2023-07-18 07:30:27
Like other major European cities, Ghent has decided to act to regulate the influx of tourists. The Belgian city is however not overwhelmed by the crowd but prefers to take the lead. Its challenge is to find the right balance between the quality of local life and the tourist windfall.
Barcelona, Amsterdam or Venice are affected by overtourism, which angers many residents. Some cities not yet affected by this phenomenon, but which could one day be, prefer to anticipate, like the medieval city of Ghent, in Belgium. It already welcomes many tourists, without however being overwhelmed.
However, some tourists, who do not consider themselves too numerous, do not understand the measures. Leonne, from London, testifies: “We are very, very far from an overcrowded city! It’s very pleasant. It’s not like in Barcelona where there are too many people! For me, it’s the balance Perfect!”
maintain balance
At the foot of the Flemish facades, we do come across a few large groups led at a brisk pace by their guide. But we also meet a lot of locals or workers on a lunch break. For Tomas, a native of Ghent, the challenge for the authorities is to succeed in maintaining this balance between tourists and locals.
“It’s very good for the city that we have so many tourists, but of course we also have to control the possible excesses that could happen with mass tourism. In the evening, the atmosphere is relaxed here but when too many drunk tourists from the Netherlands or the UK are there, the atmosphere is changing and I think we have to pay attention to that.”
Accommodation in the viewfinder
The city authorities therefore act preventively against mass tourism. Braam van Braeckevelt, magistrate in charge of tourism, believes that in order not to become Bruges, Amsterdam or Barcelona, it “necessary to take measures before it is too late”.
One of the town hall’s key measures concerns accommodation: no new tourist accommodation can no longer be opened and, from next year, Airbnb accommodation will have to pay the tourist tax. “Six euros because there is great competition, which is not really correct, vis-à-vis hoteliers”, specifies the tourism specialist.
>> Listen to the Forum debate on overtourism:
The Great Debate – Overtourism: quotas to fix it? / Forum / 19 min. / Thursday at 6:14 p.m.
like cruises
Another sector in the sights of the authorities is that of the cruises which pour their flow of travelers every day, only for a few hours. They clutter the city center without any economic fallout, loose Rudy Deuvitte, president of the Ghent hoteliers.
“They arrive, there are 600 of them, but they don’t spend a penny in the city. They don’t go to restaurants, for example, because they eat on the boat,” he laments.
According to a municipal note, a tourist who stays for several days spends an average of 163 euros in 24 hours, while a day visitor only spends 81 euros. This has thus guided the Municipality in its priorities: to limit Airbnb and to try to encourage accommodation for several days at the hotel in order to maintain the balance between the economic benefits of tourism and the tranquility of the people of Ghent.
Radio subject: Jean-Jacques Hery
Adaptation web: Julie Marty
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