Hugo Polman
5.1. Conclusions about the accomodation analysis and design.
The analysis of Texel showed an island which experiences a repeating cycle with two stages; summertime with a high amount of tourism and wintertime with a low amount of tourism. This is what defines the biggest part of the subsystem accommodate community, since a large number summer homes on the island are empty for a big part of the year. This is a waste of space, money and energy. To be more environmentally friendly, socially and economically beneficial, Texel needs to step out of this cycle and receive a constant flow of tourism, while at the same time all the current and upcoming accommodation needs to improve in their sustainable aspects. However, there are a few aspects that need to be taken into account.
First of all, the tourist satisfaction of the island needs to stay high, since this is important to maintain the island's economy. The most popular tourist attractions, the nature and the beach of Texel, along with other natural and cultural resources that support tourism activities, should keep their appeal. Secondly, even though the tourism is an important factor for the island, the needs of the local community should be taken into account first. This is why the private accommodation also needs to be be improved and not just the tourist accommodation. Sharing properties within communities is already a current trend. To create higher involvement in the community by integrating the dynamic behaviour and rhythm through accommodation, the shifts between summer and winter that take place on the island need to slowly disappear.
Resulting from all these restrictions and opportunities within the design challenge, a certain degree of monitoring of existing and potential impacts is required. This should go along with efficient management to allow corrective or preventive measures.
Besides this, the YUTPA analyses added to the design principles. For example, the YUTPA tourist analysis made clear that the daily or weekly rhythm of a tourist on Texel is an important design tool. The YUTPA analysis of the locals showed the importance of social aspects. Tourist and locals are viewed as different groups, but they should interact even more with each other. This is not only important for the locals, but it will also create more involvement of the tourists with the island, which might result in more tourists returning.
Another thing that became clear of the YUTPA analysis, is that it’s important for the locals to stay in control of the tourism. The government could support the tourists into reaching goals on the subject of tourism, but it shouldn’t take the matter into it’s own hands.
Once the situation of the current accommodation and the design direction are clear, two pathways could be created to improve the sub-system on sustainability. One pathway focusses on improving the winter tourism by creating winter attractions and adapting accommodations. The second pathway tries to increase off-season tourism by looking into eco-tourism. Green accomodation get advertized more to increase this specific type of tourism. Both pathways also include the retrofitting of current houses, which includes private accommodation and not just tourist accommodation. Another implementation that appears in both scenarios is that the government interacts by offering subsidies or education of a specific subject. But in this scenario the locals are the ones acting on this, meaning the locals are in control. However, the government should interact when the locals have ideas that harm the the popular attractions for tourists, such as the nature or the beach. The pathway aimed towards winter tourism will probably be more successful, since ecotourism is not that big. Secondly, because the accommodation and attractions are focused more towards winter tourism, it might result in a higher impact towards the rhythm of the tourist, which is also an aspect that derived from the YUTPA analysis. In conclusion most aspects from the analyses are covered within the designed pathways.