THE CURSE OF OVER-TOURISM

 

Santorini invaded by horde of tourists

 

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines over-tourism as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way". It is a situation in which the impact of tourism, at certain times and in certain locations, exceeds physical, ecological, social, economic, psychological, and/or political capacity thresholds.

Since its inception, tourism has been considered a benign activity. This is hardly surprising; the holiday industry’s USP is leisure, enjoyment, a break from all life’s responsibilities. It has brought wealth to forgotten rural communities, cushioned the blow of financial crashes, conserved critically endangered species and restored crumbling, historic cities. Tourism’s potential benefits are clear. However, let us not believe in the myth that it can only bring good.

The term ‘over-tourism’ is relatively new, having been coined over a decade ago to highlight the spiraling numbers of visitors taking a toll on cities, landmarks and landscapes. As tourist numbers worldwide return towards pre-pandemic levels, the debate around what constitutes ‘too many’ visitors is still being hotly argued. While many destinations, relying on the income that tourism brings, are still keen for arrivals, a handful of major cities and sites are now imposing bans, fines, taxes and time-slot systems, and, in some cases, even launching campaigns of discouragement in a bid to curb tourist numbers.

 

Signs of over-tourism

Acropolis in Athens with a mob of tourists

The demand for apartments means that rents are pushed up, and local people are pushed out. When housing for local tenants has to make way for holiday rental accommodations, that is over-tourism. When narrow roads become jammed with tourist vehicles, that is over-tourism. When wildlife is scared away, when tourists cannot view landmarks because of the crowds, when fragile environments become degraded – these are all signs of over-tourism.

 

What are the key causes of over-tourism?

Tourism has increased because of higher disposable income and cheaper travel. These cheap flights are made possible thanks to tax and VAT not being charged on aviation fuel, a “subsidy” which saves the industry billions. Airbnb has made thousands of beds available in towns and cities around the world, without being subject to any kind of planning, permits or – in many cases – taxes. Hosts can undercut nearby hotels and hostels, and the “home share” concept has become ever more commercialized.

Streets of Dubrovnik clogged by tourists

Giant cruise ships are another contributing factor when it comes to overtourism. They too are allowed to burn a particularly cheap and polluting type of fuel, which also allows them to keep costs low. Thousands of passengers spill out into port cities like Dubrovnik, Venice, and Maine each day, returning to the ship in time for dinner. Passengers often spend very little in the destinations, yet ensure that historic streets, monuments, cafes and shops are jam packed with people, creating an unpleasant experience for residents as well as for visitors who may be staying on land and spending money locally. The flora and fauna of places like Alaska can be threatened by these cruise tours.

The local government tourism department too should share the blame. If a “successful” year in tourism is only gauged by number of footfalls, then the more the merrier! Never mind whether these numbers are of cruise ship passengers, duty free shoppers, resort guests, backpackers or high end visitors; the number is all that counts. This has resulted in a reluctance – or often outright refusal – to cap numbers in any way, to increase (or introduce) daily tourist taxes, to charge cruise lines for docking, or to try and ensure that tourists’ behaviour is beneficial – or at the very least, not damaging – to local lifestyles and landscapes.

Social media has concentrated tourism in hotspots and exacerbated the problem, and tourist numbers globally are increasing in selected destinations. 80% of world’s travelers go to only 10% of the world’s tourist destinations. These places have finite capacities and these should be respected.

While travel is an expansion of imagination and certainly should not remain in the realm of the elite, tourism too is often about seeking and finding clichés, a frenzied ticking of boxes, a bucket list of places to go and things to do. Instead of meshing unobtrusively into a living environment, tourists often see it as a mere backdrop for themselves in an Instagram/Facebook reels.

What is at stake?

Overcrowding is an issue for both locals and tourists. It can ruin the experience of sightseeing for those trapped in long queues, unable to visit museums, galleries and sites without advance booking, incurring escalating costs for basics like food, drink and hotels, and faced with the inability to experience the wonder of a place in relative solitude. The absence of any real regulations has seen places take it upon themselves to try and establish some form of crowd control, meaning no cohesion and no real solution.

Coral reef in Hawaii destroyed by tourists 

Then, there are the wide-reaching effects, such as climate change. Coral reefs, like the Great Barrier Reef and Maya Bay, Thailand, made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach, are being degraded from visitors snorkelling, diving and touching the corals, as well as tour boats anchoring in the waters. Venice is believed to be sinking at a rate of 1-2 millimetres each year, with climate change studies warning that Venice will be underwater by 2100. Cruise ships have also had an impact on the cityscape, pouring in far too many tourists than the city can welcome. With more tourism transport-related carbon emissions from tourism are expected to grow 25% from 2016 levels according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

Trevi Fountain in Rome surrounded by tourists

Then, one has to think of the local residents of the tourist destination too! Renters are being evicted by landlords in favour of turning properties into holiday let outs, and house prices are escalating as a result, beyond the affordability of locals. As visitors and rental properties outnumber local residents, communities are being lost. And, skyrocketing prices, excessive queues, crowded beaches, exorbitant noise levels, damage at historical sites and the ramifications to nature as people overwhelm or stray from official paths are also reasons the positives of tourism can have a negative impact. Eager tourists invade the privacy of the locals and their children are not left with outdoors to play. The issue of safety of the locals also gets diluted when tourist numbers increase.

 

Locals are fighting back

Marches in the streets, graffiti saying “Tourist go home”, and placards outside homes saying “We too have privacy” and “Trespassers will be taken to the police”are now quite common in Santorini,  Mykonos and Ledo. Locals in Austrian lakeside village of Hallstatt staged a blockade of the main access tunnel, brandishing placards asking visitors to ‘think of the children’. Hallstatt has just 800 residents but has opened its doors to around 10,000 visitors a day — a population increase of over 1,000%.

Amsterdam is home to a little under a million people, yet welcomes more than 21 million visitors a year, many of whom are drawn by the liberal, party-going reputation this city has. That means a lot of drunk, rowdy tourists in a small space. Amsterdam’s tourism bureau has released a list of rules and regulations for visitors, introducing on-the-spot fines of €150 ($250) for acts of public nuisance such as littering, noise pollution and public urination, while drunkenness and the use of marijuana in the old city centre now carry a €100 fine.

In Prague the local resident population has been halved, driven out by higher prices, short-term apartment rentals, and tourist hordes. Boozy stag party groups are an ongoing issue. Prague authorities had the chance for a reset during the pandemic and introduced “Putting Prague First”, a plan to sustainably manage the tourism industry as it recovers. This means adding facilities for residents in the historic centre, more closely regulating short-term apartment rentals and appealing to visitors to travel in a way that is slower and more respectful of locals.

Kyoto is home to 1.5 million quiet and culturally rich Japanese population. Yet it attracts more than 70 million visitors a year. The locals are unable to move about their city, to shop, dine and indulge in their cultural heritage in the same way they used to. The Kyoto City Tourism Association has released a “Kyoto Tourism Code of Conduct”, a series of recommendations for visitors to lessen their impact. These recommendations include advice on cultural education and respect, encouraging visitors to interact with locals and participate in festivals and events, and even asking that they don’t leave leftover food when dining at restaurants

Cruise ship destroying the view of St. Mark's Square

Residents in Venice fought long and hard for a ban on cruise ships, with protest flags often draped from windows. In 2021, large cruise ships over 25,000 tonnes were banned from using the main Giudecca Canal, leaving only smaller passenger ferries and freight vessels able to dock.

In France, the Marseille Provence Cruise Club introduced a flow management system for cruise line passengers in 2020, easing congestion around the popular Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde Basilica. Coaches are limited to four per ship during the morning or afternoon at the Basilica to ensure a good visitor experience and safety for residents and local businesses.

Beaches in Thailand, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Samui, Pattaya and Krabi always attract large crowds, they in turn always damage the local environment. Thailand has taken some drastic steps. Maya Bay was closed to tourists entirely for three-and-a-half years to allow for its marine ecology to recover. The bay was closed again in 2023 for two months for similar reasons. Tourist boats can no longer land at the bay and swimming is prohibited.

 

While in Orkney, Scotland, residents have been up in arms at the number of cruise ships docking on its shores. At the beginning of 2023, the local council confirmed that 214 cruise ship calls were scheduled for the year, bringing around £15 million in revenue to the islands. Following backlash from locals, the council has since proposed a plan to restrict the number of ships on any day.

 

What steps are being taken by local governments?

Governments and local authorities need to look at ways to control tourist numbers – whether by raising prices, issuing permits to certain attractions, banning cruise ships over a certain size, or having greater control over which businesses open and where.

City taxes have become increasingly popular, with Barcelona increasing its nightly levy in April 2023. Venice expects to charge day-trippers a €5. In Amsterdam the city council voted to ban cruise ships, and in Rome, sitting at popular sites, such as the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, has been restricted by the authorities. And in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, the Narok County governor has introduced on-the-spot fines for off-roading.

Gorilla tracking in East Africa is another example; just eight permits per day are issued to track each gorilla family, and permit prices range up to $1,500. Far from causing outcry, tourists view the handful of expensive permits as an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Bhutanese government introduced a drastic measure to deter all but the wealthiest visitors: it raised its “Sustainable Development Fee” – essentially a daily tax for foreign travellers – from about $100 a day to about $300 a day, on top of a $60 visa fee. That measure was a little too successful, however, with only 14,000 visitors subject to the tax arriving in the first six months of 2023. In September last year, the government slashed that fee to about $150 a day, effective until 2027.

In Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands – both exceptionally fragile habitats teeming with endemic and endangered species – restrictions on the size of cruise ships and the number of passengers who may disembark at any one time have ensured the sustainability of tourism. And on the Inca Trail, only around 200 trekking permits per day are made available for tourists. These, too, sell out, often many months in advance.

Florence under a deluge of tourists

 

Some more innovative solutions

The most important thing is to form a clear strategy, in consultation with local people about what a place wants or needs from tourism. There are ways to better manage tourism by promoting more off-season travel, limiting numbers where possible and having greater regulation within the industry. Encouraging more sustainable travel and finding solutions to reduce friction between residents and tourists could also have positive impacts. Promoting alternative, less-visited spots to redirect travellers may also offer some benefits.

Today, over-tourism is a seasonal issue for a small number of destinations. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, a range of measures are clearly an option depending on the scale of the problem. Spain, Italy, Iceland and Croatia have all been in the news as victims of overtourism, but in each case, this is extremely localized.

Get off the beaten path: Barcelona is perpetually teeming with tourists, and many of its residents are understandably fed up, but Spain is a large country, and many of its cities are not at all crowded with tourists. Then there are the villages and mountains where you can experience a more realistic insight into the daily life in Spain. In many small pueblos you’ll be eagerly welcomed as one of the few tourists to arrive. There are many places around the globe that need, and want, more tourists.

Off season tourism: This is another option. This is more pleasant for you, less stressful for residents, puts less pressure on things like public transport, and may even save you quite a bit of money, too. I wrote a blog on off season tourism which you can read by clicking this hyperlink: https://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-joy-of-off-season-travel.html

Ensure that locals benefit from your visit: And whenever you travel, try and ensure as much of your cash stays as local as possible. Pay national park entrance fees to ensure your visit supports conservation; stay in locally owned guesthouses; eat at local restaurants and take tours with local guides. Tourism can still be very much a force for good, and ensuring that local residents, habitats and wildlife benefit from your presence is an important part of that. Using public transport such as trains and busses is much eco-friendlier than driving a car or using a taxi.

If tourist and the tourism industry move from a consumer mentality to one of collective stewardship and indulge in sustainable travel, examining the impact of their action from the way they travel to the experience they seek to being mindful about their effects on local communities and nature then no problem is insurmountable.