Critical Discourse Analysis and Formulation of the Smart City Framework to Manage Overtourism in Amsterdam.

This thesis presents a critical qualitative analysis of the discourse on smart city concept and the strategies employed to manage overtourism in the case study of Amsterdam. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to reshape the tourism industry in a more sustainable manner, but visitor numbers are gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels, which surpasses Amsterdam’s carrying capacity. The city applies different strategies to improve quality of life in the city, but the role of smart city has been poorly explored in relation to sustainable tourism. Meanwhile, technology-based solutions in combination with active stakeholder participation are argued by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO 2018, 5) to be the most effective approach to tackling overtourism. It is known that Amsterdam suffers from overtourism significantly, because excess negative impacts from tourism causes issues for the city, causing nuisance and decreases the quality of life of local residents. Moreover...Show moreThis thesis presents a critical qualitative analysis of the discourse on smart city concept and the strategies employed to manage overtourism in the case study of Amsterdam. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to reshape the tourism industry in a more sustainable manner, but visitor numbers are gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels, which surpasses Amsterdam’s carrying capacity. The city applies different strategies to improve quality of life in the city, but the role of smart city has been poorly explored in relation to sustainable tourism. Meanwhile, technology-based solutions in combination with active stakeholder participation are argued by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO 2018, 5) to be the most effective approach to tackling overtourism. It is known that Amsterdam suffers from overtourism significantly, because excess negative impacts from tourism causes issues for the city, causing nuisance and decreases the quality of life of local residents. Moreover, no theoretical framework on smart city has been applied to specifically target overtourism within the city of Amsterdam, which makes it a goal of this thesis to analyse the current policies in the city and apply the alternative smart city lens as well as to structure the guiding framework specifically to deal with overtourism, which can further be used by policy-makers and scholars.Show less

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Critical Discourse Analysis and Formulation of the Smart City Framework to Manage Overtourism in Amsterdam.