European Cities Test Measures To Control Tourist Flows | Hacker News Reader

European Cities Test Measures To Control Tourist Flows

spiegel.de

49 pointsnkurz9 comments

This (ridiculously cheap air travel for short city breaks) is more of an issue in Europe than in the US. In America air travel is still, comparatively expensive. In Europe there is much more competition among airlines to serve the super cheap <$10 flights. The US is also much more spread out. I can fly to 50-100 European cities from London in under 2 hours - from LA I have fewer than five options and the prices will be 10x what Ryanair or Easyjet charge.

Brasil is also spread out but their air fares are not as bad as here in the US.

It's true that U.S. destinations are not at their saturated in the same way, but I did find myself thinking of Times Square, Fisherman's Wharf, and Pike Place Market while reading this.

I know these budget airlines charge fees for every single 'amenity' in the very broad definition of the word, but I've always wondered about the economics of these very, very low-priced tickets you see in Europe.

Small airports make it work. Ryanair's model is to make small airports dependent on them, and threaten them evermore to make sure that its as cheap as possible for them.

Additionally, they were really good at hedging oil prices at good prices. (Except in 2011-12).

Finally, all of the pilots are contractors, as are many of the flight attendents, which reduces the fixed costs associated with the (legally-required) staff.

FR are also willing to kill their own margins to break competitors, which means that competing is hard.

I have to admit that I am guilty of swelling the numbers of tourists, and I enjoy seeing different cultures in real life. But I can understand that in cities like Barcelona and Berlin the situation has gone over the top.

The solution could be simple - tax tourism related businesses more. Tax plane tickets, AirBnb hosts, hotels, restaurants, car rentals, etc, but use something like congestion pricing. If the tourist is housed in an area that benefits from tourism, tax it less, or even sponsor a small part of the price from the taxes collected elsewhere. That is for the short term shaping of trends.

For the long term, the problem will fix itself. When prized local culture doesn't live up to par, then tourism will decline in that region.

But there is also an opposing viewpoint - tourists or locals, we are all people, living together in this small boat we call Earth. Worrying too much about keeping cultures separated could be seen as a form of conservatism and nationalism.

> Worrying too much about keeping cultures separated could be seen as a form of conservatism and nationalism.

Worrying too little could be seen as colonialism.

With low gas prices, and new budget airlines coming up every month, this is going to be a fascinating traffic problem to observe. Every city wants the tourist income, but not the tourist baggage :)

new budget airlines you say? like whom?

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