Temporal Distribution as a Solution for Over-Tourism in Night Tourism: The Case of Suwon Hwaseong in South Korea

Hwasung Song,Miseong Kim,Chanyul Park

doi:10.3390/su12062182

Abstract

As the demands of tourism become increasingly bigger, there are side effects of rapid quantitative growth, representatively, over-tourism. As efforts at minimizing over-tourism, the possibilities of temporal and seasonal distribution were explored. For the experiment, an offline survey was conducted targeting the visitors who visited Suwon Hwaseong, the UNESCO World Heritage in South Korea during the nighttime. Group classification was conducted based on visitors’ preferred times and seasons and estimated the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for night tourism activities by these classifications. To compare the MWTP of the groups and examine differences in attributes between the groups, a choice experiment (CE) was used. The results from the CE revealed that the MWTP for attributes was different in those groups. Based on MWTP of each group and their characteristics, it was confirmed that temporal and seasonal distribution can be one solution of over-tourism. These results may be useful for night tourism management and development at a UNESCO World Heritage site, such as providing strategies for minimizing over-tourism, which is distributed by peak and non-peak times.

Highlights

Why is the issue of over-tourism important? According to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) [1], tourism demand is increasing significantly with an increase in the number of tourists from 25 million in 1950 to 1.3 billion in 2030
College attendance/graduation was the most common educational level (n = 347, 61.6%) and household income was more than 4 thousand dollars a month (n = 323, 57.4%), which indicated a high proportion of highly educated and high-income visitors. 48.3% of visitors had visited Suwon Hwaseong Fortress three times or more during the past year
This study examined the possibility of temporal and seasonal distribution as a solution for over-tourism in night tourism by estimating the willingness to pay for peak and non-peak times of visitors to a World Heritage site

Summary

Introduction

According to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) [1], tourism demand is increasing significantly with an increase in the number of tourists from 25 million in 1950 to 1.3 billion in 2030. Tourists come and go from pre-existing spots and sometimes they visit new areas which are not prepared for over-tourism. When over-tourism occurs, residents experience its side effects in environmental, economic, and social aspects, whereas tourists experience a decrease in visit satisfaction due to crowding, and a lower likelihood of return visits [3,4,5]. Side effects from over-tourism have been reported around the world, and solutions are being sought [2,5,6,7]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion