The rise of low-cost airlines, short-term rentals and cruise ships is partly to blame for the current overtourism, says Lionel Saul, a visiting lecturer at EHL Hotel Business School in the US. “Social media, influencers, movies and TV shows are all part of it,” she says. “Because they bring a lot of people to the same place. They just come, take a nice selfie, post it on social media, increase the popularity of the place… and leave.”
Many world-famous tourist destinations have returned to the cycle of overcrowding like before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourist numbers are on the rise. The United Nations estimates the world population will reach 8.5 billion by 2030. And according to the World Tourism Organization, there are expected to be 50 million more international tourist arrivals each year between now and 2030, mostly from Asia.
Many preventive measures
Tatyana Tsukanova said that the Austrian village of Hallstatt, which was the inspiration for Disney's blockbuster "Frozen," appeared in a Korean TV series. Immediately, this place became a tourist fever. Every year they have to receive about 1 million visitors. The people here even built a retaining wall, but then the government was forced to take it down due to public backlash.
Other cities and sites like Machu Picchu in Peru, the Acropolis in Athens, Borobudur in Indonesia, and beaches in Sardinia are limiting daily visitor numbers, while Venice and Bora Bora are restricting large cruise ships.
Amsterdam has been a “pioneer” in combating overtourism, restricting buses, tourist shops, new hotel openings and Airbnb rentals, according to the Guardian. They are also considering banning cruise ships and moving the city’s famous red-light district out of the city centre.
The Dutch capital launched a unique tourism campaign in April. Specifically, the Netherlands asked some visitors – specifically young, male British tourists – to stay away if they came to the city with bad intentions such as drug use or partying.
Some cities are targeting tourist wallets by imposing fines for bad behavior. Venice fines tourists for sitting on the ground eating, swimming in the canals, and strolling in swimsuits. Starting in 2024, the city will test a new tactic: charging day-trippers $5.
Ivan Saprov, founder of US-based travel technology company Voyagu, said the new tourist taxes will start in Valencia, Spain; Manchester, England; Thailand; and Iceland. Bali will also levy a $10 tourist tax starting in February 2024.
However, sustainability fees are not a “hard pill to swallow” for tourists. “After talking to our customers, we were surprised by the positive feedback,” Saprov stressed. “Nearly 40% of them agreed and supported it because the revenue generated can be used to improve facilities and services that are enjoyable for both tourists and locals.”
Many tourists support Bhutan’s $200-a-day sustainability fee, which will be introduced in 2022. However, according to a survey, fines and fees are unlikely to stop overtourism. Ms. Tsukanova said cooperation between city authorities, tourist destinations, tourists and residents is needed.
Tourist flow management
The key to overcoming overtourism lies in managing tourist flows and will require more help from technology, World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili told CNBC Travel.
To tackle overtourism while still attracting paying visitors, some countries are luring visitors to less visited areas.
Indonesia introduced “10 New Balis” in 2016 – later reduced to “5 New Balis” – to introduce tourists to other beautiful places in the country. Meanwhile, Japanese tourism officials are pushing tourists to visit rural areas.
Darrell Wade, co-founder of Intrepid Travel, says tourism needs to evolve and reinvent. One of the problems with tourism today is that it is the opposite of reinvention. It is extractive – and that cannot go on much longer. “You don’t just come, take a picture, see the sights and leave,” he stresses.
Promote healthy tourism development
Saul said her team is working on a regenerative hospitality business model that sees tourists helping the communities they visit, so that visitors “don’t just come… visit and leave.” She said visitors could restore coral reefs, plant trees or ensure their money benefits local people by choosing smaller hotels and family-owned restaurants.
According to Ms. Tsukanova, the biggest challenge now is to change the way tourists think about traveling in a different direction. That is, to put into use an application that allows tourists to count how many countries and regions they have visited./.
