Walking as a cultural act and a profit for the landscape. A case study in the Iberian Peninsula

Walking as a means of travel, when done voluntarily, becomes a cultural act that can have a beneficial effect both for the people who carry out the routes and for the space itself that is walked on. The fact of moving at a slow speed allow us to recover a more appropriate pace to enjoy the landscape, to reconnect with nature and with the position of human in the world, while improving our health. In contemporary society, some cultural tourist routes have become successful destinations, with the continuous arrival of thousands of visitors throughout the year. Thus, the historical cultural route Way of St. James has become a globally successful cultural tourism product. Close to this destination, the Ribeira Sacra, that has been recently designated by the regional government as a Cultural Landscape, with the intention of preserving its historical legacy, may be in the future a privileged destination in Galicia for walking. The research carried out allows us to ensure that this fact, taking long walks following routes with a rich cultural content, has a positive impact on the space from two different processes that are reinforced as the routes become more popular. First, from the recovery and promotion of an alternative communication network between different places. And second, through a series of laws and regulations that protect historic trails and adjacent landscapes.

Effects of tourism promotion on COVID-19 spread: The case of the "Go To Travel" campaign in Japan

Introduction

On July 22, 2020, the Japanese government launched the "Go to Travel" campaign that subsidizes 50% of personal travel expenditure to support the tourism industry under the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy was controversial from the viewpoint of infection spread and was temporarily cancelled in December 2020, though there was no statistical evidence.

Methods

This is the first study that measures the extent to which this campaign increased COVID-19 cases. This study regards the campaign as a natural experiment: although Tokyo and its commuting areas experienced the same time-series trends of COVID-19 cases before the "Go To Travel" campaign, this campaign was implemented in areas outside Tokyo, but not in Tokyo. Then, the comparison (difference-in-differences) yields the campaign's effect.

Results

The estimation shows that the "Go To Travel" campaign significantly raised the increment rate of cases by 23.7%-34.4% during July 30-August 4. There is no significant effect after August 5. In addition, our simulation identified the number of campaign-related cases in each city.

Conclusions

Although the campaign significantly spread COVID-19, the effect was not continuous to permanently change the time-series trend.