
European Cities Test Measures To Control Tourist Flows - nkurz
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/european-cities-test-measures-to-control-tourist-flows-a-1104903.html
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jmulvi
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.

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niftich
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.

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disgruntledphd2
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.

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visarga
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.

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im4w1l
> 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.

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everlost
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 :)

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cdupiton
new budget airlines you say? like whom?

