Abstract
In recent decades the tourism sector has undergone multiple evolutions, due to its dynamic and complex nature. While globalised mass tourism characterised the demand for tourism in the 20th century, in the new millennium this demand is significantly stronger and diversified, induced also by the emergence of new information technologies, greater ease of travel and the increase in the supply of affordable accommodation (Gainsforth, 2020). Despite the positive impact on economic development, increased tourism consumption has led to the exploitation of natural and local resources causing damage to the environment and host communities (Fragidis et. al, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to diversified travel choices, discouraging mass tourism in favour of tourism that follows sustainable practices, for local regions and remote or even unpopular destinations. Simultaneously, new forms of tourist experience and ways of enjoying it have emerged, prompting an increasing number of visitors choosing not just “places to visit” but real “destinations to experience” (Ivona et al., 2019). The so-called Experiential Tourism (Di Vittorio, 2010) emerged from the desire of tourists to enter in contact with the local territory by adopting a proactive and participatory approach, sharing experiences with local communities. However, the growing demand in tourist services is not inevitably an unsolved problem (Loureiro, 2019), it can be seen as a great opportunity to improve the way of life of local communities and implement successful sustainable tourism strategies. Although the construction of services aimed at creating local tourism experiences is not new, the Design for Social Innovation of service experiences adopting the methodology and tools of design can be defined as a new approach (Stickdorn and Zehrer, 2009). This is especially true regarding the holistic and interdisciplinary approach of Service Design (Kimbell, 2008). In this sense, a holistic view of the tourism ecosystem requires the systemic design of each service and experience by placing the main The appropriate copyright/licence statement will be pasted here later when the publication contract is ready. This text field should be large enough to hold the appropriate release statement. actors at the centre and enhancing the involvement and collaboration between different stakeholders (Stickdorn, 2009). The social, cultural and economic problems of tourist destinations can be addressed through the principles of sustainability, which can provide an alternative and new way of developing tourism development strategies (Cavalcante, 2021). In this scenario, Design for Innovation and Sustainability can improve tourism experiences by designing new service-systems facilitating the preservation, management and valorisation of local resources (natural, social, cultural) through participatory and co-design processes, making local communities the core of future tourism (UNWTO World Tourism Organisation, 2022). Activating communities fosters the development of goods and services, helping to improve local living conditions. The relevance of this research is identified in the potential of Service Design approaches to rethink the long-term role of tourism in building resilience, sustainable development and providing opportunities through a mutually functional relationship between territory, community, business and tourists.
Keywords
Sustainable Tourism, Community-Based Tourism, Local Scale Systems, Service Design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.785
Citation
Facoetti, V.(2023) Responsible tourism experiences: Designing solutions to improve communities-based tourism services from global to local scale., in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.785
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
doctoralpapers
Included in
Responsible tourism experiences: Designing solutions to improve communities-based tourism services from global to local scale.
In recent decades the tourism sector has undergone multiple evolutions, due to its dynamic and complex nature. While globalised mass tourism characterised the demand for tourism in the 20th century, in the new millennium this demand is significantly stronger and diversified, induced also by the emergence of new information technologies, greater ease of travel and the increase in the supply of affordable accommodation (Gainsforth, 2020). Despite the positive impact on economic development, increased tourism consumption has led to the exploitation of natural and local resources causing damage to the environment and host communities (Fragidis et. al, 2022). The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to diversified travel choices, discouraging mass tourism in favour of tourism that follows sustainable practices, for local regions and remote or even unpopular destinations. Simultaneously, new forms of tourist experience and ways of enjoying it have emerged, prompting an increasing number of visitors choosing not just “places to visit” but real “destinations to experience” (Ivona et al., 2019). The so-called Experiential Tourism (Di Vittorio, 2010) emerged from the desire of tourists to enter in contact with the local territory by adopting a proactive and participatory approach, sharing experiences with local communities. However, the growing demand in tourist services is not inevitably an unsolved problem (Loureiro, 2019), it can be seen as a great opportunity to improve the way of life of local communities and implement successful sustainable tourism strategies. Although the construction of services aimed at creating local tourism experiences is not new, the Design for Social Innovation of service experiences adopting the methodology and tools of design can be defined as a new approach (Stickdorn and Zehrer, 2009). This is especially true regarding the holistic and interdisciplinary approach of Service Design (Kimbell, 2008). In this sense, a holistic view of the tourism ecosystem requires the systemic design of each service and experience by placing the main The appropriate copyright/licence statement will be pasted here later when the publication contract is ready. This text field should be large enough to hold the appropriate release statement. actors at the centre and enhancing the involvement and collaboration between different stakeholders (Stickdorn, 2009). The social, cultural and economic problems of tourist destinations can be addressed through the principles of sustainability, which can provide an alternative and new way of developing tourism development strategies (Cavalcante, 2021). In this scenario, Design for Innovation and Sustainability can improve tourism experiences by designing new service-systems facilitating the preservation, management and valorisation of local resources (natural, social, cultural) through participatory and co-design processes, making local communities the core of future tourism (UNWTO World Tourism Organisation, 2022). Activating communities fosters the development of goods and services, helping to improve local living conditions. The relevance of this research is identified in the potential of Service Design approaches to rethink the long-term role of tourism in building resilience, sustainable development and providing opportunities through a mutually functional relationship between territory, community, business and tourists.