AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 72

will go on coming to British cities in the numbers they have done. Both the finances and international reputation of UK universities today invite questions. Visa problems are unlikely to ease. And while overseas student numbers have lately flatlined in the UK (up just 0.7 per cent, 2012-5), its Anglophone rivals have seen theirs soar (between 18 and 43 per cent). Altogether, between now and 2030, events in UK cities may well see a drop in the numbers of overseas students attending them. More broadly, tourism as a whole has become more controversial. Travel conditions continue to test the patience of tourists, hotels and some cities are now hostile to Airbnb, and a media furore has broken out about the dangers of over-tourism. Young tourists, in particular, may come to worry more about the overall impact of their holidays. So, if cities like the boost to tourism that events bring, both cities and events face tough markets for tourism in future. All the world’s major cities have long engaged in fierce inter-urban competition, and have long used events as a weapon in this. Now that competition could get a lot more intense. If events have to work harder for tourists in future, cities will have no choice but to work more closely with events. 6. TRANSPORT TO AND FROM INFORMAL EVENTS: A BIG CHALLENGE, BUT AN OPPORTUNITY, TOO When a music festival requires that fans camp in the countryside, few really quarrel with the snags getting to it or getting home from it. However, when informal events are urban, and designed to be visited and returned from all in one day, public transport becomes vital – especially because parking near an event can be prohibitive. The snag is that, throughout the UK, public transport faces difficulties. Council bus services lack funds, and have suffered major cuts. Rail services are in a mess, most obviously in the North. So it’s little surprise that informal events are today often ill-served by public transport. Indeed, transport looks set to be a worsening challenge for events to beat in the years to 2030. By that date, though, won’t today’s new automotive technologies change transport to and from events? Sadly, the answer here is no. The driverless car, the flying car, even the driverless taxi or the 72