date: 26.08.2020
Tourism Impact Model (TIM) is a comprehensive tool for modelling and optimisation of the tourism impact on a local ecosystem through fostering collaboration between different stakeholders. It enables assessment of the impact of tourism on different societal aspects (Environment, Economy, Culture, Health, Education etc.) to reach sustainable development in a specific geographical area by following the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
TIM brings real data in the perception of the impact of tourism to sharpen the real picture for everyone and allow data-driven strategic planning for strategic and sustainable tourism development. Through supervised collecting of data from various sources TIM transform data into valuable information. This way location takes a real picture of the whole spectrum of positive and negative impacts of tourism based on real data. Each location receives a detailed assessment of the current tourism impact. Visualisation of results and sets of recommendations for improvements make complex concepts simple and easy to understand and empower locations with guidelines for further actions.
Tourism Impact Model assessment is currently being implemented in two locations in each country in the Black Sea Region, one large and one small one to ensure comparison of tourism impact according to the size of a destination.
Odessa is situated on the Black Sea shore. It has a population of about 1 million residents and receives some 2 million visitors a year on business (transport especially the ports, agriculture and tourism) and holiday. The main origin of tourists is coming from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Belarus with an increasing number from China, Poland, Germany, Baltic states, Romania and Bulgaria (the European visitors often being expatriates visiting families).
Vylkove is situated on the north bank of the Kilia branch of the Danube river, inside the Danube delta. The town has a population of about 9,000 people principally engaged in agriculture, market gardening and fishing. Vylkove is well known throughout the former Soviet countries for its unique system of canals and picturesque cottages that have attracted many writers and artists. It is also an easily accessible river port for Danube cruise boats. The town receives over 10,000 visitors a year, mostly Germans on the cruise boats and Ukrainians coming by car. In many respects, Vylkove is the sister town of Sfantu Gheorghe in the Romanian part of the Danube delta and so provides an opportunity to compare the results of TIM assessment between them.
Sfântu Gheorghe is a small village in the Danube Delta (approx. 800 inhabitants). It can be reached only by boat. As it is a small village, tourism is a very important part of their economy, besides fishing. It makes a very good case study as it is remote, vulnerable economically and socially, it is inserted in a very vulnerable environment (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, marshlands very prone the global warming effects).
Constanta, and its summer resort Mamaia (approx. 30,000 tourist per day in full-season), is by far the most popular and developed in Romania. Mamaia has the highest density of accommodation on the Romanian seaside, and the pressure on resources is at its maximum during July and August. As the demand is very high during those months, the prices for accommodation rival or even surpass other very popular European destinations like Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, Ibiza or Costa del Sol.
Batumi is the second biggest city in Georgia not only according to population but also according to business, cultural and political life. Batumi (population of 153,839) is visited by every third of international visitors.
Kobuleti (population of 16,546) is a small settlement, mostly depended on tourism. It is popular with tourists due to its cheap accommodation, proximity to beach facility, non-urban development and balneology profile that attracts mostly families from Georgia and neighbouring countries whereas Batumi provides numerous tourism products and has a wide array of tourists’ geography in Georgia.