A specialist has warned that travelling could become ‘elitist’ with local people ‘locked out’ as costs rise, including tourist taxes and increasing admission fees
Travelling is becoming ‘elitist’ due to rising costs if tourist fees in destinations, a travel expert has claimed.
During a debate at The Specialist Travel Association (Aito) Travel Insights report, Africa Collection co-founder and director James Westrip said that rising fees for tourists to see animals in the wild are making certain trips beyond the reach of many travellers.
He warned that rising costs were blocking people from certain parts of the world, and locals from parts of their own countries.
“My concern is that it will become elitist and I don’t believe that’s what travel should be,” he said. “You already restrict locals from going into the national parks. We have to be careful to strike the correct balance between tourism and conservation concerns, with the knock-on effect of precluding some potential customers due to price.”
Mr Westrip went on to explain that park entry fees for Kenya’s Masai Mara have doubled to $200 (£159.91) per person, per day, for non residents. He continued that some tourists are even being charged $1,500 (£1,199.33) per person, per day, to see gorillas in the wild in Rwanda.
Other operators noted that the €5 (£4.16) daily tax introduced in Venice, Italy, last year was an example of additional costs for tourists. However, Ted Wake, managing director of short breaks operator Kirker Holidays, said: “Travel has always been elitist. We have to be realistic; if you don’t restrict tourists to Venice then Venice won’t be there like it has been for the last 200 years”, reports Travel Weekly.
Sara Zimmerman, non-executive director of escorted tours operator Travel Department, commented that the Venice tax would not put off clients who had their hearts set on visiting but noted demand was rising for less well-known areas.
“If you have not been to Venice you want to go, but what we are seeing is people are interested in exciting, off the beaten track places. Puglio in Italy is growing at a faster rate than Rome for example so it’s [a case of] finding places people have not been to that are accessible and have cultural highlights,” she said.
According to Born Free Safaris, the global interest in African safaris has more than doubled between 2022 and 2023. The surge in demand has led to a substantial increase in prices, with the average cost per person ranging from $5,500 (£4,397.53) to $6,500 (£5,197.08), a staggering 25 per cent surge.
Despite this, interest in safaris is still high and lesser-known areas are also seeing a rise in tourists, such as the Laikipia Region, in Kenya, which is home to 50 per cent of Kenya’s black rhino population.
There are also a number of tourist taxes due to be implemented in 2025, including Edinburgh, Greece, Thailand, Portugal, Paris and Mogán Town in Gran Canaria. A number of places where tourist taxes are already in place, such as Venice, will continue and other destinations are also set to increase the amount of tourist tax, such as Amsterdam (from seven per cent to 12.5 per cent).