International Journal of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Law 2023

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM, TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY LAW consequence of an excessive focus on tourists, sometimes leaving aside the needs of the residents themselves14. These situations often generate unease among residents, who see tourists as a privileged group with better rights than the citizens themselves. It is perceived that public administrations are more concerned with increasing the number of tourists, the benefits of which ultimately fall on very few, without any substantial improvement in public services. The crisis, as MILANO (2018) rightly points out15, is deeper than it may seem at first sight, and does not involve implementing the classic policies (which the author himself describes as The Myth of the 5Ds: De-seasonalisation, Decongestion, Decentralisation, Diversification, “Deluxe Tourism”), but rather “proposing structural changes to the economic model in which the tourism phenomenon is currently inscribed”. However, I cannot agree with this author as far as the promotion of tourism quality16. is concerned. The concept of tourist quality that is humbly proposed has to do with global quality, that is to say, not thinking about luxury for the tourist and forgetting about the resident. The issue is more complex, in my opinion. It is a question of achieving adequate quotas of tourist quality in a 14 RODRÍGUEZ-BARCÓN, A., CALO, E. Y OTERO-ENRÍQUEZ, R., (2021) “Una revisión crítica sobre el análisis de la gentrificación turística en España”, Revista de Ocio y Turismo, Vol. 15(1) p. 4, “In order to conceptually integrate the complex processes derived from touristification and gentrification on urban space, yet aware of the need to revisit the debate around these concepts, in this paper we speak in terms of “tourist gentrification”. This concept defines a particular model within the complex theory of contemporary gentrification, which highlights “the role that public policy plays in promoting both gentrification and tourist development, and the actions of large leisure companies (...) in remodelling (places) into spaces of entertainment and consumption”. However, although the processes of gentrification and touristification often act concomitantly and, in spatial terms, converge on the central and coastal sectors of cities, we should not lose sight of the existence of certain differential nuances. In the case of gentrification, for example, the traditional population is replaced by socio-economic sectors with greater purchasing power, while touristification tends towards the partial disappearance of certain sectors of the local population. Naturally, the two phases may overlap at some point, as touristification may hit the most vulnerable social sectors first, reinforcing the processes of spatial displacement”. 15 MILANO, C., (2018) “Overtourism, malestar social y turismofobia. Un debate controvertido”, Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural, Vol. 16, 3., p. 556 16 Ibidem, p. 558, “Finally, another strategy for the reconversion of the tourism offer has been directed at pricing policies to align demand with what is being called Deluxe Tourism. In other words, increasing the cost of visiting a destination, site or tourist attraction in an attempt to elitise the tourists who visit it. This measure could also be justified by the illusory objective of decongesting specific areas. This type of tourism reconversion is very often related to diversification policies that, in addition to renewing its attractions, are aimed at reconverting its target public. Inevitably, such measures and the economic consequences of elitisation call into question the very nature of the tourism phenomenon. They also have classist overtones that do not seem to be able to benefit and provide a direct response to issues such as rising housing prices, the transformation of the commercial fabric or the privatisation of public space, among others. However, there is evidence that so-called quality tourism presents a greater socio- -economic distance from residents that could lead to price inflation and a rise in the price of local goods and products. Finally, to a large extent, these tourist flows (e.g. cruise passengers or trips organised by tour operators) are guided and managed around specific tourist bubbles, with the result that the redistribution of benefits would be much reduced.

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