Tourists: We love to be them, hate to be around them. Especially when the overloaded car parks mean searching for parking, and takes away from our enjoyment, relaxation - and budget. Can parking management solve the problem?
Tourism-reliant cities and communities know how important it is to keep tourists happy. And whenever we at SONAH meet with such cities, they tell us how parking search traffic-filled roads are destroying the experience of tourists - and locals. Sure, for some tourism might be limited to summer months. Maybe that makes it bearable. But if those summer months are what provide the financial fuel for the winter, good parking infrastructure is absolutely essential. So, is it possible that, despite the seasonality of tourism, it would be worth installing a high-tech parking management and parking guidance system in tourist areas?
Unhappy Tourists, Unhappy Locals…
Parking scarcity - or in the case we’re looking at in this article, long distances between overfilled car parks - in tourist areas is more than simply annoying for tourists. It’s a factor that helps them decide where exactly to go, where exactly to spend their money. And let’s make it extra clear; tourism parking scarcity isn’t the same as parking scarcity in a busy city or at stadiums or at a workplace. People who can’t find parking at their workplace may be late to work and eventually, they may choose to switch jobs. People looking for parking at a stadium on match day know full well to expect a wait, and the main issue is the traffic and emissions they cause. But when a tourist area is known for parking scarcity, people have complete choice as to whether they visit. Every visit lost is less money, not to mention the loss of the recommendation and therefore future visits.
Parking for Nature and Peace in Neu-Schönau
It’s not just the loss of a tourist visit; there’s also the effect on nature and on the local residents. Take our project in Neu-Schönau: a beautiful nature spot, people flock there every tourist season for either snow or sun. With cars driving the unusually long distances between car parks, the occasional beeping and constant hum of motors running was disturbing the peaceful ‘untouched’ vibe of the forest. Local residents simply trying to do their grocery shopping, take their children to school, or get to work would be getting stuck alongside the thousands of tourists just trying to find their way around.
It’s hard to entice and keep tourists at a spot if the locals are so unhappy with them, and if those tourists are mainly coming for the nature vibes? They’ll be less than enchanted by seeing the snaking queue of metal car roofs warming in the sun on the winding roads…
How Do We Use Parking Management Systems In Tourist Areas?
We worked with Neuschönau to set up occupancy detection systems in several car parks. We used our camera-based sensors for counting systems i.e. sensors which detect how many cars are entering and exiting each car park. In natural areas, parking also tends to be unmarked, meaning that digitizing this chaotic space is nigh on impossible for many types of solution. This method gives us a number that we can use to work out how many parking spaces are currently free, a cheaper solution than individual parking spot detection. For this use case, it’s exactly the right solution, allowing users to find out which car park is worth driving to and reducing the amount of cars queuing between each one.
And for those looking to be more at one with nature, they are no longer confronted with traffic and fuel emissions on arrival - even the sensors themselves are powered by solar in Neschönau. Sustainable holidays without flying away from Germany can actually feel sustainable and relaxing, instead of feeling like the regular city commute.
The Potential Doesn’t Stop There: Parking Enforcement
Parking enforcement: this is a use case for our technology which we see as being a huge benefit for tourist areas. It is not implemented currently in Neuschönau, but the deployment of such services are an easy addition to such projects. We can use our camera-based sensors to detect parking infringements like drivers staying too long or covering two spaces, which in turn allows us to pass on non-personal data to parking officials. This way, officials can target problem areas quickly without encroaching on GDPR restrictions.
From Neuschönau To Heringsdorf, And Now To You?
Projects in tourist areas are nothing new to us, with even more areas like Heringsdorf in north Germany also under our wing. At every conference we attend, we get more and more questions from smaller communities wondering if we can support them with their seasonal tourism parking issues - interestingly, a lot of villages with swimming lakes and nature resorts are approaching us. The answer is: parking management CAN and should be introduced in smaller communities where overloaded parking areas are causing strife.
Smaller communities might mean smaller budgets, but that is no obstacle to massive improvements.
We at SONAH design our projects to meet your budget requirements while also solving as many problems as we can - just check out our URBAN LEGENDS and our catalog of solutions.
