Tales from two cities: COVID-19 and the localisation of tourism in London and Paris

Abstract

Purpose Drawing on empirical research conducted in London and Paris between July 2020 and June 2021, this paper explores whether these two global metropolises may be able to take the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to develop more sustainable forms of urban tourism. More specifically, this study aims to analyse whether new forms of localised tourism have developed as a result of the pandemic, how these have been nurtured and encouraged by the tourism industry in these two cities and the implications of these trends for the sustainable development of tourism in these two cities. Design/methodology/approach A combination of research methods was used: an online Delphi method, followed by in-depth one-to-one interviews with selected stakeholders and complemented by the analysis of media articles, policy documents and secondary data. Findings The qualitative data analysis highlights some key findings: tourism sustainability gained new importance after the pandemic; however, the crisis did not bring the sustainable revolution some stakeholders wished or expected. Nonetheless, in both cities, tourism marketing adopted a new “hyper-local” approach with the objective of encouraging proximity tourism and involving local residents more; thus, pointing to the need to review traditional definitions of the (urban) tourist. Originality/value Although the blurring between tourism and every day in cities has been widely discussed in tourism theory, this paper provides empirical evidence from two world tourism cities, showing some of the wider, practical implications of these theoretical debates for industry and policymaking in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.