Futourism by Martha Friel

Author:Martha Friel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: EGEA Spa - Bocconi University Press

Figure 1 Mode of transport used for outbound trips worldwide

Source: Elaboration from UNWTO 2017 data

Though a great deal has changed in tourism is the last 10–15 years, we are again at the start of a new evolution which will see profound transformation of the sector and continue at least until 2030.

By 2030 the world’s middle class will exceed 5 billion and as many as two-thirds of these will be international tourists, the majority of Asiatic origin, and they will mainly travel by plane. These are enormous numbers that will force the transport system to fund new solutions involving colossal investments: bigger and bigger aircraft and airports, mega hubs, new road networks, motorways, ports, ships and so on. A gigantic and complex global challenge with countless unknowns starting right from those linked to pollutant emissions.

What happens every day in the skies above our heads and how incredible the amount of air traffic actually is can be seen on YouTube in the amazing videos made by the NATS (National Air Traffic Services), one of the largest air traffic control agencies in the world.

These scenarios also underline the links between tourism, transport and sustainability, seen from the dual standpoint of carrying capacity and environmental sustainability.

Planes and cars, which as we have seen will be the most utilised means, are also the most polluting. The figures available provide a disturbing picture: tourism has a great environmental impact and therefore a great effort is required in this sector too to continue with the improvement of air quality, and the reduction of traffic and noise. At the moment there is no sight of any concrete solution to this challenge in the short term.

Without question airports will be at the centre of this challenge and many projects launched for their evolution already indicate the targets and results it is intended to obtain. The starting point is a simple observation of fact: today’s international airport system is incapable of handling the 7 billion or so international and domestic passengers who are expected by 2030.

Beijing, for example, had to build a new airport to replace the current one which was only expanded in 2008 but was soon no longer able to absorb passenger growth. The new airport will become the world’s largest airport serving 100 million passengers annually. And the same can be said of at least 20 international airports among the world’s most important.

Extensions, but above all, changes that go well beyond the mere dimensional question: it is not just a simple matter of new and longer runways, or greater spaces for transiting and disembarking, but a change of perspective which will profoundly modify an extremely broad context involving the hinterland, town-planning, industrial settlements and the network of services, all the way to the very concept of airport itself: no longer simply a place that is simply dedicated to transfers but also to stays and much else.

The road has already been traced in a clear manner today: most international airports allocate most of their space to shops, restaurants and other commercial activities.

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