Giacomo Rosso (p), Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López

Angela Stefania Bergantino

In this paper, we investigate how tourism shapes local consumption amenities in cities. To do so, we combine a novel geo-located dataset of monthly retail establishments (licenses) with the number of tourist accommodations (Airbnb rooms) and develop an empirical strategy based on IV panel techniques to address endogeneity concerns. Average results show that tourism positively affects the number of establishment licenses. However, this effect is mainly related to tourist-oriented retail activities (e.g., bars and restaurants), while more resident-oriented establishments are negatively affected. This latter result highlights the segregating and re-shaping effect of tourism on retail activity in city centers.

Jorge Páscoa (p), Susana Peralta, João Pereira dos Santos

Giacomo Rosso

Touristification is a polarizing process associated with both opportunities and displacement. We estimate the effect of a touristification boom on the welfare of incumbent residents in the most affected areas of Lisbon, Portugal. We rely on individual and household-level data from personal income tax records between 2016 and 2019 and an instrumental variables approach that considers proximity to touristic ammenities. We find that the decision to move out increases for locals in areas that witnessed a sharp rise in the establishment of short-rentals. At the same time, we examine the effects on different types of income. We also identify the most vulnerable groups in several heterogeneity analysis.

Alberto Hidalgo (p)

Jorge Páscoa

Tourism is an essential sector of the global economy, contributing significantly to GDP and employment. Despite its importance, our understanding of its impact on urban economic activity remains limited. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of tourism on urban transformation using a dataset of hotel openings in Madrid from 2001-2010. I show that hotel openings positively impact the number of establishments and employment by using the number of protected buildings as an instrumental variable to account for the non-random distribution of hotel openings. Interestingly, hotel openings contribute to changes in the composition of the economic activities and the business structures, enhancing tourist-oriented corporate-owned businesses over other individual-owned companies. Finally, economic effects extend to the real estate market, increasing rental prices and residential investment.

Alessandro Buongiorno, Angela Stefania Bergantino (p), Mario Intini

Alberto Hidalgo

Tourism has been increased its weight and importance in the European economy in recent years more than other economic activities and has registered the highest growth rates compared to previous periods.
However, tourism activities present numerous negative impacts that various destinations are already experiencing, which is grappling with growing problems of land exploitation, pollution, production of waste, increased consumption of energy and water, as well as inconvenience for the local population which can result in feelings of annoyance and antagonism towards tourists on the part of residents.
With the renewed desire to travel (especially abroad) the theme of overtourism has revived in those destinations which have long suffered from tourist diseconomies linked to overcrowding.
The current way of measuring tourism, through monitoring tourist flows and their trend over time, is not much adequate to evaluate the risk of overtourism at destination level. Many other dimensions would be considered as the causes of overtourism are numerous and complex and the perception of the impacts of tourism can vary from destination to destination and over time.
The essentially quantitative nature of the phenomenon would require the identification of a series of indicators (yet to be identified) associated both with the volume and growth of tourists and the typologies and characteristics of their visit. Unfortunately, today the lack of a shared set of indicators makes it impossible to clearly qualify and quantify the number of destinations in a "state of overtourism". The objective of this study is to provide a useful control system, developing a multidimensional approach, able to respond to this central issue for all destination managers and policy makers.
Started from the review of the main causes which have contributed to an uncontrolled increase in international tourist flows in recent years, we have identified the main determinants of overtourism at local level and then selected cause-related and relevant indicators that describes all principal dimensions of the phenomenon linked to tourism spatial and temporal concentration of tourist flow. The control system include a set of benchmarks with eight key metrics, covering arrivals, presences, air travel, economic value of tourism, phenomenon of short-term rentals and the proximity of UNESCO sites, useful to diagnose or predict the risk of vulnerability for tourist destinations, in specific contexts.
Through a simple color scale representation system with the heat map, it is possible to highlight the variables that signal the most worrying risk situations.