“Overtourism” is not only a problem in Venice and Barcelona; German coastal areas are also struggling with masses of tourists. To better distribute visitors across different locations along the North Sea coast, the umbrella marketing organisation “Die Nordsee GmbH” relies on LiDAR sensors from the Munich-based manufacturer Blickfeld.

The weatherproof sensor technology is used to count beach visitors anonymously and visualise the occupancy rates at tourist hotspots. Visitors can thus obtain information before making a trip and, if necessary, choose an alternative destination with a lower volume of visitors.

In terms of coastal kilometres, Germany cannot compete with many neighbouring countries, but the German North Sea and Baltic Sea beaches are very popular nevertheless. During the pandemic, when travelling abroad involved greater expense and uncertainty compared to before, the rush to German coasts was great. As much as the German tourism industry is delighted about the renewed love for the North Sea and Baltic Sea, it is still looking at the development with some concern. In fact, the 2020 and 2021 summers attracted such large crowds to the coasts that these were barely manageable.

Burden on environment, residents and vacationers
The heavy crowds have negative impacts from three perspectives. Firstly, overcrowding on beaches poses a threat to sensitive ecosystems in the North Sea, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea. Many visitors produce a lot of waste and move around areas where they should not interfere, disturbing flora, fauna and endangering the environment.

Additionally, the high demand for recreation on the North Sea beaches leads to parked-up streets, crowded downtown areas and overcrowded promenades – which causes a lot of stress for locals, especially during the summer months. This particularly affects the communities on the North Sea coast of Lower Saxony which profit strongly from tourism, such as Wangerland, which has around 2 million overnight guest stays and around 600,000 daily travellers per year. According to a study by the German Institute for Tourism Research, some residents surveyed even go so far as to say that the large masses of tourists mean that they no longer truly feel at home.

Even the excursionists and vacationers themselves do not enjoy the full experience when laying towel to towel amongst other visitors, or when struggling to find parking spaces.

In search of a visitor management solution
In order to counteract this “overtourism” problem and enable better direction for visitors to the North Sea, the tourism umbrella marketing organisation in Lower Saxony “Die Nordsee GmbH” searched for a solution to direct visitors on the special initiative of Wangerland Touristik GmbH. The aim was to record the number of visitors at various locations in the company’s territory (Otterndorf, Wurster Nordseeküste, Butjadingen, Wilhelmshaven, Wangerland, Dornumersiel, Norddeich, Krummhörn-Greetsiel – the district of Cuxhaven was won as a cooperation partner) in order to be able to suggest alternative visitor destinations in the event of finding high occupancy. “Our vision was a digital data delivery in the form of up-to-the-minute occupancy information of the locations to the guest,” explains Tim Schönfeld, digitalization manager of Wangerland Touristik GmbH. “The guest thus receives a unique innovative service offer and can enjoy his vacation carefree.” The aim of the project is to equalise tourist hotspots and counteract pandemic-induced shortcomings. By distributing the flow of visitors, leisure facilities – including those in the charming hinterland – should be made better known and more fully utilised.

A sensor system for anonymous visitor detection
“The requirements with which Die Nordsee approached us were not only multifaceted, but also unique in the context of inter-municipal networking,” explains Lukas Baldischwieler, Head of Sales at EvoCount. The umbrella marketing organisation focused on three points: A data protection-compliant recording of visitors in real time, the weather resistance of the system and a large recording area. “Based on these requirements, we quickly realised that we would need to rely on LiDAR technology for the North Sea project,” Baldischwieler said. “The sensor technology clearly scores over alternatives such as camera detection in the areas of data protection and weather resistance, as well as use at night.”

The issue of data privacy is a particularly prominent one as the sensor system will be used in public spaces, such as car parks or boardwalks. It is essential that the information captured does not store any personal data. When used in public spaces, cameras have a clear disadvantage in that they capture visual data precisely, enabling the identification of individuals. Although there are now camera-based solutions which can make people unrecognisable – to be on the safe side, and to save a step in the data processing – LiDAR sensors should be used for recording.

Digital stelae and visitor websites help with excursion planning
“The websites also give us the first indication that the offer is being accepted and that the project is a success,” explains Baldischwieler. “Website usage has risen sharply since the occupancy displays went online as visitors can find out how many vacationers they would potentially have to share the beach with ahead of their visit.” Guest cards used by destinations also provide information about the success of the project. “The municipalities report increasing access rates in the partner resorts,” says Sonja Janßen, managing director of Die Nordsee GmbH. “As vacationers are spreading out to more locations, the visitor guidance is working.”