Overtourism: When Destinations Suffocate Under Their Own Guests

Symbolic image: tourists in Venice · Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0

⏱ 55 sec read

Some places are almost too beautiful for their own success. Venice, Barcelona, the beaches of Bali or Amsterdam are experiencing a phenomenon for which the term "overtourism" has taken hold: too many visitors in too little space.

The consequences are felt above all by locals. In Venice, for instance, rents have risen so sharply and the old town has become so crowded that many residents have moved away. Flats become holiday lets, grocery shops become souvenir stores. Some cities are now pushing back – with entrance fees, caps on overnight stays or bans on advertising.

At the same time, many of these places depend economically on tourism. It brings jobs and income. That makes the question difficult: how many guests can a place bear without losing what makes it special?

Experts advocate "gentler" tourism: spreading visitors across the year instead of concentrating them in peak season, promoting less well-known destinations, steering day trippers.

The takeaway: even small choices help – travelling in the off-season, staying longer in one place instead of ticking off many at speed, and treating local people's everyday lives with respect.

Own synthesis based on publicly available reporting and research on tourism.

Symbolic image · Photo: "Tourists in Venice", CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons