Designing for local impact: Reflecting your sustainability efforts online
Hotels are spaces filled with history, character, and culture—their narratives are some of their greatest assets. A hotel’s website serves as an extension of these narratives, continuing to tell the story and allowing the essence and history of the place to shine through.
Designing a hotel website is not just solely about bring together aesthetic elements—it’s about crafting an experience that connects visitors to the local community and the unique spirit of the place. A well-designed website invites guests to experience the destination before they even arrive, creating a sense of belonging and a deeper connection to the culture, environment, and people.
At the heart of this process is creating a strong sense of place. A hotel website should feel like an extension of the physical space, reflecting the community's character and the destination's identity. This connection to place turns the website into more than just a tool—it becomes a bridge to the experience guests will have in person.
Thoughtful design choices, from colours to branding, play a key role in shaping how visitors perceive the hotel. The goal is to reflect your values naturally, without overtly stating them. The destination’s story as visitors evolves as guests explore the site, with interactions revealing more layers of connection. This deeper engagement helps build a stronger bond with the place.
For authenticity to be reflected, a hotel website should be rooted in the local culture and history, incorporating motifs, patterns, and symbols that reflect the area’s identity. It’s about showing your genuine investment in the community and making visitors feel connected to the destination before they even step foot there.
Telling local narratives can deepen visitor connection, adding depth to the experience and making hotels more than just a place to stay.
Your website is also an opportunity to communicate your commitment to sustainability and community. These values are increasingly important to travelers, and they can be subtly integrated into the design. From using local materials to supporting community initiatives, let the design reflect your values in a way that feels natural and authentic.
Ultimately, designing a hotel website is about creating a digital experience that captures the essence of the place. When local culture, sustainability, and authenticity are woven into the design, the result is a website that not only stands out but builds a lasting connection with guests. It invites travelers to become part of the story before they even arrive, setting the stage for a memorable experience that stays with them long after they’ve left.
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Côte is a concept and website design studio for sustainable-minded boutique hotels.
Addressing tourism seasonability: Balancing tourism year-round for economic health of local communities
Tourism, when practiced equitably, can bring significant benefits to communities. However, its seasonal nature presents challenges that undermine its sustainability.
As seasons change, so do the dynamics of popular tourist destinations. Many destinations that thrive in their season turn into deserted towns as the season comes to an end. During these off-seasons, many tourist-dependent businesses struggle to stay afloat or are forced to close temporarily. This not only impacts business owners trying to make ends meet but also seasonal workers who rely on tourism for their income, often finding themselves without employment.
Unlike foreign business owners, who can relocate for alternative income sources, local residents are rooted in their communities. Their livelihoods are closely tied to the local economy and the fluctuating demands of tourism, leaving them vulnerable to economic downturns without the option to seek work elsewhere.
This isn't just a matter of economics; it's about livelihoods and community stability.
With fewer open shops and limited activities, destinations lose much of their appeal for potential off-season visitors. It's a cycle that perpetuates financial uncertainty and hardship.
The reduced activity during off-seasons diminishes the appeal of destinations for potential visitors, creating a cycle of financial instability that persists year after year. Efforts to sustainably promote destinations are hindered when businesses and workers cannot sustain themselves throughout the year. Many destinations are suffering from this phenomenon each and every year, yet limited efforts have been made to overcome the issue of seasonality.
Maintaining a consistent flow of visitors is essential for the economic health of local communities and the well-being of residents. By encouraging tourism year-round, destinations can not only cultivate deeper connections between visitors and locals, but offer more authentic, unique experiences outside peak tourist times, allowing visitors to engage with local culture and contribute directly to the local economy.
Balancing tourism throughout the year also serves as a crucial strategy to mitigate over tourism. By spreading visitor numbers across different seasons, destinations can alleviate the strain on infrastructure, natural resources, and popular attractions that often accompany peak tourist periods, allowing for better preservation of cultural and environmental assets.
Hotel owners can play a crucial role in mitigating seasonality. Instead of closing down and relocating during off-seasons, they can take proactive steps to sustain their operations and contribute positively to the local community. Diversifying their offerings and expanding services or products to cater to local residents or off-season visitors—such as workshops and cultural experiences can enhance the overall visitor experience. Extending seasonal offerings to align with local events or activities can attract visitors throughout the year.
Engaging with the local community is also important. Forming partnerships to create packages or joint promotions can enhance the overall visitor experience and increase visibility for both businesses involved. Investing in community engagement, such as supporting local events, builds strong ties that foster loyalty and support during challenging times.
But it's not just up to businesses; local authorities and tourism boards play a crucial role, too. This is because tourism is not facilitated by any singular effort. For a traveler to find a place worthwhile, there needs to be more than one appealing element. An outstanding hospitality experience will not suffice for a tourist, when there’s not much else to do. Local authorities and tourism boards must coordinate efforts to diversify and market destinations effectively throughout the year. This involves reframing location assets to appeal across different seasons and fostering unity among stakeholders to ensure tourism viability year-round.
Reducing seasonality isn't just about business survival; it's about creating a sustainable model that benefits everyone involved.
Ultimately, achieving year-round tourism requires a shift in how destinations are marketed and experienced. Different narratives have to be built to market the place for different seasons with varied experiences. By embracing diverse markets, fostering community engagement, and promoting the value of off-season travel to encourage visitors to explore beyond peak times, destinations can build resilience and contribute to a more sustainable tourism industry in the long term.
Linkage over leakage: Rebalancing the benefits of tourism through stronger community connection
In today’s modern tourism industry, and for many destinations worldwide, only a fraction of the money spent by tourists remains within local communities. The majority of those who provide services and open their homes to visitors don't benefit much from the increase in tourism - this is even though it is the resident communities that bear many of the downsides of the growth in tourism.
Economic leakage is one of the most important issues in hospitality and tourism today, but so far has received insufficient attention in conversations around sustainability in tourism.
A big step in addressing tourism leakages is acknowledging them. We need to recognise that local residents in tourist destinations are often at a disadvantage when the area gains popularity. We need to stop and pause at every step along the way and intentionally think about the choices we make and ask ourselves who truly benefits from them, so tourist dollars stay and circulate within the local economy, instead of seeping out.
The early days of local tourism often present an opportunity for local residents to turn their homes into guesthouses or develop on family-owned land. But as destinations increase in popularity over time, foreign businesses and investors start settling in those areas, building hotels and guest houses; many with no connection to the places they settle on.
Eventually, these places may face a dominance of foreign-owned businesses. This often comes with a diversion of tourism revenue away from the local community, as money coming into these businesses often leaves the country again, something referred to as “economic leakage”. Tourism leakage refers to money spent in destinations that doesn't stay or circulate within it; instead, it leaks out. These economic leakages are significant as they divert resources from the very places that sustain tourism.
In today’s modern tourism industry, and for many destinations worldwide, only a fraction of the money spent by tourists remains within local communities. And even within those destinations, the economic benefits of tourism are allocated to a selected few, while the majority of those who provide services and open their homes to visitors often don't benefit much. This is even though it is the resident communities that bear many of the downsides of the increase in tourism: inflation, gentrification, environmental degradation and cultural erosion, to name a few.
Economic leakage is one of the most important issues in tourism today, but receive insufficient attention in conversations around sustainability in tourism.
Tourism is seen as a way for elimination of poverty and inequalities. But when tourism practices are adopted without careful consideration of how benefits are distributed, communities can lose more than they gain. Because despite offering economic advancement and job prospects, the tourism industry often provides low-paying, unstable positions, often seasonal and with limited opportunities for career progression. Starting one's own business is made increasingly challenging for local residents, given the high upfront costs associated with rising property prices and construction. And even then, local residents often struggle to compete with foreign businesses, who have a tendency to set up supply chains prioritising profitability over community wellbeing. Consequently, locals are often forced into seasonal hospitality jobs with little room for advancement. And when these are not feasible, they step out of their towns, in search of better opportunities. In many cases, a growth in tourism can even lead to a migration of locals to another place or country.
Within local supply chains, tourism leakage is generally lower, because the money circulates within the community. However, more and more tourism businesses are owned by companies not based in the countries where they operate. In addition, they aim to offer everything under one roof—rooms, meals, spas, tours, even souvenir shops, going as far as selling mass-produced "local" souvenirs made by large factories outside of the country. Guests end up spending their money on-site instead of in the local community, which means the wealth from tourism isn't spread around. Instead, the majority of benefits are flowing to people outside of the host countries. This can slow the economic development of a region, cause poverty and a loss of resources and opportunities for residents and communities.
A big step in addressing tourism leakages is acknowledging them. We need to recognise that local residents in tourist destinations are often at a disadvantage when the area gains popularity.
To minimise tourism leakage, local residents need to be consciously integrated into the tourism value chain. We need to pause at every step along the way and intentionally think about the choices we make and to ask ourselves who truly benefits from them, so tourist dollars stay and circulate within the local economy, instead of seeping out.
For hotel owners, it is not enough to simply welcome tourists; there needs to be a concerted effort to build stronger ties with the local communities and encourage tourist spending within it. It may be more convenient to surpass local talent and employ from other places, where workers may be willing to work for lower wages. It may take lesser effort to involve larger, more established players in the supply chain, instead of encouraging smaller, local ones. But these "easier" paths may undermine the community's wellbeing. Instead, hoteliers should prioritise options that benefit both the community and the hotel.
Government planning and intervention is crucial in helping local residents skill up to meet the needs of a growing tourist destination - this includes providing resources, training and financial assistance to local players to help them establish and sustain their ventures. They will also have to intervene wherever possible so the benefits of tourist revenue in a place are equitably distributed, instead of favouring a few, and contribute to the preservation of local culture, traditions and heritage, in the interest of the local community.
By making conscious choices, tourism can become more equitable, ensuring that its economic benefits are shared more fairly with those who contribute to its success. Without this conscientious approach, destinations are vulnerable to the erosion of their long-standing cultural heritage and the displacement of local residents. It's crucial for livelihoods that people have the opportunity to find employment locally, and that money is reinvested in the communities. Ultimately, reinvesting tourism revenue in local initiatives and businesses is essential for building sustainable, resilient communities. By prioritising the well-being of residents and preserving the cultural integrity of destinations, tourism can become a positive force for economic development, social cohesion, and cultural preservation.
Regenerative hospitality requires new narratives
The tourism narrative has so far prioritised the satisfaction of travellers, often at the expense of local communities and ecosystems. The shift towards localism and revitalising local tourism economies requires a new narrative: one of shared responsibility and commitment to the creation of an industry that is equitable, inclusive, and beneficial for everyone.
For decades, the narrative surrounding tourism has predominantly shaped around the traveler — their comfort, desires, and satisfaction, often at the expense of local communities and ecosystems. The focus on ‘guest-centric’ tourism has fuelled a cycle of exploitation, environmental degradation, and cultural commodification. Crowded destinations, pollution, and cultural sites losing their authenticity have become common issues. Local communities have often been marginalised, with their traditions exploited for tourism's benefit. The economic gains from tourism have been unevenly distributed, leaving many local communities with little benefit while bearing most of the negative impacts of tourism.
Regenerative approaches to hospitality and tourism require the emergence of a new narrative; a profound shift in our collective story. This new narrative recognises the interconnectedness of people, places, and ecosystems, understanding that tourism is deeply intertwined with broader social and environmental contexts. It involves valuing local cultures, traditions, and ecosystems, preserving and promoting them rather than exploiting them for profit.
Central to this new narrative is the concept of shared responsibility and a commitment to creating an industry that is equitable, inclusive, and beneficial for all stakeholders. It challenges the prevailing notion of resource exploitation, prioritising preservation and celebration instead.
In this new framework, tourism becomes a tool for fostering meaningful connections between people and places, enriching both visitors and host communities alike. Taking actionable steps to (re)write the narratives of their ventures, hospitality business owners can cultivate a culture of responsibility and reciprocity, going beyond environmental-friendly practices, to actively support local businesses and empower communities to reclaim ownership of their cultural heritage and natural resources, ultimately contributing to a more balanced and mutually beneficial form of tourism, while attracting tourists seeking genuine cultural encounters.
As with any shift in focus, time and careful consideration is essential. It's imperative to take the time to understand what it truly means to conduct business in a manner that genuinely benefits local communities, as this varies greatly from one community to another. Thorough research into the neighbourhood's history, demographics, and political landscape is essential to understand the local context and develop initiatives that resonate with the community's values.
It's crucial for this new narrative to address the issue of economic inequality, questioning who is financially benefiting from tourism, and ensuring that tourism benefits contribute to greater economic equality, creating more inclusive economic opportunities within the community.
Ultimately, the future of tourism lies in reimagining our place in the world and embracing a narrative of solidarity and stewardship, where the economic benefits of tourism are used for the good of destinations and communities.
If you would like to see how we can help you (re)shape the narrative of your hospitality business in a personalised approach tailored to your environment, get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
Tourism can contribute to poverty by not integrating communities
Some of the most renowned tourism destinations also have the highest levels of poverty. Despite their economic challenges, people have opportunities to visit and explore some of the world's most economically disadvantaged countries. Why?
Despite steady streams of tourists, the benefits of tourism seldom translate into tangible improvements for the local communities in those destinations. Many of these places grapple with staggering levels of poverty among their local communities. Why? Because the local communities are not integrated in the tourism value chain. This lack of inclusion means that the economic benefits generated by tourism largely bypass those who call these destinations home. Instead, it tends to line the pockets of external stakeholders, such as multinational corporations, hotel chains, or tour operators, who often dominate the tourism sector. Local residents often find themselves on the sidelines, struggling to access economic opportunities or reap the rewards of increased tourism activity. As a result, the socio-economic disparities within these destinations remain stark, with poverty levels remaining high despite the apparent prosperity brought by tourism.
Tourism has the potential to uplift communities, but when these benefits exclude and bypass local residents, poverty can persist, or even worsen.
While the tourism sector creates job opportunities, they often offer low wages and little job security, while the surge in demand for goods and services drives up prices, making essentials unaffordable for local residents.
To realise the potential of tourism in fostering sustainable development, it is necessary to prioritise inclusive strategies that empower and involve local residents in decision-making processes, ensure equitable distribution of tourism revenue, and promote initiatives that benefit the broader community.
Only through efforts that focus on meaningful and effective participatory approaches that prioritise support for community-based tourism, integrated local supply chains for tourism and well-remunerated local workers. Integrating local supply chains ensures that a greater portion of tourism spending circulates within the local economy, creating multiplier effects that benefit the broader community.
Only through efforts to prioritise the well-being of local communities can tourism truly become a force for positive change, lifting communities out of poverty and fostering long-term prosperity.
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Sources: Inspired by the eye-opening documentary "The Last Tourist" published on the tourism industry a couple of years ago, and the wonderful people that contributed to the documentary, shedding light on the complexities and injustices within the tourism industry.