Quality and Quantity in Tourism

Over the past half century, mass tourism with a focus on serving large numbers of tourists has led to some regions suffering from ‘saturation tourism’ and over-crowding, especially in mature, well established tourism regions. This is often accompanied by relatively low tourist spending on site, which leads to limited economic benefits at a local level. There are many different organisations and perspectives within the tourism industry that shape the nature of tourism marketing. Different tourism organisations have different goals to achieve and operate to different agendas. At a macro level, some governments and regional authorities are increasingly championing the need to reduce tourist numbers and replacing them with fewer, better quality tourists who potentially will spend more. This view may be justified on the grounds of protecting both the general environment and social needs (such as quality of life) of an indigenous population. The quality over quantity argument often assumes that the extra spend from fewer tourists will negate any reductions in numbers of tourists to a tourist region. This commentary paper discusses the role of quality and quantity in the context of mass tourism in well established tourist regions.