Zsuzsa Deli-Gray (ed.)

Cases in Tourism Marketing III

The Encounter

Gergely Baráth

The June morning in the big city began, as it so often did, at its usual slow pace, when the news unexpectedly broke through the mood of an average Wednesday.

Overtourism is the term for when a tourist destination becomes oversaturated with visitors, which negatively affects the quality of life for local residents, the environment, and the tourist experience itself ( Buitrago-Esquinas et al. 2023 ). The task of a Destination Management Organisation (DMO) ( Papageorgiou et al., 2025 ) is to bring together all tourism stakeholders (the municipality, businesses, civilians/citizens) and to develop and manage the tourist destination along a unified strategy, while also having the role of analysing and managing the phenomenon of overtourism. A destination organisation must or should be implemented within a single tourism ecosystem, as tourism is a complex system whose elements – hotels, restaurants, transportation, parks, public spaces, public safety, and culture – are all interconnected and together form a functioning system.

Péter Tóth, a cheerful suburban retiree, was sitting at his kitchen table sipping his coffee while browsing the news on his phone. An article about Spain caught his eye: "Protests against mass tourism on the streets of Barcelona". He shook his head sadly. "Kati!" he called out to his wife. "Listen to this, they're protesting against tourists all over Spain! And we had such a good time in Barcelona three years ago…" He looked at the photos thoughtfully. "But why can't this be solved in a sensible way? Why can't we understand each other?" he muttered. He had seen so many cities, experienced so many cultures during his travels; he knew what it was like when a place becomes oversaturated.

Anna, a 45-year-old economist, who was the head of the local municipality's urban development department by day and a mother to three primary school-aged boys by morning and night, had woken up at five that dawn. Still tired, she was packing her three children's bags for camp. The background noise of the radio brought the news from Spain. "Tourism? Thank goodness that's not my department," she thought to herself. But the thought that this wasn't her problem didn't reassure her this time. Anna loved travelling with her family, and in recent years, as she journeyed around the world, she had increasingly seen the dark side of tourism. She had already thought about the phenomenon of overtourism, the crowding, the displacement of locals. She knew she needed to deal with it more, because her own city was heading in the same direction.

"As if I don't have enough to do with the riverbank development, the residential park projects, and the green spaces," she mused, but the news from Spain and the experiences of recent months increasingly suggested that this problem could not wait. She felt the city was finding it harder and harder to breathe, and she herself longed for a renewal in her own work, but she couldn't see the way forward.

Perhaps this news, and Lilla's arrival, gave her the final push. Lilla was a few years out of university, working as a marketer for a French pharmaceutical company and living downtown. The news she heard on the radio electrified her. "Finally! Someone is actually doing something!" she exclaimed. The noise, the crowds, the tour buses that just circled the narrow streets, reeking of fumes and causing traffic jams – it all made her daily life unbearable. She had a particular problem with the young people who arrived on cheap budget flights and drunkenly yelled in the streets at night. She had often thought that something had to be done. Now she felt it was time for her to do something too.

She ran down to the street where cafés had been opening one after another in recent years. She drank her morning matcha tea on one of the terraces, which was pleasant at this time of day. Luckily, she was working from home, so after sending a few emails for work, she found herself at City Hall by mid-morning. She went to see Anna, whom she had known for a long time from a quiz club, so she got in to see her very quickly. She burst into Anna's office, energised, barely able to wait to share her outrage. Anna, seeing Lilla's determination but also feeling her own exhaustion, did not greet her with overwhelming joy.

"Anna, did you see the news from Spain? They're protesting against the tourists! Can you believe it?!" she began enthusiastically.

"I'm starting to understand them. This noise, this crowd! You can barely live downtown anymore. The buses that have nowhere to stop, just circling and running their air conditioning! This isn't the city I love! You know, last week, at two in the morning, some Dutch stag party was shouting under my window. I got so fed up that I grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it on them!"

Anna stared at her with wide eyes. "You really did that? And what happened?"

"What happened was that instead of leaving, they got even more excited! They started yelling that it was hot and they wanted another refreshing shower! It's completely outrageous, I was so furious!"

Lilla's face was red with anger. "This isn't the city I love!"

Anna sighed. "Lilla, I know it's annoying, but why are you coming to me with this? I deal with urban development, not tourism management. And the parking problems belong to the transportation department, not me."

"But this is an urban development issue!" Lilla's voice was angry and desperate.

"And it's not just the job of the transportation or cultural department! Those are just parts of the tourism ecosystem, Anna! Think about it: tourism isn't just about parking, museums, and theatres. It's about hotels, restaurants, transportation, parks, shops, public safety! All of that is part of urban development. If the city becomes unliveable for its residents because of tourism, isn't that an urban development issue? Isn't it your job to sort this out? If the buses have nowhere to stop, that's also a problem of public space utilisation!"

Anna paused to think. Lilla was right, she felt it deep down. The problems were interconnected. The fatigue slowly dissolved within her, giving way to professional curiosity.

"You know what," she sighed, "this is too complex to discuss here in the office, and I can't concentrate right now. Let's go down for a coffee, maybe we can talk about this whole ecosystem more calmly there."

They went down to the sunny terrace of the café next to City Hall. Anna ordered a double espresso, Lilla a raspberry lemonade. The terrace was full of tourists, talking loudly, laughing, and taking pictures of their drinks. Lilla winced, then remembered that she herself had posted a picture of her beautifully steaming tea on Instagram that morning.

"See?" she whispered to Anna. "This is what I'm talking about. Not a moment of peace. And the buses are circling the corner again because there's nowhere for them to park," she continued the conversation they had started earlier.

They had been talking for more than ten minutes when an elderly gentleman sitting at the next table put down his cup and turned to them.

"Excuse me for interrupting, ladies. My name is Péter Tóth," he began in a friendly tone.

"I overheard what you were talking about. The Spanish protests, the noise. I've been to Spain myself, and I know what it's like when there are too many tourists. But the solution isn't to chase them away, but to manage the situation more intelligently."

Lilla looked at him, slightly irritated. "Since you've taken the liberty of eavesdropping on our conversation, would you mind telling us what you think the more intelligent solution would be? For even more people to come, creating even more chaos? For the buses to have even less space? Or for even more drunk Dutch stag parties to be shouting under my window at dawn?"

"Not at all, my dear girl, not at all," the old man smiled.

"The point is that we shouldn't just see tourists as some alien mass that brings money and then leaves. We need to see them as guests in our city. And that is the key to the visitor economy."

Anna's head snapped up. "Visitor economy? I've saved three articles about that in the past year, meaning to read them someday. That's also tourism, right? But what's the difference?" she asked.

"The difference is that tourism is only one part of the visitor economy," Péter explained, the former teacher in him emerging as he began to speak as if giving a university lecture.

"Tourism is the capacity of hotels, restaurants, and attractions to generate visitors and revenue; it's the services organised around tourists. But the visitor economy is much broader. It includes all economic activities related to visitors – and that includes local residents. Think about it: when a tourist buys a handmade product at the market, that's good for the local artisan. When a family goes to a renovated park maintained with taxes from tourism, that's good for the local resident too. Forgive my pontificating, but the point is for city residents to feel the benefits of tourism, not just the burdens."

Lilla grimaced. "But the noise! The noise and the crowds! And all those idiots on scooters! We can't even move in our own city!"

"You are right, unfortunately," Péter nodded, and began to explain at length again.

"This is where conflicts and collaborations in the interest of the city's residents come in. The crowding, the noise, the parking problems – yes, the tour buses that have nowhere to stop and just circle around – these are all real problems. But if decision-makers, local residents, civil organisations, and economic players join forces, solutions can be found. For example, creating designated drop-off and pick-up points for buses, establishing information points that are open on weekends and cater not just to foreigners, or even keeping museums open later in the evening. I know I sound like I'm lecturing again, but if we use the revenue from tourism to develop public transport and public spaces, it will be better for everyone. The goal is for tourism not just to generate money, but to improve the quality of life for those who live here."

Anna listened attentively. She felt the stranger's words resonated with her, so she began to ask questions: "But how can this be achieved? How can we ensure the city isn't just for tourists?"

"The role of urban spaces in hospitality is crucial," Péter continued his explanation.

"A park, a promenade, a community space is not just a backdrop for tourists, but also the living space of the locals. If we develop them in a way that tourists enjoy spending time there, but residents also feel at home, it creates interaction. Imagine a Danube riverbank development where it's not just tourist boats docked, but where locals can also kayak and paddleboard during designated time slots, and where they can cycle along the banks, with high-quality cafés and local producers' stalls awaiting both groups. Then tourists get to know not just the place, but the local life. It becomes a living, breathing space that isn't just about profit, but about community life. Cleaner transport and better-kept parks would make your daily life more comfortable too, young lady."

Lilla grew thoughtful. The noise and the crowds still bothered her, but the former university lecturer's words somehow cast the problem in a new light.

Anna also listened with interest, though it was unusual for her to be lectured by a stranger.

"And this is where the content of the municipal brand comes in," said Péter, who was in his element, finally able to explain things to someone other than his wife within the four walls of their home.

"If our marketing suggests that our city is a calm, orderly, family-friendly place, but the reality for local residents is noise, trash, and inconvenience, then the brand becomes contradictory, ill-defined. The content of the municipal brand cannot be at odds with the reality experienced by its residents. Authenticity is key. If residents see that revenues from tourism are improving their environment and community spaces – for example, by funding museum renovations, park maintenance, or making transport more sustainable – then they themselves will become ambassadors for the city."

"Alright, if you know so much about this, then what about tourism marketing? Can value creation be integrated into it?" Anna asked, thinking sarcastically to herself that if she had stumbled into a morning-long open university lecture, it might as well be a comprehensive one.

"Excellent," Péter was getting more and more into it. "This is marketing with purpose in tourism: not just to increase visitor numbers, but to build value. Value for the tourist, value for the local, value for the city. An image that is sustainable, inclusive, and attracts, in the long term, the kind of guests who respect the city and its residents too. Furthermore, if tourism data tells us exactly when and how many tourists arrive in which district, we can plan capacities much better in advance and prevent overcrowding. The numbers help us not to disturb the locals." Lilla listened through it all. The lemonade she was clutching remained untouched, the ice slowly melting. She sat in silence for a few moments, then spoke: "So, if they come, but they don't just want our space, and they pay attention to us too… and the buses were cleaner and had a place to park… and the drunk grooms-to-be weren't shouting at dawn… then maybe…" "Well, that would be nice," smiled Anna, in whose eyes signs of enthusiasm were now visible, not just fatigue. She turned to Péter: "It's certain that data will help us in the future to consider not just the number of tourists in our planning, but your quality of life as well. Because if you are satisfied, then the guests can truly feel like guests, not just a statistic. Péter, Lilla, I think we're starting something here."

After the conversation, things moved quickly. When Anna got home, she called the mayor that same evening. She told him about the Spanish example, Lilla's complaints, and the clever old man's thoughts on the visitor economy. She highlighted that the problem of overtourism, the noise, and the parking not only make the lives of locals difficult but also damage the city's image, as she herself had experienced during her travels. The mayor, although initially sceptical, was convinced by Anna's enthusiasm and the weight of the problems outlined.

Péter Tóth was not idle either. Using his extensive network of contacts, he got in touch with the managers of larger hotels, restaurant owners, and museum directors. He told them that the overcrowding and the dissatisfaction of the local population endangered their businesses in the long run. He initiated a discussion for them to think together about solutions, about a common, sustainable future.

Lilla, who had converted the energy of her initial outrage into constructive action, quickly started a question series on Facebook, then contacted the interested urban civil organisations and resident communities. She told them what she had heard in the café, and they began to organise to involve the local residents. They prepared questionnaires and advertised forums to collect the opinions and suggestions of the population.

A month later, a large roundtable discussion took place in the ceremonial hall of City Hall. Anna, Lilla, Péter, the mayor, hoteliers, restaurateurs, museum representatives, leaders of civil organisations, and transportation experts were all there. And so was Tamás Horváth, the head of a large investment group, who until now had only seen the numbers and saw the future in converting downtown residential buildings into short-term rental apartments.

Mr. Horváth got straight to the point at the beginning of the discussion. "The numbers speak for themselves. There is huge demand for short-term accommodation in the city centre. Why shouldn't we convert underutilized apartments? It brings in revenue, creates jobs for cleaners and maintenance staff. And the residents will move out anyway if they can't keep up with the pace. Tourism is about profit, not sentimentalism."

But Anna, strengthened by the words of Péter and Lilla, replied firmly. "Mr. Horváth, the city administration's position is clear: we cannot allow local residents to be squeezed out of the downtown area. Our settlement cannot become an empty open-air museum inhabited only by tourists. The content of the municipal brand cannot be at odds with the reality experienced by its residents. If the locals disappear, the atmosphere, the culture, the authenticity that tourists come here for will disappear too. The visitor economy is not just about revenues, but also about liveability. And value creation means that the benefits derived from tourism serve the entire city, including the residents. The lack of affordable housing causes a serious social problem and harms tourism in the long run."

Péter also spoke up. "Mr. Horváth, I travel a lot. Do you know why I love cities? Because they are alive. Because there are local faces in the market, children playing in the park, and old people sitting on benches. If these disappear, the city loses its soul. Tourists don't want to see a backdrop, but a real city."

Lilla added: "We downtown residents don't want to move out. The noise and the crowds are annoying, but we love our city. If our homes are converted, where will we go? And who will serve the tourists if there are no local residents? And who will pour water on the drunk Englishmen if we're gone?"

The debate was lively. The problems of bus parking, the congestion in the Castle District, and seasonal fluctuations were all raised. But by the end of the conversation, a proposal began to take shape: the establishment of a Destination Management Organisation (DMO). Anna, who had been intensively researching the topic over the past month, now knew exactly what a DMO was. An organisation that brings together tourism stakeholders, local governments, and the civil sphere, and develops and manages the destination along a unified strategy. It deals not only with marketing but also with product development, infrastructure, quality assurance, and the involvement of the local population.

Mr. Horváth, though not entirely convinced, acknowledged that within the framework of a DMO, a dialogue could perhaps be conducted about the different interests.

At the end of the roundtable discussion, the mayor stood up. "Ladies and Gentlemen! It seems we have reached a common ground. The municipality will initiate the establishment of a Tourism Destination Management Working Group. Anna, you will be responsible for preparing and coordinating the project."

A tired but satisfied smile appeared on Anna's face. The renewal she had longed for had begun. A broad-ranging coalition and cooperation had been launched. The dialogue about tourism had started, and this time it was not just about profit, but about people, the city, and a shared future.

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 217 4

Marketing Turizmus

The publication of the third volume of Cases in Tourism Marketing is truly welcome news from both an educational and a professional perspective. Through real-world, timely, and thought-provoking cases, this collection helps readers – students and practitioners alike – gain a deeper understanding of the complex world of decision-making in tourism marketing. The case studies not only convey professional knowledge but also develop analytical skills, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking. One of the volume’s key strengths is its focus on issues that define contemporary tourism, including the role of digitalization, artificial intelligence, destination branding, and stakeholder collaboration in tourism marketing. Long-awaited and highly relevant, this third volume is a worthy continuation of the previous collections and will undoubtedly serve as a valuable resource in higher education in tourism, while also being highly recommended to professionals who enjoy reflecting on challenges and opportunities beyond their own immediate field of expertise.

Tamara Ratz PhD

Director, Centre for International Relations, Kodolányi János University

Head of Tourism Department, Professor of Tourism

It is an honor for me to recommend this volume to everyone who wishes to understand tourism marketing not only in theory, but also through its real business and human dimensions. The worlds of tourism and hospitality have undergone fundamental changes in recent years, which makes case studies based on real market situations, decision-making dilemmas and current challenges especially valuable in supporting both learning and critical thinking. This book provides not only professional knowledge, but also encourages a complex mindset, creative problem-solving and the ability to think in connections — exactly the skills today’s tourism professionals need most. I wholeheartedly recommend this volume to students, educators and tourism professionals alike.

Judit Fodor (Liptai)

Group Director of Sales and Marketing, Danubius Hotels

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/deli-gray-cases-in-toursim-marketing-iii//

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