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Tourism policy in Bruges Prof. Dr. Norbert VANHOVE - Member of the Board of Directors WES - Prof. Univerity Antwerp, Belgium
Slideshow
1. Introduction
Tourism policy is a generic term with many interpretations.For too long time tourism policy has been identified with promotion of the public sector. Nowadays the stakeholders are many and the content is much more embracing. Therefore in the first section of this contribution, we will briefly desrcibe the evolution in this content and deal with the present meaning that is given to tourism policy. "Competitiveness" and "sustainability" are the two key terms in the modern view. The situation of Bruges with respect to these two core notions is the subject of the following two sections. The competitiveness analysis is introduced with a short description of the Porter model.
2. Tourism policy
We find a good definition of "tourism policy" with Goeldner, Ritchie and McIntosh (2000) :
" A set of regulations, rules, guidelines, directives, and development/promotion objectives and strategies that provide a framework within which the collective and individual decisions directly affecting tourism development and the daily activities within a destination are taken."
The purpose of tourism policy is twofold : to provide maximum benefits to the stakeholders of a town, region or nation, while minimizing negative impacts.
Tourism policy was not always defined in this way . Indeed there is an evolution in the content of tourism policy. Bécherel (2001) distinguishes four different stages in tourism policy formulation.
In the first stage tourism policy was "promotion" oriented. The pattern being that tourism authorities publicise attractions. Once tourism starts to become established as a significant economic sector, national, regional and local authorities endeavour to maximise the productive potential of the sector by investing in infrastructure and supplying marketing services that the private sector cannot afford or are not yet willing to provide. Tourism policy becomes "promotion and product" oriented.As competition increases and tourism activity intensifies, tourism policy focuses on improving competitiveness by creating a statutory framework to monitor, control and enhance quality and efficiency in the industry and to protect resources.
But in today's globalised marketplace, strategy and strategic planning are becoming key elements of tourism policy. In this fourth stage destinations must think strategically; policy must be designed to position the destination to attract identified markets, create value through innovation, encourage partnerships between stakeholders and coordinate actions and initiatives.
This brings Bécherel to five areas of tourism policy in the new age of tourism :
- communication policy ;
- product policy ;
- environmental policy ;
- competitiveness : quality and efficiency ;
- strategy : positioning and focus.
The stakeholders of tourism policy in the case of Bruges are many and are of a wide variety:
- tourism industry sectors such as accomodation, restaurants and food service in general, attractions, entertainment, events, transportation, shopping, etc.;
- tourists/excursionists;
- local town council;
- local destination management organization ( DMO) or tourist office;
- residents of the "host destination" Bruges;
- local environmental groups;
- cultural groups;
- social groups.
In effect, tourism policy seeks to provide high quality visitor experiences that are profitable to Bruges stakeholders while ensuring that the town is not compromised in terms of its social, cultural and environmental integrity.
The most important role of tourism policy, according to Goeldner, Ritchie and McIntosh, is to ensure that a given destination has a clear idea as to where it is going or what it is seeking to become in the long term (see strategy). In parallel, it must have the ambition to create a climate in which collaboration among the many stakeholders in tourism is supported.
In specific terms, in the eyes of the above mentioned authors, tourism policy fulfills the following functions :
- it defines the terms under which tourism operators must function ;
- it sets out activities and behaviours that are acceptable ;
- it provides a common direction and guidance for all tourism stakeholders within a destination ;
- it facilitates consensus around specific objectives and strategies for a given destination ;
- it provides a framework for public/private discussions on the role and contributions of the tourism sector to the economy and to society in general ;
- it allows tourism to interface more effectively with other sectors of the economy.
Tourism policy affects the extent to which our day-to-day operational activities are successful. Here we refer to marketing, event development, visitor reception, attraction operations and others.
The focus of tourism policy is to establish a competitive and sustainable destination. Indeed there are two primary parameters that must be satisfied if the destination is to be successful: competitiveness and sustainability. They are mutually supportive. They are the key tasks of tourism destination management.
Competitiveness refers to its ability to compete effectively and profitably in the marketplace. Sustainability pertains to the ability of a destination to maintain the quality of its physical, cultural, social, and environmental resources while it competes in the marketplace.
According to Goeldner, Ritchie and McIntosh successful tourism destination management involves economic/business management skills balanced with environmental management skills. They are summarized in fig. 1. which is adapted from Goeldner and al.
III. 1. Elements of successful "total tourism destination management"
Competitiveness Business/economic management skills
Sustainability Environmental management capabilities
- Strategic planning· Marketing (the 4 P's)
- Human resources management· Information management
- Financial management
- Operations management
- Organization management
- Cultural heritage management
- Visitor management
- Resident /community management
- Water quality management
- Park and plant management
- Air quality management
- Comprehensive planning
Tourism destination management information system Destination monitoring Destination research In this contribution we maintain the distinction between the major policy components : "competitiveness" and "sustainability" as mentioned in Fig. 1. Let us start with sustainbility.
3. Tourism policy: sustainability
Those who are familiar with Bruges, know very well that "sustainability" was always a major element in the tourism policy. The tourism product policy of Bruges is closely related to the sustainability issue. The following four policy fields or instruments are an illustration of this position.
Cultural heritage management - Restoration policy
The restoration policy of Bruges started very early. At present a distinction is made between restorations of protected monuments in public ownership, protected monuments in private ownership and unprotected private premises. The first grant to private owners to restore remarkable premises goes back to 1877. In this respect Bruges was a pioneer in Europe. Since then 700 houses have been restored with the financial support of the town.
Since Januari 1st of this year, a new regulation is applicable. Nowadays the restoration grant amounts to 50 % of eligible works visible from the street ( in exceptional cases a grant of 30 % is provided for the garden front and interior works). The maximum grant is fixed to 18.750 euro per premises. In the year 2000, 35 grants were provided.
The town authority has regulations in many other fields such as : architecture, demolition of premises, renovation and maintenance of premises, use of materials in construction and renovation, advertising, signboards, etc.
Modern architecture is encouraged in new estate provided there is respect for quality "which pursues the dialogue with the history". The latter is a vague formulation. The housing project on the site of the former prison, proves how difficult the balance can be between traditional and modern architecture.
Water quality management
The hotel investment take off in the late 1970s and 1980s cannot be explained without reference to the "reien project" (canals project) together with the growing interest in city-tours stimulated by the growing tourism short break market. This "reien project" was a huge clean-up operation of the canals in Bruges, together with the construction of a sewage system in the old town and the implementation of important waterworks to manage the canal waters. M Van Maele, the mayor at that time, was the inspirator and the driving force of the project. It started in 1971 and was finished in 1976.
Comprehensive planning
The foundations of the present livability of the inner town can be found in the excellent publication "Structuurplan Brugge" (1976). It was for many years the bible for the restructuring of the inner city (housing, monuments, traffic management, conservation, restoration, shopping streets, economic activities in general, landscaping, etc.). Many people were involved under the chairmanship of A. Vanden Abeele and J. Tanghe (Groep Planning) as planner. Ever now the basic ideas of that work can be noticed in the present policy and present physical structure planning.
Visitor management and resident/ community management - hotelstop
One must guarantee the human presence within the boundaries of the destination. This human presence has two main components: visitor management and resident/community management. The regulation with respect to tourist coaches is an example of visitor management in Bruges. The many coaches bringing day-visitors are not allowed to enter the centre of the city but are concentrated on a specially designated coach parking area.
The development of the tourism sector, especially the day-visitors, can lead to a conflict with the local population. In fact there were some tensions in the early 1990s. The growth of the tourism activity also leads to a change in the function of many premises. Houses are reconverted to hotels, restaurants, tourist shops and second (holiday) homes. A decrease of the population in the inner town and reduced livability are the direct consequences. Therefore, the city authority has introduced strict regulation with respect to second homes. But also large scale hotel projects are not allowed in the inner city. New projects on the outskirts of the town and small scale initiatives (limited extension of existing hotels or renovation of premises which are not suitable for a normal housing function) are subject to a selective procedure. In fact it is a relative hotelstop. Nevertheless it is a constraint on the growth potential of the tourism sector.
4. Tourism policy : competitiveness
4.1. Competitiveness and the Porter model
Before considering the competitive situation of Bruges, let us pay attention to a model developed by M. Porter (1990), which he later applied to the tourism sector ( THR - Barcelona). Porter claims that the success of a firm does not only depend on the strategy and positioning of the tourist centre (see the five competitive forces of Porter) but also on its embedding in their environment. Regions, destinations/clusters succeed in partical industry or activity because their home environment is most dynamic and the most challenging, and stimulates firms to upgrade their advantage This is his central thesis.
In tourism there are many clusters: groups of companies directly and indirectly related to tourism and concentrated in a specific geographical area. A tourism product as a composite product - attractions, accomodation, transport and other facilities - stimulates the clustering process. Typical examples of tourism clusters are Bruges, Venice, Iguazu, Ibiza, and many others.
The starting point for the development of strategies to improve the competitive position of a destination is identical to the determinants of competitiveness (Smeral, 1996). Based on the Porter model, competitive advantages of a destination emerge in a dynamic system consisting of four interdependent determinants, which together form a diamond, a term Porter uses to refer to the determinants (see Fig.2)(Porter, 1990)
Fig. 2. The Determinants of Competitive Advantages of Destinations
These determinants are :
- Factor conditions. The destination's position in factors of production necessary to compete in the tourism industry.
- Demand conditions. The nature of (home) demand for tourism products and services.
- Related and supporting industries. The presence or abscence in the region of supplier industries and related industries.
- Firm strategy, structure, organization and rivalry. The conditions in the nation (destination) governing how companies are created, organized, and managed, and the nature of (domestic) rivalry.
- Two additional variables - chance and goverment - can influence the system in important ways and are necessary to complete the theory.
The "diamond" is a mutually reinforcing system. The effect of one determinant depends on the state of the others. Favourable demand conditions, for example, will not lead to competitive advantage unless the state of rivalry is sufficient to cause firms (e.g. hotels) to respond to them. Advantages in one determinant can also create or upgrade advantages in other.
What is the possible content of the determinants of a the tourism cluster in general and in Bruges in particular ?
Factor conditions
The key elements of factor conditions are factor endowments and their permanent upgrading. Without factor endowments and attractions in particular - natural, cultural or man-made - there is no tourism activity. What do we understand by factor conditions ?
- Factor endowments ;
- Natural resources (beaches, etc. but also population and geographical location) ;
- Cultural and historical resources ( monuments, cultural heritage, museums, art collections, customs, handicraft, canals, events, etc.) ;
- Capital and infrastructure resources (accomodation, transport infrastructure, site development ) ;
- Human resources ;
- Factor prices ;
- Production efficiency.
Demand conditions
Demand conditions, as second broad determinant of competitive advantage, applied to a tourism cluster is slightly different from the original formulation in the Porter model. We can distinguish the following items :
The latter aspect is of utmost importance. We agree with Pechlaner and Smeral (2001) that "Quality-conscious tourists exert constant quality control, pushing suppliers towards high-quality and attractively priced market segments. Early market saturation forces suppliers to readjust quickly by instituting innovations and accessing international markets".
Related and supporting industries/activities
The competitive position of a destination also depends on the diversity and the quality of supporting suppliers. In any destination there is a need for many different types of suppliers.
Market structure, rivalry, organization and strategy
The key element of this determinant is the availability of a strategic plan supported by all parties involved, both public and private sector.
Local Government
In the prevailing economic system tourism policy without the involvement of the public sector is not very realistic. Unfortunately tourism policy in Belgium is too often indentified with public authorities. The definition of the determinants in a tourism cluster must have shown that a successful competitive policy depends on the involvement of the public and private sector. Nevertheless some specific public actions can stimulate or impede tourism development. We refer to the hotelstop regulation in Bruges, implementation of visitor management, traffic plan, taxation, etc..
4.2. Bruges' tourism policy : strenghts with respect to competitiveness
The evolution of tourism activity in Bruges in the last three decades has been spectacular. The number of hotels increased from 36 in 1970 to 110 at present.The hotel capacity increased from 1900 beds in 1970 to 6653 in 2001. Several existing hotels are extending their capacity and new projects are under construction outside the town center. The number of boat trips on the canals - a good parameter for measuring tourism activity in Bruges - shows the following evolution: 234.000 trips in 1970 and 929.000 in the year 2000.
This performance would not be possible without a number of strong points. They are presented in fig. 3. Our position is based on in depth interviews with representatives of the tourism sector in Bruges, WES research and personal observation over many years. We cannot deal with each of these strengths in this contribution; however we would like to give a short comment on five strong points of competitiveness and tourism policy in general.
Product policy
The attractions are the core business of any tourism product policy. From what we have seen in section 3, over many decades the local government has made great efforts to preserve, improve and enhance the culture patrimonium of the town.
During the last three years, Bruges invested (provision of grants) the following amounts (in mln euro) for restorations alone.
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The town also imposed strict rules on owners to preserve the
cultural heritage. All these efforts by the local government and
thousands of owners have been appreciated by Unesco. In the year
2000 the historic city centre was offficially recognised as UNESCO
World Heritage. (this was already the case for the beguinage in
1998 and the belfry a year later).
We do not exagerate by saying that the tourism policy is mainly
supply oriented.
Many other items of the local budget are (partially) tourism
oriented (e.g. renovation grants, cultural infrastructure, roads,
parks, parkings, public lightening, tourism reception
infrastructure, etc.). Unfortunately it is impossible to separate
the tourism share.
To be complete with respect to product policy, it should be underlined that the hotel accomodation is of a high standard.
Cultural Capital of Europe
Thanks to this rigorous product policy and the many efforts of the local authorities, Bruges became Cultural Capital of Europe. This title and recognition has recently induced a lot of national/regional financial transfers in favour of the town to restore monuments and buildings and the construction of a new concert hall. It will contribute to an even greater awareness of Bruges worldwide and strengthen the tourism image of the town. The impact will be great not only in 2002 but also many years later provided that the necessary marketing efforts are made.
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Factor conditions |
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Demand conditions |
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Related and supporting activities |
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Market structure, rivalry, organization and strategy |
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Local goverment |
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Alliance between art cities in Flanders
There are not many regions or countries in the world with a concentration and density of art cities as have Flanders and Belgium in general. For a year now, the six flemish art cities Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen, have formed a pool for tourism promotion. This is good example of cooperation among the Flemisch towns; they form together the macro product Flemish art cities. This initiative is supported at the provincial level and "Toerisme Vlaanderen". All together they finance a budget of 1.2 mln euro.
Typical souvenirs
Souvenirs shops, mainly laces and chocolate products, are an important supporting activity. According to the WES study (1992) on the economic significance of tourism in Bruges, souvenirs represent 9.1 % of the turnover of overstay tourists and 13.5 % day visitors. In these figures general shopping is not included.
Well organized hotel sector
It is very important for a tourism destination that the main private stakeholder is well organized. The VZW hotels regio Brugge is not only dynamic but also a representative partner in dialogue with the town. They recently developed a good communicative and commercial website (www.hotels-Brugge.org) responding to the needs of customers. The Belfort hotels, as a special segment of the hotel supply, are cooperating in many fields. To sustain the MICE market promotion, Bruges' hotelsector mees the town part on an equal footing.
4.3. Bruges' tourism policy: weaknesses with respect to competitiveness
Although one would estimate that the strong points of tourism policy dominate, following the Porter model, there are indeed a number of weaknesses. They are summarized in Fig. 4. Five of them deserve more attention. They should , beside others, be the subject of special attention of Bruges' tourism policy in the near future.
Strategic plan
A strategic plan is a basic and necessary tool for a good tourism policy. However this instrument was never available in Bruges. Strategic planning is a logical thought process . It may be defined as the process whereby an organization (e.g. Bruges as tourism cluster) analyses the strengths and weaknesses in its current and prospective markets, decides the position it seeks to attain, and defines strategies and costed the programmes of activity to achieve the aims (Morrison, 1989). In this respect it is important to have :
This strategic plan should be the medium and long term guideline for all stakeholders and be subscribed by the latter. There are two major advantages of such a strategic plan. First, one creates a framework for the marketing of the destination. Second, one creates a unanimously agreed policy. Using suitable marketing strategies, it is possible to pinpoint demand conditions, i.e. guest segments that find customer value in visiting Bruges ( Pechlaner & Smeral, 2001)
III. 4. Weaknesses or points for improvement with respect to competitiveness
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Factor conditions |
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Demand conditions |
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Related and supporting activities |
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Market structure, rivalry, organization and strategy. |
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Local goverment |
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Low communication budget and public-private partnership
The communication budget (all pull and push actions together) of Bruges is very low ; a budget of 0.75 mln euro is not in proportion to the tourism sector turnover of nearly 200 mln euro and with a big potential market. It must be recognised that Bruges benefits a lot from free publicity (articles in newspapers and magazines, TV programmes, film). This is a strong and valuable promotion instrument.
It should also be emphasized that one cannot expect that all financial efforts for communication should be financed by the public sector. The financial efforts of the private sector for general communication support is limited to 0.1 mln euro in the framework of "meeting in Bruges" at equal rate with the local Tourist Office. Therefore we plea for a fundamental increase of communication means based on a public-private partnership (50/50 ratio).
Quality plan
In a competitive environment and where the consumers have an increasing quality awareness, quality management is top priority in destination management.
"Quality of service in tourism" is the quality of the many services which are required, both individually and collectively, for a visitor to first, be able to visit the destination, to drive a high level of enjoyment and satisfaction from his/her total experience in visiting the given destination ( Ritchie and Crouch, 1997). All this has nothing to do with luxuary, but simply delivering value for money.
Considering that there is (a) a very strong relationship between positive experiences and holiday decision-making and that (b) quality ought to be a differention factor in the marketing, a quality plan must become a vital element of the tourism policy in Bruges. All stakeholders should be involved. In a quality plan many categories - each with their many attributes - have to be evaluated :
Inadequate MICE infrastructure
Bruges has a good image as a congress or meeting venue. The target market should be congresses of a small and medium size. Although Bruges was quite successful on the MICE market in the recent past, it has not yet exhausted its market potential (Cope, 2001). Threeproblems are responsible for this situation. First, 'Old Saint John' Congress Center - the main congress venue which has an excellent location and several attractive meeting rooms - needs an upgrading with specific congress infrastructure. Second, larger hotels are not always cooperative in providing accomodation. Third, the marketing efforts are insufficient
Destination management information system
One needs a tourism destination information system (see fig 1) to support policy formulation, strategic planning, day-to-day decision-making and performance evaluation. There are two major components :
5. Conclusion
The tourism policy of Bruges has a long history and many facets. The positive influence on the development of tourism cannot be denied. It can be considered as an example for many art-city clusters in Europe. On the whole the policy is supply or product oriented. This is conform to the present trend. The formulated suggestions, both on the supply and on the demand side, can be new levers for the coming decade and be instruments to harvest the benefits of "Bruges Cultural capital of Europe".
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- Cooper, C., Fayos-Solà, E., and Pedro, A., (2001), Globalization, tourism policy and tourism education, TedQual, n° 2
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- WES, (1992), De ekonomische betekenis van het toerisme te Brugge, part 3
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