What model do city children and teenagers want for tourism?
Education. During the 2020-2021 school year, students from nine city schools have been working to produce over forty proposals reflecting on what tourism should be like from here on.
Students at nine city schools have been working over the last year on more than forty proposals reflecting on what tourism should be like from here on. The students taking part outlined their ideas in the closing session for the programme ‘Barcelona and tourism. We want our say!’.
The pandemic has prompted a serious crisis in different spheres. Tourism is one of the worst hit areas, having come to a halt around the globe. Now is the time to reactivate this sector and to think about how we want to do it. This stage of reflection should involve everybody, including youngsters, who must be able to have their say.
This was the premise for the third edition of the programme ‘Barcelona and tourism. We want our say!’, with pupils from their last two years in primary school or in secondary school setting out their ideas in a series of audio-visuals on how to tackle the effects of the Covid-19 crisis in the tourist industry. In all, 45 proposals were received from the 9 participating schools, with 400 students involved. The goal of this education project is to generate classroom reflection, debate and critical opinion on the complex worldwide issue of tourism, which is fundamental for the development of our city and our daily life.
Respectful, decentralised and cultural tourism
The proposals from students aged between 10 and 15 include the regulation of tourist flats, respect for others and for the city and ways of combating overcrowding in the historical city centre. For instance, one measure suggests two different queues at museums, with one for tourists and a priority queue for local people. Other ideas include promoting other places of interest where there is no crowding, such as the cathedral, more social housing to prevent tourist lets leading to price hikes in property, guarantees on visitors getting around on public transport, respect for local people’s right to rest and more consideration for the wishes of local people.
The projects and short films from this edition will be published on the education website.
