Overtourism and what to do about it
The protests against sustained tourist flows from last year in popular travel destinations such as Venice, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona have shown the dark side of (mass) tourism. In Iceland, where there are meanwhile seven travelers for each local per year, dissatisfaction is growing and in this country, too, criticism of the incoming tourist crowds is stirring in popular cities such as Berlin and Hamburg.
There has always been criticism of tourism
Protests against mass tourism are nothing new. Tourism criticism has also existed since the beginning of tourism. In the XNUMXs, for example, there was a lot of criticism of the ongoing construction boom in the Alpine region. As a result, associations were founded that already back then focused on sustainable tourism and placed the protection of nature in the foreground.
Today we speak of overtourism. This means that cities and regions are flooded with tourists. Occasionally there is also talk of “touristification”. What they all have in common is that the people living there in particular feel the negative effects of tourism: crowds, crowds, crowds, noise, rubbish, inappropriate behavior on the part of tourists and price increases.
One reads sayings like "Tourist go home!"
In cities where the housing shortage is already great, providers such as Airbnb are helping to further increase rents and push the population further to the outskirts or even completely. It is not for nothing that Berlin has had the misappropriation law for several years now, which prohibits the mere purchase of apartments in order to ultimately rent them out on Airbnb.
In other cities like Venice, there are no such laws (yet). Numerous documentaries about mass tourism in Venice show you how the small city has to struggle with the daily arriving masses of tourists. Doubly tragic: most of them come to the city on cruise ships. Not only a problem for the environment, the local population also has little of the otherwise positive effects of tourism. The vacationers from the ships usually spend little money in the cities, eating and sleeping on the ships.
So it's understandable that this doesn't suit everyone. “Tourist go home” or “Your luxury trip is my daily misery”, that is, your luxury trip is my daily misery, are just a few of the sayings that now adorn many a house wall.
A growth sector and no end in sight
But the wide range of low-cost airlines is also bringing more and more people to the cities. To go shopping in Barcelona for a weekend – it has never been so easy and cheap to travel as it is today. The number of travelers has been increasing steadily for years and there is no end in sight. On the one hand, that's nice. Because that means more people can afford to travel. But this also brings with it serious problems for the environment and for the local population, such as more garbage, noise and crowding due to the crowds.
The protests also reflect the injustices of the sector in general: unfair wages and little participation of the population in urban development. Nothing is more important than involving the locals in tourism planning and letting them participate in the success. This ensures, on the one hand, that everyone is informed about the future steps at all times, and on the other hand, they do not feel neglected or pushed away if they are allowed to participate in the success.
It is easy to forget that tourism also has many positive sides during protests. The sector provides a large proportion of non-relocatable jobs and can thus also strengthen rural or structurally weak regions. In addition, cultural sights are maintained. The surrounding landscape also plays a central role for tourism and it is in its interest to maintain it. And finally, traveling can make a positive contribution to broadening one's own horizons. It will therefore not be an option to stop traveling. Rather, more compatible forms of tourism must be established. Those that are an asset to both locals and travelers.
Sustainable tourism deals with the problems
So it's nice when clubs like "Venezia Autentica" form. The founders Valeria and Sebastian have made it their goal to "save Venice from the plague of mass tourism". On their platform you can book individual activities in Venice that show the traveler the real Venice. So you can for example typical decorating venetian masks or Murano jewelry myself produce. There is also one on the website interactive mapwhich lists the shops run by Venetians with high quality products.
Government regulations can also help defuse the problem of overtourism. Laws such as the Misappropriation Act but also charges such as bed or tourist tax can be possible solutions. As in some national parks, you could also set visitor limits for sights. Registration systems for attractions or visitor guides can regulate demand and help to better distribute travelers.
What you can do yourself against overtourism
But you can also contribute to supporting sustainable tourism through your own travel decisions. In concrete terms this means:
- Slow travel instead of short trips: prefer to stay longer and travel gently
- Handcraft instead of souvenir shop: Spend the money where it really matters to the locals
- Respectful for people and nature: Maintain respectful dealings on an equal footing with the locals and the natural resources on site
- Use the off-season: Avoid the main travel times of the tourist strongholds and travel in the off-season
- Book sustainable accommodation: You can find a handpicked and beautiful selection of accommodations on Good Travel
As a consumer, you have a lot of power with your purchasing decisions. The more people go on sustainable vacations, the more likely the major tour operators will rethink. And finally, the people from the affected regions will be grateful for such a rethink.
Lisa Klakow
Lisa helped set up the Good Travel Blog and will write for us as a freelance author in the future. She is passionate about traveling and dancing around the world with a small ecological footprint.
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