel ever further for their holidays, tourists had, moreover, become used to a certain level of comfort in the daily existence and did not want to have any unpleasant surprises when on holiday, e.g. the Holiday Inn slogan in the 1970's : "The best surprise is no surprise" ; even though they are more then ever looking to experience local lifestyles and cultures.

We have also seen a development of the offer and consequently of the site. This is true both in terms of hotel infrastructures with construction being increasingly functional, providing more modern bathrooms and bedrooms, and in terms of the offer available which has also been renewed to take account of increasingly demanding customer requirements. For example, departure and return dates now have to coincide with weekends. Another example is that basic accommodation is no longer acceptable. The Club Mediterranean tents of the 1960's, which had nevertheless been successful, were gradually replaced by quite luxurious hotels, although for cost reasons and to "popularise" demand and therefore appeal to other classes of customer, the company had to revert to more modest establishments. The very high level of meals in terms of quality and quantity (unlimited) were, however, maintained.

Excessive beachside construction in, for example, Malaga, the Canary Islands or La Grande Motte, in France, has been slowed down, or stopped, in most industrialised countries. However a lot remains to be done in developing countries which are beginning to open themselves to tourism and who for reasons either of financial gain, lack of suitable legislation or corruption, emulate and even amplify past bad examples carried out in certain European countries.

New moral standards have most certainly been established and although there is still a "popular" clientele who, for reasons of price and other considerations, continue to frequent the overpopulated and "concrete" resorts, this is no longer the case for the vast majority of new tourists. These people who live in towns, are looking for a complete change of scenery and to be able to say to their acquaintances and friends that "there were hardly any people on the beaches and in the restaurants". Furthermore the nature concept is becoming increasingly important.

Thus changes in attitude gradually became apparent from the end of the 1980's. Moreover, the increased desire to integrate the two new planetary preoccupations, namely the right to develop and the demand to intelligently manage environmental resources, led to the setting up in 1992 of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and the subsequent adoption of "Agenda 21". Further tangible applications are still to be drawn up in this area, but the way ahead has already been indicated.

Co-operation concerning new relevant policy, so that the economic world contributes to the fulfilment of sustainable development is an answer to the crisis hitting industrialised countries. Globalisation urgently needs to find its significance and a sense of direction, with employment being explicitly involved.

Many players and observers of the tourist industry have understood the need to reformulate the models and tourist products with sustainability in mind, in order to come back to cultural, social and environmental values able to ensure the long-lasting nature of tourist resources.

This is why it appears urgent to promote the means to set up and manage a more responsible type of tourism. These means are eco-audits, quality labels, awards and prizes, good conduct codes, monitoring and information systems, quality charters and training programmes. In Switzerland, for example, the Tourist Federation and other important organisations including the association of hotel owners, have established a system of quality labels which are granted in compliance with very strict standards.

It is imperative that the tourist site offer be revised and that demand be analysed as a function of sustainable development requirements, for example, by finding the means to restrict the number of visitors whilst keeping a site profitable and by controlling ecological problems (road traffic and parking). Old operating procedures can also be improved by establishing consensus notably with the authorities allocating building permissions, transport and tourist industries who influence the offer as a whole, as well as with the media who play a significant role in promoting the tourist resorts to the public at large and to tour operators. In this way Summits such as this one at Chamonix will undoubtedly encourage the implementation of new standards in tourism, whatever the place and even if their application becomes a global challenge.

However the presentations of our colleagues in Davos, Zakopane and Calvia in Mallorca, based on their thankfully successful experiences, will provide us with more concrete information.