2. Syllabus Link
The consequences of unsustainable touristic
growth in rural and urban tourism hotspots,
including the concept of carrying capacity and
possible management options to increase site
resilience
3. Two Main Approaches
• Managing the supply involves increasing the
resources for tourists so the carrying capacity
is increased.
• Managing the demand involves keeping
visitor numbers low so that carrying capacity
is not reached.
4. 1. Managing the Supply
The supply of tourism refers to the supply of
things that tourists need, including both primary
and secondary tourist facilities. Management
can include:
• Increase the number of hotels, roads, toilets
and so on to meet the needs of the tourist
• Increase the number of attractions
5. • Space the attractions out more, so that tourists
are also spread out and carrying capacity is not
reached so quickly
• Improve the throughput of visitors. This means
making visitors move more quickly through the
area so more visitors can get through. Inside the
Taj Mahal, visitors are not allowed to stop walking
and photographs are banned – so that there is a
greater ‘throughput’ of tourists.
6. The attraction could be
closed if the number of
visitors reaches an
unsustainable level.
This has recently occurred
in Thailand on some of the
islands in the Andaman
sea.
7. 2. Managing the Demand
Managing the demand
for tourism means either
encouraging people to go
elsewhere and thereby
reduce demand for the
initial attraction,
discouraging them from
coming altogether, or
limiting the number of
visitors allowed.
8. • Impose limits: Putting a limit on the number
of people who can enter. For example, allow
up to 200 people at a time, or a maximum of
1500 people per day.
• Permit systems: By insisting that people
obtain a permit, it is likely to put some people
off bothering and therefore reduce the
demand. For example, Nepal keeps its
numbers of mountain climbers low by
charging a high fee for a permit
9. • Zoning: This is a policy of allowing visitors into a
designated area, but restricting them from entering
other parts of the tourist area. It can also separate
activities that come into conflict e.g. sailing and water
skiing.
• Increase prices: When prices go up, fewer people are
prepared to pay for it and the demand goes down.
• Information sharing: Increasingly, tourist hotspots are
informing visitors that they are reaching saturation
levels. For example, iItaly, the Cinque Terre (a popular
set of seaside villages) have produced an app so that
visitors can see which towns are busy and which are
quieter, in the hope that tourists will avoid the busy
places.
