Overtourism: How to be a responsible tourist

When the world began to unlock after the pandemic, people were itching to travel again. They wanted to ride on the gondolas in Venice, sunbathe on the beaches of Bali, or explore the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. The surge in tourism had an impact, felt most directly by locals in some of the most popular destinations around the world. 

“Overtourism” became a commonly heard term this summer. There have been anti-tourist protests movements in Amsterdam, Greek islands, Spanish islands and cities – with some diners in Barcelona being squirted with water pistols. A tipping point has been reached, where visitors and their money are perceived as not benefitting residents and instead causing harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life more difficult for locals. Rent prices push out would-be tenants to make way for short-term lets or Airbnbs and the cost of living becomes too high, narrow roads are jammed with vehicles and tourists taking photos, wildlife is scared away or their habitat damaged.

“For different destinations, overtourism often means different things, but generally speaking, people are latching on to the fact there is too much of something,” Michael O’Regan, Lecturer in Tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University’s School for Business and Society, told Big Issue. “It’s a shorthand word for people’s perception there is overcrowding of tourism in their destination.”

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The word “overtourism” has only been used in recent years, but O’Regan said it’s been going on for much longer.

“There have always been mismanaged destinations, always been people complaining about too many tourists.”

What made the latest surge in tourism feel completely overwhelming was the sharp contrast to the lack of tourism during the pandemic.

“For two or three years, residents lived a very different lifestyle without tourists, and suddenly, there were massive amounts of tourists again,” he said. “It has been a shock.”

This year tensions escalated as the number of tourists returned in pre-pandemic levels. In Barcelona, there was backlash from locals angered by water management problems, skyrocketing house prices, and drunken tourist dramas.

Although the Spanish protests took centre stage over the summer, several other countries scrambled to find solutions as residents raised their concerns about impacts of overtourism.

But for the most part, tourists aren’t the problem – mismanagement is, according to O’Regan.

“The term overtourism over-simplifies things and points the fingers at tourists as the instigators or invaders. That they are the perpetrators turning local people into victims. But it’s mismanagement of the destination that causes these issues.”

O’Regan doesn’t believe the solution to overtourism is to turn tourists away.

“Many of these cities have been places of international commerce, trade and migration for hundreds of years,” he said. “And tourism brings a lot of benefits. But with it, there also comes issues.”

And these “issues” should be addressed by local governments. Airbnb use could be restricted, hotel development halted, nightlife licensing tightened, tourism taxes charged, and infrastructure improved to benefit both locals and tourists. 

There are countries already using some of these measures to reduce the impacts of overtourism.

Visitor access to popular destinations like the Acropolis in Athens or Machu Picchu in Peru has been capped. The Colosseum in Rome and Louvre in Paris require tourists to book in advance. Venice introduced a citywide entrance fee for day-trippers. Amsterdam closed its cruise terminal and “demarketed” itself as a tourist destination. Florence banned new short-term private holiday rentals in the historic centre. Portofino now fines tourists lingering in viral Instagram spots.

“But many destinations don’t have any strategies,” O’Regan said. “They don’t know what they’re going to do next summer. It’s up to these destinations to create a five or 10-year strategy for tourism.”

And the incentive for action, other than protecting its resources and locals, is that without a plan to curb the impacts of tourism, visitor numbers could drastically reduce, impacting the economy. 

If a destination becomes too crowded or too expensive, people will look to travel elsewhere.

Although authorities hold the bulk of the responsibility for overtourism, tourists themselves can play a part in reducing the impacts of overtourism.

Responsible tourism is now a term coined to encourage tourists to create better places for people to both live and visit. Instead of diminishing the quality of life for locals, a responsible tourist will travel, sleep, eat, and wander in a way to minimise negative impacts on locals. It could be travelling in off-season months, or visiting unknown sites outside of the city centre, and using money to support local guesthouses, restaurants and tours. 

“A lot of tourists want to do the right thing,” O’Regan said. “They want to be sustainable. They are generally not swarming around like an army destroying places. But despite wanting to do the right thing, they have no idea how.”

For example, he said if a tourist wants to say in a hotel or eat at a restaurant, how will they know if it is locally or foreign owned? If it is benefitting the local community or not?

“National authorities could do a lot more to develop certification systems, to support local businesses, and help tourists find those businesses,” he said. “Tourists are looking for information but there is nowhere to get it.”

For the majority of the world, tourism remains a “force for good”, bringing joy and cultural experiences to tourists and economic growth to countries. With planning and the right regulation, tourism can be done in such a way that locals and their homes are protected even when they face large number of visitors.  

Postcards from the frontline of overtourism

Canary Islands

In April, tens of thousands of people across the Spanish Canary Islands protested, calling for a tourism strategy and a freeze on visitor numbers. In 2023, 13.9 million people visited the islands, which have a total population of only 2.2 million. Although tourism brought in €16.9 billion in 2022, locals complain that the high numbers of tourists are pricing them out of the rental market and depleting natural resources. 

Spain’s National Statistics Institute showed that 33.8% of people in the Canaries are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the highest proportion for any Spanish region other than Andalucía.

Protesters say they aren’t anti-tourist but are against a tourism model built around “a business class that doesn’t want to listen to what needs to be done” and a “political class that serves business instead of serving all the citizens”.

While tourists enjoy themselves bathing in the sun and swimming in the sea, locals feel “every nook and cranny” is being taken over, and that citizens are left behind with a collapsing infrastructure from all the traffic. Protesters also want a temporary suspension on all tourism development projects. 

Kyoto

In Japan’s Kyoto, tourists have been banned from certain private streets in Kyoto’s famous historic Gion district, traditionally home to the teahouses of geisha and maiko performers.

The ban is in large part due to antisocial behaviour. Tourists have been known to harass geisha, with a report in Japan Times describing how one geisha had her kimono torn and another a cigarette butt put in her collar. Tourists have been warned not to approach geisha, with fines for non-consensual photography threatened.

The city’s buses have also become overcrowded with visitors, leading to a new tourist-oriented bus service that the Kyoto’s leaders hope will disperse visitors and thin crowds currently clogging the local bus lines that residents rely on.

Tourism in Japan surged in the 2000s, and after a strict period of border restrictions during the pandemic, during the first half 2024, Japan as a country saw 17.78 million visitors. 

Venice

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world is the floating city of Venice in Italy. Some days, up to 120,000 people will visit the city home to only 50,000 residents. Many tourists want to see the main sites like the Rialto Bridge or St Mark’s Square, further concentrating numbers into small areas.

Locals are struggling to get around their city because tourists fill up boats or stand in the middle of streets taking pictures.

Of the 20 million people who visit each year, only half stay overnight, removing economic benefits. Those that do stay often opt for a short-term let like Airbnb. Owners of properties are therefore using their flats and houses for tourists instead, pushing locals out of the city.

No longer geared towards residents, there are poor employment opportunities, a high cost of living, and a reduced quality of life – all leading to depopulation. The population has more than halved in the last 30 years.

In response the government this year introduced a €5 fee for day-trippers, a decision that wasn’t well received by locals, who thought the fee went against basic travel freedoms and was too low to deter tourists.  Although the tourist tax earned the city €2.2 million, it was branded as a failure by some because it actually didn’t dissuade visitors on peak days. 

Tour groups of more than 25 and loudspeakers were also banned in the city from 1 August. 

Bali

Bali receives nearly half of all international arrivals into the entire country of Indonesia – in 2023, that was 15 million visitors. 

People typically arrive by plane having flown long distances, creating huge amounts of carbon emissions will worsen the climate crisis particularly for developing countries like Indonesia.

Overtourism in poorer places has a different impact. As there is little public transportation, cars and motorbikes are used, leading to congestion on small roads, resulting in noise and pollution. 

Last month, it was announced a pause would be set on the construction of new hotels, villas, and nightclubs to reduce the strain on local infrastructure, the environment and culture. It’s part of the government’s plans to reform tourism on Bali, to try boosting quality and jobs while preserving the Indigenous culture.

A tax has recently been considered for tourists after a series of incidents in which badly behaved foreigners violated laws or customs. There have been videos of this small group of tourists carrying out stunts for social media – posing naked at sacred sites, stripping off and gatecrashing a temple dance performance, and flashing on a motorbike. 

A worry is that with a swollen tourism sector in a relatively poor country, Bali will see declining environmental quality, residents moving away over time and culture being lost.

Dubrovnik

The port city of Dubrovnik in Croatia is still grappling with its recent title of Europe’s most “over touristed” destination. In 2022, more than a million tourists entered Dubrovnik, which has only a little over 28,000 residents. 

There are several reasons for the dramatic increase in numbers over recent years. The TV series Game of Thrones brings in 60,000 tourists each year. Increasingly cheap flights make it affordable for Europeans looking for a warm short break. Cruise ships empty out hundreds of thousands of tourists annually but who spend little time or money. 

Residents are driven out. In 1991, 5,000 people lived Dubrovnik’s Old Town. Today, there are only about 1,500. Homes and flats have been turned into tourist accommodation, ruining community cohesiveness and pushing up property prices. 

Historic sites have been tainted with too much foot-tread, and traditional cafes have become fast food outlets. There are traffic jams as tour buses park outside of the Old Town walls.

In 2017, Unesco recommended restricting the number of visitors to the historic city to 8,000 at a time, but no strict limitations were ever enforced. A noise level limit has been imposed during the evenings and a luggage drop-off system at the entrance to the historic centre has been introduced to allow visitors to have their suitcases delivered to accommodations using quiet electric vehicles.

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