What can I do about overtourism?

If anyone is aware of the impact of tourism on the environment and communities, it’s you, our owners. You’ll be the ones who know exactly how your area is affected and what would really help to ameliorate the effects of overtourism. So, while we’ve put down some ideas here on how you can help travel have a positive impact, we’re always happy to hear from you about your specific issues. What’s below is a list of small things that everyone can consider doing to help guests travel better.

  • Share itineraries of local tips, hidden gems or quiet alternatives in your area in your welcome emails, welcome books and on your Sawday’s listing.
  • Shop local for your supplies and hire local people on living wages
  • Encourage guests to shop local, visit independent cafes and restaurants, help them get to know the people behind the place. Perhaps offer a pre-arrival shopping service.
  • Encourage car-free travel and offer advice and incentives for travelling by public transport
  • Help guests understand why this matters and educate them on local history/culture
  • Find ways to encourage guests to visit off season – with discounts or incentives (i.e. free hot tub session in November). Photography of your place in all seasons can really help with this too.
  • Get involved in community advisory/campaigns groups to keep in touch with the issues happening in your area

 

How will this approach benefit me as an owner?

Over our decades in travel, we’ve seen time and again how guests who care about the places they visit are good for business. They stay longer, spread the word and engage more with local shops, growers and makers. It’s an investment, in many cases only of a little time, that protects your guest experience in the long term. Of course, it also helps more generally too, building trust in the industry and bringing responsible travel more and more into the mainstream, all while reducing the immediate impact on your area. So, if any of the things on that list are within your power to do, or you have any other ideas to guide guests towards travelling better, go for it! The more small steps we all take, the bigger the collective movement we make.

A fine example

It’s all well and good giving generic advice about inspiring guests, but sometimes it might be hard to picture what we really mean. Sarah, the owner of Little Haven at Graig Wen has worked incredibly hard on all aspects of responsible travel. Some of these might not seem as if they’re directly related to the experience a guest will have, but you never know what people will chose to engage with. It could be anything from appreciating a large-scale rewilding project to asking where you get your jam from and both of those contribute to a guest’s understanding of the place they’re visiting.

We’ve broken Sarah’s activities into various section, so see if any of them sound like something you could replicate and if so, once again, go for it!

Community Integration:

  • Proudly serve locally produced food and drink whenever possible and champion the produce of North Wales with a local Welsh hamper.
  • Employs a great team of local people and references the importance of community.
  • Designed their accommodation with the help of local skilled craftsmen
  • Sarah is an ambassador for Eryri National Park(Snowdonia) and has achieved Bronze and Silver awards
  • Part of the local dog agility club and go to their local cinema
  • Ethos section on their website – Use as many local food producers, crafts people, suppliers and givers of good advice as they can. By supporting them, guests know they are supporting the local economy, which mostly relies on visitors to survive.

Guest Education & Experience

  • Gives details of walking trails straight from the doorstep
  • Directs guests to Cader Idris, a spectacular mountain on the doorstep and far quieter than Yr Wyddfa/ Snowdon, which is an hour’s drive.
  • Promote activities and things to do in winter on site and in welcome book
  • https://www.graigwen.co.uk/our-ethos/

Sustainable Transport

  • Makes clear that they’re accessible by public transport
  • Lots of mention about cycling & walking trails to use during stay without driving
  • Lockable private bike shed
  • Graig Wen is well served by public transport, so they encourage people to lessen their carbon footprint by either using public transport to travel to them or leaving the car behind to explore once they are here.
  • Provides contacts for bike hire, buses and trains in a digital Guest Welcome Guide, along with a list of EV charging points

Sustainability & Environment

  • Also run a glamping site that has a sustainable ethos
  • Built their own composting toilets
  • Planted an orchard of native Welsh apples
  • They working to reduce their environmental impact through minimizing use of gas, electricity and water and reducing waste and sewage
  • Are working with Gwynedd Green Digital Academy to assess our carbon footprint and work towards net zero goals.
  • Recycle or compost over 70% of our waste and are proud to play be part of the Plastic Free Y Wyddfa project led by Eryri National Park and have been awarded Silver/Glaslyn status.
  • Engaged Dedicated to in environmental conservation and improving biodiversity
  • Request campers to assist in a woodland management scheme by buying the sustainably sourced firewood and not collecting dead wood from the woodland floor.
  • https://www.graigwen.co.uk/our-ethos/