Madrid, Spain - According to the first-ever global survey conducted by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and IPSOS, 47% of respondents think 'they live in cities with a high number of tourists'. Over 50% considers tourism has a positive impact in generating wealth and promoting cultural exchanges, and 49% feel there should be measures to improve tourism management. Only 12% of respondents favour limitations to the number of visitors.

The online survey was conducted across 15 countries and targeted 12,000 people to better understand residents' perception towards city tourism, its impacts and management strategies.

"Today, adequately managing tourism to the benefit of visitors and residents alike, ensuring that local communities are listened to and benefit from tourism is more important than ever, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. "There is a pressing need to set a roadmap for urban tourism which is fully aligned with the urban agenda", he added.

Nearly half of the respondents (47%) think 'they live in a city with a high number of visitors. Yet, results vary significantly across countries, ranging from 68% in Australia to only 33% in France.

The generation of wealth and income, the creation of intercultural exchanges and of new offers of leisure activities stand out as the biggest impacts on cities. The perception of tourism's positive impacts is particularly strong in Argentina, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Spain, and Sweden.

For many urban destinations around the world, addressing the challenges of growing tourism demand and adequately managing tourist flows is now a priority. In a similar way, the results show that 49% of respondents feel that there should be measures to better manage tourism. Again, values change significantly by country - from 75% in Argentina to only 24% in Japan.

Of all respondents, over 70% think these measures should focus on improving infrastructure and facilities as well as in creating attractions for both tourists and residents. Only 12% think measures should include the limitation of the number visitors and only 9% considered that tourism promotion should be stopped.

Key findings

  • 47% of respondents think "they live in a city with a high number of tourists visiting"
  • The mixed-picture of the perceived impacts rising from urban tourism in the different countries demonstrates the complexity of economic, social and environmental issues faced by destinations today.
  • On the positive side, 52% think tourism has a big or moderate impact in generating wealth and income. On the other spectrum, 46% think it "creates overcrowding".
  • 49% of respondents think "there should be measures to manage tourism"
  • Respondents are most receptive to the following measures: 'improve infrastructures and facilities' (72%), 'create experiences and attractions that benefit both residents and visitors' (71%), and 'ensure local communities benefit from tourism' (65%).
  • Results also show that half of responses emphasized communicating and engaging with local communities (50%) and visitors (48%) as an important measure, whereas only 12% think there should be a 'limit to the number of tourists' and only 9% think tourism promotion should be stopped.

The UNWTO / IPSOS survey on was part of the IPSOS Online omnibus (Global@dvisor) December 2018 wave (fieldwork between 21 January 2018 and 14 January 2019.

About IPSOS

Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With a strong presence in 89 countries, and more than 16,000 people itcan conduct research programmes in more than 100 countries. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is controlled and managed by research professionals. They have built a solid Group around a multi-specialist positioning - Media and advertising research; Marketing research; Client and employee relationship management; Opinion & social research; Mobile, Online, Offline data collection and delivery.

IPSOS contacts

Eva Aranda | [email protected]
 Vicente Castellanos| [email protected]

About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

UN Tourism Communications Department
+34 91 567 8100
UN Tourism