The Role of Passages in Urban Tourism

„Trabouler” in Lyon

Introduction

The French word “trabouler” comes from Latin where "trans" means through and "ambulare" means go round. Its French meaning is “to use shortcuts by going through

a building”(www.lyontraboules.net).

In the past the purpose of passages were: •Easy delivery of silk from silk factories to merchants•Protected people and garments from extreme weather conditions•Speeded up human traffic and transport of goods

Aims and Scope

This presentation aims to show the findings of the attitude and satisfaction survey carried out among visitors in Lyon.Questions asked:•How many passages did tourists •visit?•How much time did they spend •visiting passages?•What did they associate with •passages?•How satisfied were they with •their visit? •Was there anything to spoil •their visit?

Source: Johann Production

Position, Accessibility, Image

• Capital of Rhône-Alpes region and Rhône country

• 460 km from Paris, 314 km from Marseilles • Population: 1.3 million • First TGV (Paris-Lyon) in operation in 1981 • 2 airports: Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon-Bron • In 2013 8.5 million passengers, 158.4 million

euro revenue (3.6% growth) (INSEE, 2014).

Image elements:• Gastronomic capital: Paul Bocuse • Viticulture: Beaujolais wine region• Film industry: Lumiere brothers• UNESCO World Heritage: in 1998 the city

centre including the passages was inscribed onto the World Heritage List

Figure 1 Map of France

Source: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/france-political-map.htm

Benefits of Opening Passages for Tourists

1. unique milieu, non-staged tourism product2. contributes to temporal and special management of the tourist flow 3. protects from the elements4. flexible thematic walks, no fixed starting and finishing points5. generating deeper experiences6. calming effects – quiet and cool temperature7. offers history and culture from a different angle8. gives insights into the everyday life of locals9. cooperation between locals and tourists are needed10. small financial investment since maintenance is needed regardless11. long-term sustainable tourism product13. old buildings of the city centre remains occupied14. contributes to longer sightseeing tours15. thematic walks can be organized16. widens tourism supply17. generate extra tourism income (own collection)

Results166 selected tourists using by convenient sampling method

Gender of respondents: 95 female, 71 male

Figure 2 Age of Respondents

Table 1 Nationality of Respondents

• 54% of all respondents were French. • Among the foreigners Italians and Spanish

featured the most prominently, however, the former was twice the number of the latter, with 26% and 13% respectively.

• The proportion of other nationalities did not exceed 10%.

• Overall, respondents came from 4 different continents (Europe, America Asia and Australia) and from 18 different countries.

• Europe was the most highly represented with 53 participants, followed by the American continent, people came from the USA, Canada, Brazil and Argentina, altogether 17 visitors.

Total Respondents %French 54Foreign 46

Country of Origin % of total foreignersItaly 26Spain 13Belgium 9USA 8United Kingdom 7Canada 7

5BrazilRussia 5Switzerland 5Australia 3Argentina 3The Netherlands 1Japan 1Luxembourg 1Germany 1Sri Lanka 1Thailand 1Turkey 1

Main Findings of the Survey

• Passages constituted the integral part of Lyon’s tourism supply and tourists tended to include some of them in their itinerary.

• Visit of 12 passages/person on average• 60 minutes more spent on sightseeing due to passage visits• The visit of passages lengthened the time spent on sightseeing.

Consequently, tourists slowed down their speed and dispersed more evenly in the city centre.

• The great majority of visitors were satisfied with their visit, however, French tourists were more satisfied with their experiences than foreigners.

• Main complaints included confusion and disorientation due inadequate signs

DiscussionFigure 3 Dominant Associations as Regards Passages

Table 2 Elements of Dominant Associations

• Interesting was the most common adjective mentioned by 24 people, more foreigners than French

• All the other adjectives appeared half that much. • For foreigners traboules were also historic, must see attractions. • For domestic travellers passages were first and foremost must see, typical sights in

Lyon, mysterious and adventurous. • Foreigners found passages rather unique and more of them felt a bit disoriented. • Two foreigners mentioned that passage tours might be a great activity in rainy

periods and one French mentioned the benefit of the cool climate of passages during hot weather.

• Negative adjectives were used only by foreigners and those included: difficult orientation, boring and neglected. Out of the 76 foreign respondents only 8 had negative associations regarding passages as tourist

Analysis of Associations

Comparison of the Satisfaction Level of French and Foreign Visitors

Figure 4: Satisfaction Level of Visitors

Link between Nationality, Associations and Satisfaction

• French respondents were more satisfied with their visit than foreigners.

• Neutral: mixed group of French and foreign visitors but only 2% French

• Two slightly disappointed visitors: 1 Australian, 1 Italian

• No French visitor was either slightly disappointed or disappointed• 11 foreigners out of 76 did not find their visits interesting: 4 Italians, 3 Belges, 3

Spanish

• Reason for disappointment: orientation problems, boredom

Conclusion• Tourists integrated passages into their sightseeing tours.• The majority of visitors were satisfied with visiting passages. French slightly more

than foreign tourists. • Passages should remain authentic and nonstaged.• Passage visit helped lengthen the time allocated to sightseeing, as a result, it

slowed down tourist mobility.• To avoid confusion and disorientation, signposts should be simple and

straightforward.• Ample provision of multilingual e-guides and thematic maps would be necessary

for better orientation• There is a need for organized thematic walks.

References• INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA STATISTIQUE ET DES ÉTUDES ÉCONOMIQUES (INSEE)

http://www.insee.fr/fr/regions/rhone-alpes/• Johann production. www.johannproduction.com• Les traboules de Lyon. http://www.lyontraboules.net/historique.php• LYON TOURISM AND CONVENTIONS - www.lyon.cci.fr• Map of France. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/france-political-

map.htm

Thank you for your attention• Brigitta PECSEK, PhD student/Freelance lecturer/Trade journalist• Szent Istvan University, Godollo, Hungary, Gyorgy Enyedi, Doctoral School of

Regional Sciences• Address: Godollo, Pater Karoly utca 1, 2100 Hungary• Phone: +36 30 417 6348• E-mail: brigitta.pecsek@gmail.com