Five Tips for City Managers Who Want to Redesign Their City to Attract More Tourists
If you want to attract more tourists to your community, you may want to do a bit of urban planning to draw them in. Wondering what things you should consider? Take a look at these ideas:
1. Preserve your history.
Whether you plan to make a lot of changes or just a few, make sure that you keep the history of your area intact. Tourists like to see historic homes churches and other buildings, and when you keep the history in your town alive, it makes it seem more unique and interesting. In particular, focus on maintaining history in your city centre or main tourist hub.
2. Get the tourists out of the car.
Ideally, your plan should make it easy for tourists to access your town or city without a car. To that end, you should develop your town with a commercial area that hosts hotels, restaurants and shops within walking distance of each other. If tourists are walking through your town, they tend to be more likely to stop and patronise your shops, whereas if they are driving, they have to slow down, find parking and then buy something. All those hurdles may reduce how much tourists spend in your community. Also, plan public transportation routes from airplanes.
3. Create outdoor spaces.
Outdoor spaces gives tourists a place where they can relax, have a picnic and enjoy the scenery. These spaces also break up the monotony of pavement. Ideally, your urban plan should include some parks, plazas or other outdoor spaces.
4. Don't forget your citizens.
If you are trying to attract tourists, many of your local residents will likely end up working for the shops and businesses that cater to the tourists. These waiters, chefs, shopkeepers, salon professionals and multitudes of others need to be able to get to work easily. If you don't have affordable accommodation for them in the city centre, make plans to connect your city centre to outlying residential neighbourhoods with bicycle trails, public transit, roads that are designed to reduce congestion or other options.
5. Consult with an urban planner.
Whether your objective for your town is to draw in tourists or to achieve anything else, you may want to consult with an urban planner through the process. These professionals know how to set up communities so that they are appealing to tourists as well as to local residents, and they can help you address issues ranging from air quality, to tourism, to creating a plan that can change as your community grows.
