Why and how should we evaluate the economic impacts of natural areas? French methods and examples of evaluation for tourism Gabrielle LABESCAT Urban & Territorial Planner France Tourism Development Agency - ATOUT FRANCE 1
Summary 1 2 3 4 Presentation of ATOUT FRANCE Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? Focus on 2 specific natural areas : coastal area/mountain 2
Presentation of ATOUT FRANCE 1 France Tourism Development Agency 3
Presentation of ATOUT FRANCE France Tourism Development Agency ATOUT FRANCE MARKETING & PROMOTION OF TOURISM IN FRANCE TOURISM ENGINEERING AND STRATEGIC PLATFORM QUALITY (national register, job training...) 4
Presentation of ATOUT FRANCE A network of delegations in France and abroad 5
2 Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? 6
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? The importance of natural areas for tourism : A link between tourism attractivity & natural areas (ATOUT FRANCE s survey, 2004) A balance to find between tourism development & landscape protection A financial balance to find between public funds & visitors taxation 7
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? The roles of natural areas in local economy To give a better image of the locality To enlarge the sample of tourist products To increase the tourists consumption duration in the locality To answer to the tourists new expectations for sustainable development 8
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? The different kinds of natural areas impacts for a locality Direct economic impacts Indirect economic impacts Induced economic impacts Non economic impacts 9
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? Direct economic impacts Turnover of the site Jobs Souvenirs & gifts shop Restaurants, snacks Car parks, shuttle 10
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? Indirect economic impacts Hotels & accommodations Restaurants (outside the site) Transportation Visits of other sites Leisure activities 11
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? Induced economic impacts Fiscal impacts Local taxes Local employment rate Local attendency level Local consumption level 12
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : why? Non-economic impacts Image of the territory Educational impacts Environmental impacts Social impacts Larger interest for the site 13
3 Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? 14
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? Analysis of natural areas economic impacts, realised by 2 French engineering consulting firms : Figesma Conseil Second Axe 15
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To define a geographical sphere of analyse To get various information about the site To interview the local players of the site To analyse the visiting conditions and the visitors opinions To compile all data to get a correct vision of the situation 16
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To define a geographical sphere of analyse - depending on the organization of the territory - depending on the topography of the site - depending on the relation between the natural area and other tourist sites Littoral Natural area Territory of impacts 17
Evaluate the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To get various information about the site - Composition & organization of the natural site - Organization of the local actors (number, function, roles, management...) - Public & private expenses in the site - Tools of protection of the site (legislation...) - Size of the tourist attendency & evolution - Composition of the global tourist offer around the site (accommodations, restaurants, leisure...) - Various documentation about the site (surveys...) 18
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To interview the local players of the site - Managers of the site - Tour operators - Receptionists - Professionals (accommodation, restaurants, shop...) - Activities planners (sports, events...) - Associations - Inhabitants 19
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To analyse the visiting conditions and the visitors opinions 2 types of people to interview : - the tourists - the local excursionists 3 types of questions : - visitor s profile (age, profession, sex, geographical origin, reason of venue...) - point of view about the site & level of satisfaction - activities & expenses on the site 20
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? To compile all data to get a correct vision of the situation - To calculate the level of expenses of local players (public & private) to make the site and the locality attractive for tourism - To calculate the level of expenses of the tourists on the site and around - To analyse all of the non-economic impacts (more subjective analysis) - To sort the data through a hierarchy depending on the different types of impacts 21
Evaluating the economic impacts of natural areas : how? Precautions - Definition of a geographical sphere of analysis - Direct economic impacts - Indirect economic impacts - Social impacts - Impacts on image - Environmental impacts... 22
4 Focus on 2 specific natural areas : coastal area/mountain 23
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : coastal area The headland of Raz The westernmost extent of France 24
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : coastal area Tourism offer : - Tourist office & exhibition centre - Restaurants & shops - Car parks at the entrance - Shuttle (bus) - Pedestrian paths - Guided tours - Cycling - Nautical activities 25
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : coastal area Objectives : To analyse the efficiency of the management of the natural site Analysis : visitors & local actors interviews Impacts : The impacts of the Headland of Raz in local economy - 10M of investment for the development of tourism - 850 000 visitors per year (16% of foreigners) - Direct impacts : about 1,5M per year (car park taxes, shops, activities, leisure, sports, agriculture) for 2 municipalities - Indirect impacts : about 12M per year in accommodations & restaurants for 12 municipalities - Inferred impacts : the most famous & visited site in the department, educational impacts 26
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : mountain The Puy de Dôme A chain of more than 80 volcanic craters 27
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : mountain Tourism offer : - Visitor centre - Restaurants & shops - Car parks at the bottom - Shuttle (bus) - Pedestrian paths - Cycling & horse riding - Paragliding & hot-air balloon - Climbing & tree climbing - Nautical activities 28
Focus on 2 specific natural areas : mountain The impacts of the Puy de Dome in local economy Objectives : to analyse the necessity of a new transportation system (electric train) in the site Analyse : local actors & visitors interviews (1 100 tourists) Impacts : - 10M of investment for the development of tourism - 450 000 visitors per year - Direct impacts : 1,5M per year (car parks taxes, shuttle fares, car toll, shops, leisure, sports) - Indirect impacts : 74M per year in accommodations & restaurants - Inferred impacts : one of the most visited site in the region, environmental impacts, social impacts... 29
TO GO FURTHER... Other surveys about the economic impacts of natural areas 30
The observation and research centre of the living condition ( CREDOC ) : To go further... A survey based on the observation of the economic impacts in the 9 French national parks in 2008 31
To go further... The network of French great natural and tourist sites ( Grands Sites ) : A survey on the economic impacts of 3 great sites from 2005 to 2008 32
The Paris Institute of Technology & Environment ( AgroParisTech-ENGREF ) : To go further... A survey on the economic impacts of the headland of Agon in 2007 33
Gabrielle LABESCAT Urban & Territorial Planner gabrielle.labescat@franceguide.com www.atout-france.fr + 33 1 42 96 74 58 34
35 Thank you for your attention