The company TCS World Travel, specializing in ultra-luxury travel, is offering this fall a major planetary jet journey reserved for 52 happy few. The cost, all inclusive: US$150,000 for double occupancy, plus taxes and (random) tips.
The tour runs from October 29 to November 21, starting and ending in Orlando, Florida, and passing many wonders of the world: Machu Picchu, Easter Island, Fiji, Angkor, Taj Mahal and Serengeti Plain. Marrakech is on the program, but who knows if the destination will remain there with the recent and very unfortunate Moroccan earthquake, preventing you from sunbathing in peace.
But, on the tourism side, there is something for everyone, including the vulgum pecus. The generalized planetary movement is now concentrated until the cliché in the Wonder of the Seas, superheavyweight champion of the seas. The 18-deck liner, launched a few months ago, can carry 7,500 passengers and 2,200 crew members.
The threshold of one billion tourists crossing borders was reached in 2012, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a United Nations body. And it continues. And it starts again.
“Global tourism is on track to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said recently. Holidaymaker arrivals recorded by the UN agency for the first quarter of 2023 are up 86% compared to the same period of 2022, which also represents 80% of the level of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.
Montreal also benefits. The city has returned to 100% of its pre-pandemic attendance levels. Rational projections, exceeding forecasts, predict 10 million visitors in 2023, including 2 million Americans and approximately 500,000 French people. The others come from elsewhere in the world, but especially from Quebec and the rest of Canada. A counted visitor spends at least one night here.
Overtourism and hypermobility
Professor Luc Renaud, of the Department of Urban and Tourism Studies at UQAM, is especially surprised by the great speed at which this powerful universal rebound has occurred. “Tourism is an industry that thrives on growth, like all the others,” he says, explaining that access to hypermobility allows the development of this overtourism.
“We can move easily and inexpensively,” he summarizes. You can go to Europe and do 11,000 km round trip for around $1000. It is very affordable and is an incentive to overconsumption. People would burn even more gasoline if it sold for 50 cents a liter. »
The professor does not defend an anti-tourist position. A critical researcher, he says he is in favor of efficient tourism, but also fairer and greener. “We would have liked a new approach, a questioning, to implement different ways of doing things. It doesn’t seem like we’re there yet. »
Marie-Julie Gagnon, journalist specializing in tourism (she collaborates with Duty), admits that she was one of those idealists who thought that the pandemic pause would encourage tourists to travel better and less, following the ethical and equitable movement initiated in recent years to reflect on the consequences of mass travel.
“I thought we would go for in-depth reflection instead of arguing all over the place. The vast majority of people, on the contrary, suffer from travel bulimia in catch-up mode, she says. I spoke with travel agents who tell me they have never been so busy in their lives, especially in the context where many left the profession during the pandemic. »
Signs of overheating
The sector still employs 10% of the global workforce. It generated one trillion US dollars in 2022, an increase of 50% from the previous year. Signs of overheating are accumulating. Hordes of travelers storm the most famous monuments and neighborhoods on the planet, which constantly creates new points of attraction sold as protected to tourists who then flock there. Millennials are now falling for Mongolia, which is so Instagrammable…
Cities and regions are trying to curb more or less seasonal invasions. The Calanques park in the south of France now limits visits to 400 people per day, six times fewer than before the pandemic. The Adriatic city of Dubrovnik limits daily cruise ship stops to two. Venice (13 million tourists in 2019) should soon charge a tax to the million of its annual visitors who have practically driven out all permanent residents.
“In Barcelona, we still see washing lines in the old quarter,” notes Luc Renaud. Barcelona residents are fighting to keep their living space. It took thirty years to transform Old Quebec into a tourist area, and it will probably take a generation to reintroduce the community there. »
Tourisme Montréal (TM) is not considering any restrictive measures because saturation is far from being reached, according to the metropolitan region’s promotion organization. One thing is certain, we are far from the tourist maldevelopment of Budapest, which has become the new sin city hordes of young Europeans.
“We are banking on the dispersion of tourist flows,” explains Aurélie de Blois, spokesperson for TM. Each district has its attractions. We promote them. A few years ago, few tourists would have gone to Verdun to visit Wellington Street, [depuis] named the coolest in the world. We want harmonious cohabitation between residents and visitors. »
The question of personal responsibilities inevitably arises. “It’s very easy for those who have traveled a lot to teach others a lesson,” says M.me Gagnon. This somewhat haughty speech has no place. I continue to find that there are many benefits to traveling, but we need to be more aware of the impact of each of our choices. »
Luc Renaud even dares to make a connection with smoking. “We are facing another industry whose marketing power is incredible. She knows how to build dreams in a very effective way in an anxiety-provoking world. People are coming out of a period of confinement. They want to move, and we offer them an escape. Yes, we are responsible as consumers, but we also know the power of the discourse that encourages us to consume travel. »