dossier sur le tourisme et le développement durable

The tourist offer
5. Winter trips to sunny regions, for culture and cruises will develop faster than winter sports
6. Because holidays. There of shorter, is also more growing frequent demand trips, for the rural transport holidays. share in tourist costs will go up faster than
the share for other expenditure. Day trips will develop rapidly.
7. Air traffic will develop more quickly than other forms of transport. Price reductions for transport
and incentive fares will not continue at the attractive rates of the past which could mean a drop in
demand from clients dependent on a budget, especially in some regions and in times of
recession.
8. Individual packages will develop more quickly than group travel. Groups will tend to be smaller
and more flexible.
9. Late bookings will be more and more frequent.
10. The two customer groups whose demand will develop faster are the senior citizens (ageing of the
population and increase in purchasing power for the retired) and the youth (higher level of
education and new reasons for travelling).
Source: European Travel Commission
3. Alternative proposals in development
The coast remains the favourite tourist spot, bathing and relaxing are still the main reasons for a
vast majority of holidays. Yet, the countryside and the mountains are being developed, mainly
for domestic or local tourists, based on hiking and discovery of the land and nature. In Corsica,
the GR20 (the long excursion trail) is a great tourist attraction. Excursions in the Moroccan Atlas
mountains (the Great Atlas Crossing) and in the Greek mountains are also in full development.
Interlinking of the various proposals
The interlinking of the various types of tourist proposals in the Mediterranean, sometimes
referred to as « satellite activities », is often suggested. Strategic alliances would have to be
made between the large seaside hotel complexes and the “satellite” facilities for eco-tourism,
which are on a smaller scale in the inland areas. Such a concept is aimed at what has been
previously suggested: diversification of what is on offer, better distribution of activities in the
available space, enhancement of the wealth of heritage in the more remote areas and
significant improvement in the standard of living of the local population. But this also raises
several questions, some of which still have no answers, mainly concerning the target group for
this type of proposal because the majority of clients in hotel resorts are above all attracted by
seaside activities.
The idea would be to use seaside holidays as « bait » for the development of alternative
activities. At first it would be necessary to win over a clientele from among the “mass” tourists
who would be potentially interested. This would generate initial profits, which could be
reinvested in this alternative activity. The latter would gradually become more autonomous and
then could later appeal to a more specific target group.
However, such an approach would require a lot of rehabilitation work and enhancing of the
heritage that could not be possible without involving all the players concerned on a given
territory. Several methods have to be developed to preserve the wealth of the regions that are
not yet visited, and at the same time to contribute to tourism that respects these specificities and
that does not have too many social or environmental repercussions. A number of conditions are
essential for the success of such projects:
• Maintain as far as possible the traditional activities,
• Prevent rural depopulation and encourage some migrants to return to the villages,
• Avoid « mass » tourist products, notably by voluntary limiting the number of visitors,
• Target a certain kind of tourist, such as tourists with specific interests and sensitivity (culture, nature,
ethics, etc.),
• Offer opportunity to mix with the local population.
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