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.
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