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4 MASS TOURISM Benefits and costs Norbert Vanhove Mass tourism is related to two main characteristics: (a) participation of large numbers of people in tourism; and (b) the holiday is standardized, rigidly packaged and inflexible. The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to continue to grow during the next decade, and with it the phenomenon of mass tourism. Benefits and costs of tourism can be measured at different levels: national, regional or local. In all cases a social cost- benefit analysis is the adequate approach. In such an approach paid and unpaid benefits and costs and side effects are taken into account. The key benefits of mass tourism are income and employment generation. For both benefits input-output analysis is the best method of assessment. The key cost items are the so-called incidental costs. These lead to quality-of-life costs and public or fiscal costs. To cope with the negative impacts, attention should be paid to (a) staggering of holidays in time, space and product; (b) tolerable numbers as a central issue in tourism planning; and (c) a better behaved kind of tourist. For sustainable tourism a region should put environment first. This means building responsible tourism, fostering a culture of conservation and developing an environmental focus. MASS TOURISM Definition of Mass Tourism Mass tourism is a notion in common use. But what does it mean exactly? Is it a package tour? Is it a concentration of tourists in a resort or region? Is it tourism with a low profile? These are only some aspects of the phenomenon. According to the Swiss author Fink (1970) the basic elements of mass tourism are: • participation of large numbers of people; • mainly collective organization of travelling; • collective accommodation; • conscious integration of the holidaymaker in a travelling group. A more general and workable definition was found with Burkart and Medlik: Mass tourism refers to the participation of large numbers of people in tourism, a
general characteristic of developed countries in the twentieth century. In this sense the term is used in contrast to the limited participation of people in some specialist forms of tourist activity, such as yachting, or in contrast to the situation in developing countries or in countries with extreme inequalities of income and wealth or, indeed, to the limited extent of tourist activity everywhere until a few decades ago. Mass tourism is essentially a quantitative notion, based on the proportion of the population participating in tourism or on the volume of tourist activity. (Burkart and Medlik 1974:42) Poon (1993:32) emphasizes more the large-scale packaging of standardized leisure services, and for her mass tourism exists if the following conditions hold: • The holiday is standardized, rigidly packaged and inflexible. No part of the holiday could be altered except by paying higher prices. • The holiday is produced through the mass replication of identical units, with economies of scale as the driving force. • The holiday is mass-marketed to an undifferentiated clientele. • The holiday is consumed en masse, with a lack of consideration by tourists for local norms, culture, people or the environments of tourist-receiving destinations. The notion of mass tourism should be distinguished from the notion of popular and social tourism. Once again to refer to Burkart and Medlik: Popular tourism denotes tourist activities meeting with a wide acceptance by people, because of their attractiveness and availability. The acceptance may be due to meeting the needs or tastes of people or more particularly to being available at a low price. Popular tourism is, therefore, essentially a qualitative notion, although by its nature it may give rise to mass tourism. (Burkart and Medlik 1974:43) As distinct from the former two examples, social tourism is concerned specifically with the participation in tourism of people of limited means and with the measures to encourage this participation and to make it possible. From these definitions two main features can be derived: • the participation of large numbers of people in tourism, whatever the tourist activity may be; • the holiday is mainly standardized, rigidly packaged and inflexible. Participation in practice The phenomenon of mass tourism can be illustrated with the evolution of the net and gross participation rate of the residents of a number of European countries. Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1 show the evolution of the holiday participation rate (four nights and more) for Mass tourism 45
Belgium, France, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and West Germany (Boerjan and Lowyck 1995). All five countries are important generating markets. The data for all these Table 4.1 Holiday participation in a number of European countries Year Belgiuma Great Britainb Netherlandsc Franced West Germanye A B A B A B A B A B 1967 34 42 1969 45 68 42 49 1970 59 75 1975 60 53 84 1976 47 63 1980 62 89 68 97 56 101 58 70 1982 48 64 58 106 1985 58 64 92 58 106 57 67 1986 60 89 65 95 58 109 57 67 1987 58 88 67 108 59 113 65 78 1988 56 83 61 97 70 111 60 115 65 84 1989 59 94 7 72 119 61 117 67 88 1990 59 95 70 117 59 114 68 84 1991 61 97 60 96 71 120 60 116 67 82 1992 59 96 70 117 60 116 71 90 1993 61 100 71 123 61 119 75 101 1994 63 100 60 102 73 126 62 na 79 108 A: Net participation B: Gross participation a: WES, ‘Reisgedrag van de Belgen’; the method of inquiring is not fully comparable, throughout the period considered. b: BTA/ETB, ‘British National Travel Survey’. c: NRIT/NBT, ‘Continu vakantie-onderzoek’. d: INSEE, ‘Les vacances des Français’. e: DIVO Reiseanalyse, ‘Studienkreis für Tourismus, Reiseanalyse und FUR Urlaub und Reisen’. Source: Boerjan and Lowyck 1995 Tourism, development and growth 46
Figure 4.1 Evolution of net and gross participation rate Source: Westvlaams Ekonomisch Studiebureau countries are not fully comparable, for example, the definition of a holiday is not the Mass tourism 47