I've stopped travelling to the most popular destinations, and instead visit 2nd and 3rd cities, and less popular countries. The locals are generally happy when you visit there, as it benefits the local economy without the negatives.
Completely agree, the crowds in the major tourist destinations are as unpleasant for tourists as they are for locals. There are so many amazing cities beyond Florence and Paris.
Until everyone does the same and becomes massified too. Tourists complaining that there are too many tourists while the locals can't say anything, "The locals are happy to have you visit them" , sure? It will be the one with the bar and the restaurant. The rest see it as an intrusion into their daily lives that they have an obligation to put up with. Do you like being visited every day without warning? unknown people who believe they are doing you a favor, that is saving your life, that without them you are nothing? That is the erroneous thinking and argument of the Tourist par excellence. Well no, the locals are fed up and have no obligation to even be happy or serve as if they were servants.
I went to Europe recently and I was shocked with the amount of influencers recording their content. I hadn’t gone to Europe, since 2007 and I forgot how much the world has changed since 2007.
I was in Spain this year visiting friends and we were in a restaurant when some other American women whipped out a huge phone light specifically made for influencers, and started doing their review. Crazy.
I am so glad that I traveled the world 30 years ago, before influencers existed. I met loads of local people and befriended them. It was great. You could actually experience the culture, and not be bombarded by tourists.
How do these places lose their identity? If they were generic and lacked identity then tourists wouldnt bother with them because they'd be unoriginal. The only argument I'm seeing from the few poor people griping about this is foreign patrons are overcrowding their favorite cafe in the summer. Which is dumb in my opinion.
You mean the locals who voted for the government that subsidized the tourism industry and many of their jobs? Look, if a bunch of retirees come in and buy much of the homes, and then try to strangle all the local businesses, that’s pretty gross, but at least it’s the will of the people. Still, they are basically coming into an area that the government invested a ton of money in to create jobs and revenues, and sort of stealing that infrastructure.
@@timezero5949 > because they'd be unoriginal. Like tourist have any clue. 😆 It's "Dysneyland"(c). No one give a flying penny if it's "original" princess or not.
Why am I not surprised? I'm a 5 months/year traveler and I'm perfectly OK if restrictions are set. Adjust according to local people's needs. Cruise ships are the first that need to go.
This comment exactly! Literally what’s the appeal of visiting somewhere else if you’re not even getting an authentic experience of that place? Over tourism is just ruining the beauty that being a tourist can bring.
I live in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and we are having a similar problem. Us locals cannot afford housing anymore, rents sky rocketed, new million dollar condos are only for rich foreigners and we are pushed further away inland. Tourists return to live here after they retire cause its cheaper than the US and Canada and then they still have the audacity to boss around over the locals, so entitled.
@@fatherson5907 Puerto Vallarta Mexico is nowhere near the American border. And Mexicans are not buying up the best areas in the United States and then pushing out Americans.
@@jamisojo typical hypocritical nonsense. Is NYC near the border? Is Washington state near the border? No, they’re buying up the cheaper areas which is much worse.
Absolutely. AirBNB not only has people (or companies) buying properties for investment purposes, but AirBNB is an unregulated hotel industry. You could be renting a nice place at a good price, or renting a dump that shouldn't be on the market at all.
@natsalta The big five, Okavango delta, salt pans, mokoro rides, safaris, birds, camping sites, sight seeing flights, down south there are 3 parks in the Kgalagadi desert. If you time your visit to after winter you might experience one of about 10 cultural festivals across the country. Makgadikgadi epic, Desert race, horse race in Maun, etc
The problem is that locals benefit very little from tourism, most economic benefits go to a small portion of businesses that provide accomodation and services to tourists. But these are often low wage jobs and these businesses tend to hire non locals that will settle for less. So people that live there often have to deal with unaffordable housing and higher prices, plus having to deal with the aftermath of the messes that visitors often make.
You said it, brother. However, just a fraction of their evils. Most of us Alaskans hate tourists, unless we're employed by or in bed with Holland America. Nearly all the tourism workers up here are 48ers or foreign students. Our state motto should be "come to Alaska and bring your women and your money...leave Alaska without either."
That's the most ignorant thing I've read. Economics work very differently. Tourism benefits the economy - it creates jobs. It helps locals. You are only thinking of the little tourist shops? what about the hotels, local airlines, transport companies, supermarkets... and the taxes tourists indirectly pay to the locals govt?? Basic economics!!!
Excellent idea. Manufacturing, high tech, office work . . . but those have been mostly relocated, outsourced, automated. And nobody wants to do organic farm work.
All these probelms exist in my hometown of Moab, Utah, here in the US. I'm glad overtourism is being discussed. Overtourism makes it impossible for the locals to afford anything and sometimes impossible to get around. This town wouldn't exist without tourism but too much is too much.
The last thing you wrote is the issue. The world has jumped the shark. Being from Colorado, I know plenty of people who strap their mountain bikes to their cars because they have to get that MOAB sticker for their Subaru or HydroFlask. Locals here have the same deal. Working class folks supporting the ski resorts spend what little money they make commuting on 70 in dangerous conditions.
Same here in Nashville TN. 18 million tourist a year. Cost of living has increased beyond the locals salaries. What used to be quite neighborhoods are full of airbnb. 100 people a day moving here and we have the same roads and infrastructure as 30 years ago.
I stopped visiting tourist destinations years ago. I got disgusted at the amount of people allowed to trample on human antiquities. Rome is sad. I now do more natural and physically active travel, not walking around and looking at old stuff and eating.
all these measurements target the tourist who is just consuming and using the offer that's provided by greedy investors. that's the source of the problem. your aunt who is renting her room or apartment to tourists is not the problem. the students who book that offer are not the problem. it's the companies and investors who are buying and renting real estate on a big scale and drive the locals away until the city turns into disneyland.
Exactly That is how AirBNB started and it was a terrific idea, but then big investors stepped in and ruined everything Capitalism is fine when there are regulations to keep it in check; unchecked capitalism leads to wealth concentration for a few at the expense of the rest
I've been to several places in Spain, France, and Italy. They're nice but not irreplaceable experiences. Not only that, but you could tell the locals are sick of dealing with tourists too or even just foreigners in general. At this point, they might as well charge tourists 100 euros per visit and that should fix their overtourism problem overnight.
€5 Euro daily fee for someone who was able to afford a trip to a foreign country, hotel, shopping and other activities. Somehow the Italian government thinks this will reduce tourist overcrowding in Venice 😅😂
Exactly, better off to shut down their airport and port, nobody in nobody out.. problem solved... and please don't ask for EU money to save your sinking city, Sunk Venice would be another option to keep tourist away.
@@andreiavieiradasilva7534 Entirely down to the Portuguese politicians, even Central and Eastern European countries are overtaking Portugal when it comes to the minimum national wage.
@@andreiavieiradasilva7534Nobody can afford to rent a house today anywhere in the west. Portugal acts like this situation is unique to them. Wake up. It's even more unaffordable in the US and Canada.
I live in Hawaii, a huge part of the problem are cruise ships. Dumping thousands in small areas, not equipped to manage water, waste, and resources. Cruise lines rarely help local economies. We must learn to manage tourism with care and respect to these local populations. I have always wanted an extended trip to Europe going to smaller less known towns. I want to experience the incredible history and the arts. Aloha and love from Hawaii.
A podcast phrased it quite accurately. Traveling for many people today is not about the experience, but about building your social media character. Everything is done for validation on social media platforms it seems. If less than 1000 people like the instagram shot, the trip was considered a failure I suppose.
I spend my winters in Tenerife and I for one believe that simply capping the total number of rooms (hotels and private rentals) available would at least prevent the over tourism.
Being angry at the tourists won't help; they're the wrong target. Be angry at all the businesses that allow the tourists to even be there. The tour guides, the bus companies, the hotels, and definitely the low rung wannabe landlords doing Airbnbs. As a tourist, if I can't easily get somewhere and find a place to stay...I'm not going. Problem solved
Short term rentals steal homes from the locals. Tourists are supposed to stay in hotels. And all that money goes back to the community. Instead of one selfish property owner.
Hotels are too much also. Amesterdam for example has just forbided the construction of new ones. There has to be rules and limits for everything. They all can exist. To the point they don't become harmful.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7whExactly. I would rather stay in room/apartment in an AirBNB in the Alfama in Lisbon, and see the family that lives in the same building get the money so they can afford to stay in the Alfama. The local.pays taxes. My last trip to Portugal (Azores and Lisbon), both locations the landlord stayed in the building where I rented a room, both landlords only owned the one home I stayed at.
@@quantummotion Disagree It's like zoning-an Airbnb is in a residential area, in a residential home, these places are not supposed to be businesses. A hotel is in a location for businesses, labeled as a business. The neighbors of the place you stayed probably weren't happy.
Of course you are free to choose your destinations, but you missed the point And even in Asia with a population density far higher than Europe, there are places - like Bali - where they are realizing that more is not necessarily better
And those tourists bring a huge amount of income to that city and without that income many of the people living in Barcelona would be left without a job, so how is having more jobs a problem?
Barcelona already has other industries (medical research, TECH, car industry, etc, etc) ,and too much tourism is disturbing the other business and living population. Too much greed of tour operators and Airbnb. The government (local, regional and national level)is taken strict measures about this, if not greed of just few may destroy everything and also jeopardise other industry sectors.
Spain has a one good economic year and they think they can do without tourism. Amsterdam has also 20 million, but is a lot smaller than Barcelona. 900k population. We also get the stag do's of the UK.
@@cyberfunk3793 Barcelona is already shifting paradigm, but can't be made too fast due to politics. Barcelona has a tech hub, and many other industries thriving as well. It doesn't really need that much tourism, or at least mass tourism
@@Joey-ct8bm Barcelona is not as bad as it was 8 years ago. AirBnB is already almost banned unless you got a license and they don't mint new ones anymore
Air BNB should be banned and each country come up with it's own version that can be regulated to benefit the local communities where it operates. Why should the uber rich in San Fransisco get 15% of rental spaces in Barcelona and else where? If it could be kept local in would provide good jobs and could be tailored to local conditions. Boycott Air bnb and encourage local versions to be developed.
I’m of the opinion that, like this man said, travelling to go on holiday to different countries is a luxury. I know people who travel at least 3 times a year to Spain, Bali and Thailand. I know of 16 year olds who have traveled round the world several times already. In the 1980’s we’d go on summer vacation ones a year and some of my classmates would maybe go on a ski vacation in winter as well. Now nearly everyone can afford going several times but that doesn’t mean you have to. Add to this that the world population has grown significantly since the 1980’s. I wouldn’t like to live on a small island and be overwhelmed by the passengers of cruise ships every day.
Cruise lines have created cheap mass tourism that are harming places not prepared to manage that many people dumped on their shores. I live in Hawaii, It breaks my heart to see what has happened here. Many are leaving because of cost of living in the U.S. Thereby driving up costs for these areas.
and the architectural heritage of some of these citys. There have been several reports of it becoming severely and rapidly degraded because of the amount of people visiting them. In the end, tourism can kill itself.
It was not when I visited it a few decades back. There were no cruise ships, no influencers. A short walk from the central square and you were in quiet corners with no one but a few locals.
Funny how some europeans don’t want people to even visit all while a greater number of europeans regularly immigrate elsewhere all while complaining about Europe😂
Do not travel in August. Try to avoid the summer. The time has come to avoid the hotspots: NYC, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague and many others. Off season travel to Perugia, York, Lecce, Northern Spain, Poland or inland Croatia. October or April should be considered.
Instead Canaries Island, go to Cape Verde next door, there you will be welcome, they appreciate Tourists spending their hard earn money in their country.
And then you worsen the experience for the locals. You can't charge different prices in cafés, restaurants etc between tourists an locals... This would hurt the locals a lot
@TurinStark5 when I said raise prices, I meant in the hotels. An increase in hotel prices would reduce the number of tourists coming to the area. Also, with fewer tourists, restaurants would see falling demand and would lower their prices to compensate. This is basic economics
I've told my friends before not to use Air BNB as it's just destroying the housing and rental market. I've often heard the repsonse "but it's nice to have your own kitchen, you can have people round etc." - to that I think, these are luxuries that I am willing to sacrifice for the wellbeing of a local population. It isn't "your own kitchen", it's a kitchen that should be available to local residents on a long-term basis. Not a rotation of tourists who are on a short visit. Visit cities and towns that don't struggle with overtourism. Befriend the local residents, support their businesses, learn about the area that you're visiting and the issues that they may be facing as an area or a country. Show our governments and our councils that we are not interested in the act of cultural commodification.
WOW. You drank some KoolAid and said "Good!" That is precisely the attitude that the large multi-nationals like Holland America wants you to have. I've lived in some of those communities. Here's how it is, at least in Alaska. The multi dominates the market. There is no competition, every "independent" operator has to pay a kickback (anywhere from 20 to 35%) to the multi or the tourists brought in by the multi (easily 75% of the traffic) never learn of those indie operators or are guided to a different operator cooperating with the multi. Nearly the entire staff of the multi on site is imported. Close to 100%. In Alaska it means, non-Alaskan Lower 48ers in management, and a few in customer contact roles and usually eastern Europeans and South Americans doing all the menial labor. The foreign imports are brought in because Alaskan minimum wage seems a fortune to them, they will each easily work 60 to 70 hours a week, and they make few complaints about living conditions and rarely know about overtime pay. The tourism workers also spend (when they spend) their wages on site with the employer. I could go on and on. So if you ever visit Alaska, odds are great that if your guide speaks unaccented American English, he or she is a 48er and is highly unlikely to have any first hand knowledge...they also put NOTHING back into the local economy. Nothing. That guy bussing the table or the gal cleaning your hotel room? Romania or Malaysia or Brazil or etc. No, tourism is a bane. We locals pretty much hate you, but we'll take your money if we can and your wife if we want to.
For places like Venice, there isn't much money coming in from tourists. Most of the tourists come in from the Cruise liners and they eat and get everything from the boat. All they do is come, walk around and take pictures and leave their plastic in Venice. Mass tourism, particularly Cruise ships is not good for any place.
Stop the large cruiseship stopovers. They bring extremely high volumes in a short period. I've seen the gross overcrowding on the Greek Islands like Santorini and Mykonos brought by the huge cruiseliners
Cruise ships are the worst. People will stop in cities without spending anything because they already have accommodation and food on the cruise ship. If it was for me, they would be allowed in the city only after paying a fee.
For starters, stop the locals for having theirs homes as "alternative accommodation". If regulated hotels were the only accommodation option, the number will reduce significantly. But then, most of the "tourist" destinations have businesses and significant part of the economy based on tourism. So guess winning "tranquility" and "serenity" would represent damages on local business.
The answer is finding a middle ground in which tourism and locals can coexist; in which (more)local businesses are actually better for people's lives, and don't make them worse. You don't have to forbid anything, but there has to be rules and limits. Hotels are too much also. Amesterdam just fordid the building of new ones for example.
The locals will sell their homes to the hotels for good money, and you will still end up with the same problem. The people with new money in hand buy cheaper property outside the cities, driving up prices in the towns and countryside. People will still complain.
I remember visiting Venice when Covid still kept many tourists away, and the city was paradise then. I can appreciate why people are against tourists overcrowding their cities and why something has to be done to keep these beautiful places from becoming Disneyland
It baffles me how so many people think they all need to spend their vacation in one single place. I mean, come on, 20 million visitors in Venice per year! I've travelled around a lot in Europe, seen and spent time in many gorgeous places where the folk are begging for tourists. If all these millions of tourists were spread out over these places you wouldn't notice them and everyone would be happy.
you assume that everybody keeps going back and back to Venice and not that its people wanting to see Venice for the first time...these "hey i already travelled yet i ask you lot dont travel please" solutions are righteous and ineffective...yet you see them all over this thread
@@aquelpibe Do you not understand what it means to places such as Venice to allow the numbers of visitors to grow without limit? When I visited Venice for the first time in the early 1970s the city had a million visitors a year and 200 000 Venetians lived there. Now 20 million visitors come each year and only 50 000 Venetians live there. You think that is okay?
@@mikethespike7579 You misread my comment; I understand it perfectly, Venice tourism cannot go on like this I am just saying that someone who has already been there telling others not to go is hypocritical I too like to go to more out of the way, not so touristy locations but I am the first to admit that if I had never been to say Paris, Barcelona, Rome or Florence I would not choose the less visited places over the trendy ones
@@aquelpibe It is not hypocrisy to rub facts under people's noses, just because I was born earlier and able to visit these places when they were far less crowded.
The world is a big place, there are a lot of other places for tourists besides Europe. Not only are they cheaper but also more authentic if you stay away from the tour groups.
It’s fine to visit Europe, just visit some of the lesser know cities and towns and they will be happy to have you there. Trust me, I do it a lot and it’s a really enjoyable experience.
I think that this exists in a lot of places to some extent. We have this in our sleepy state from time to time. It creates a mess in small towns that aren't designed for traffic, visitors, and trash.
Maybe check to see if officials are advertising your town as a getaway to boost their pay-er I mean bring more dollars for the town. Two towns near me had ads all over(even yt) as a getaway and now it takes over an hour to get home from work in what use to be a 10 minute drive. As far as rent, there is NO way locals can pay rent for a decent home anymore. Try to buy a home and unless you know someone, it is impossible. Homes are sold within 10 minutes of listing and at crazy prices. .
@@Suehuskins We're a tourism state but we already have more than we can handle. People want a ton of recreation after the pandemic and someone doing a viral video of some out of the way place is more the problem than small towns advertising. One example (not in our state) is what happens to Salem, MA in September and October.
In destinations like the ones mentioned it's all the time like this. Numbers are crazy! And they aren't small towns, so there are a lot of people getting harmed.
@@thehistorynerd8537 Chamber of Commerce type stuff? I suppose that states and cities can promote tourism from other countries not realizing the impact it can have on residents.
I’m in Prague right now. They have a 5 euro tax per day on tourists. I don’t think it is stopping many people. There are still thousands here in the city center.
Around the Estepona area, the greedy Spanish continue building masses of holiday apartments; rectangular box 'villas' with 4 bathrooms, taking up any spare green space. (Ghost town areas in winter.) There's water shortage, too much traffic and public transport is diabolical. Golf, golf, golf - the courses require water too.
I mean, it depends for me at least. For me, overtourism is where there is no localness anymore, where restaurants and stores cater to tourists, and where you cannot hear the local language. So far in my experience, Dubrovnik was the worst, and Crete (specifically in Chania) was the best of both of experiencing the local places and the tourist places
Get rid of the cruise ships, those passengers don't spend a dime in these cities yet destroy the waterways like in Venice. People who cruise do so because they are cheap.
A hard problem to solve now when so many areas, countries and businesses have become dependent on tourism. I remember a time when Paros was a quiet backwater. Even local, domestic over-tourism is a problem. I visited an area of Italy, not far from Rome, where the town and lake were overrun with Italian tourists in summertime but were dead in winter. I am from Jersey by descent there is a two tier property market that precludes visitors from buying certain properties. Perhaps something like this could be expanded but I can see local businesses objecting. Florence is a nightmare in the summer.
I don’t understand why tourists go to these places where they’re just crowded in by other tourists. It’s more fun going to less visited places where you have space to discover and get to know the local culture.
I dont blame them. Locals live there. In S Korea, there is Hankok village, Korean traditional houses. The tourists go there to look at their houses literally. Thats where residents live 24/7. There is no privacy nor nuisances
@@noh6865 It's a cliché. Some states indeed are no men's land, but Yucatán and Quintana Roo are safe. And honestly I feel more safe in Mexico than in a lot of states of the USA. Guess why so many Americans are migrating to Mexico? Ask them!
Tickets are still very cheap; because no tax on kerosine (jet-fuel). Tax of 30-50% is quite normal for petrol/diesel for cars. Use tax on kerosine for local housing. Problem solved.
Even if people think AirBnb are ok because of "free market" or "capitalism", they are actually getting more expensive than regular hotels (including cleaning fees), plus they may not have nice pools or dining services or bars.
Tourism is a double edged sword Local businesses want the money that tourists bring in, but tourists are looking to let loose and have a good time They rarely are very considerate of the locals Even Fort Lauderdale in the United States wants college students to stop coming there for spring break because of all the havoc that they cause But if they actually got their way the community would lose a lot of money and I mean a LOT
From the tourist's viewpoint, the answer is to select places as yet unspoiled by tourism. Example destinations would include the rainy, crime-ridden city of Buenaventura (Colombia), Elephant Island in the Antarctic some of the more remote villages in the mountains of Afghanistan. In such resorts, the tourist can experience an authentic taste of local culture without the annoyance of meeting other tourists.
I've always loved Dubrovnik, and began visiting in 1973. Since then our friends (Croats) have stated that tourism has spoilt the area, especially cruise ships, which can mean an influx of up to 20k visitors in one day!!! Especially since Game of Thrones had scenes filmed there. I'm so glad we went when we did, and enjoyed the local cuisine (hardly available now) now replaced by more exotic and expensive dishes. I don't know if this is the correct spelling, but we loved the spicy cevapccici (meatballs) and I was looking forward to trying some on my recent visit to Dubrovnik this year, with no luck!! The true joy of the visit was destroyed by the humungous crowds, as the cruise ships spilled their cargo to the town. We were moored in the Bay of Lapad, where I recognised our old hotel Hotel Lapad across the bay. It was like coming home until I reached the city. Then the bubble burst!!
The three or four measures that every government should put in place: 1) Ban AirBNBs and similar places, and keep a watchful eye for illegal tourist apartments; 2) Place a 100€ tourist tax to every adult visiting, and 3) Limit and watch the number of tour operators. But, above all, 4) BAN CRUISE SHIPS.
Last year, I flew from the US to Argentina and visited Colonia, Uruguay, by ferry, and then I flew to Ushuaia and drove to the southern point of the Pan Am highway, and finally flew to El Calafate and took motorcoach tours to El Chalten and Perito Moreno Glacier. I didn’t feel like any of those places were “overrun” with tourists, but they had quite a few tourists. Maybe it’s less crowded because of the long flights there and how far apart the attractions are?
And why someone would take such a long flight without knowing or respecting the culture and going just for youtube or instagram is so utterly brainless.
@shawnbell6392 My guess is that things that Japan offers to them are like a bunch of sweet chocolates, which means the country is full of entertainment: good food ar cheap prices, nice places to visit where rude behaviors are overlooked, no tip needed, good public transport and the like. Public security in Japan is there with unwritten and unspoken rules, but all that tourists can see is just what brings them joy and fun, no attachment to the rules.
The issue is that Europe's economy relies heavily on tourism, but much of the revenue flows back to large American companies, rather than staying within the local economy. Unfortunately, addressing this requires action at the governmental level.
I like tourists, they bring life to our city. Although my city is built for millions of people, so I can see thatr they are too much for a smaller community.
This is why NY has become less and less affordable since the early 90s. I think that there should be a retroactive state and federal law banning non-citizens from buying land and/or property. This would help to decrease rents and make buying affordable for more citizens.
Germans when talking about too many Europeans going somewhere, spending money, and leaving 😡 Germans when talking about too many Non-europeans going somewhere, disturbing the local way of life, breaking social cohesion 🙈
Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Santorini/Tera & Mykonos: among places I was sure I would visit withing 20 years when I started travelling in the 1990's, but abandoned the 'plan' just because when visiting similarly 'mass visited' places (Mt Saint Michelle, Florence) I decided it would he better to 'know' them through looking at photo's. Instead I diverted travelling towards longer, more relaxed, journeys to destinations which are secondary. Like the Trodos mountains in Cyprus, Balkan mountains in Bulgaria or the Saronic gulf islands near Athens. None of the above is empty of tourists... Just normal.
@@shauncameron8390no backpacking and living cheap was the norm in the 90s for young people you didn’t expect luxury you adapted to the environment you didn’t expect it to cater to you
Laws protecting property owners from bad tenants, sitting tenants & squatters were repealed. Owners realised the better tenants were Airbnb visitors who paid in advance and were in and out. The owners were protected from the very people who complain about tourism overload.
They should welcome tourists since tourists aren’t taking anyone’s jobs and are there to support local business. Tourism is a big amplifier for the countries economy.
They need to make laws to restrict mass-tourism, increase affordable housing, support environmental tourism (farm stays, conservational projects), ban cheap plastics, educate the public constantly (on conservation and respectful behaviour), and make quality offers in order to attract quality people.
As others have said, go somewhere else, to less visited places. I have gone to Europe a lot lately and instead of Paros or Athens, I did Thessaloniki, instead of Barcelona, did Gijon, Oviedo, la Coruña and Vigo . People were so happy to have me at these place and it reaffirms my sentiment even more. Dislike more and more these "tourist destinations" There is always options.
@@WebMentorCR my point precisely When you´ve been to a place several times it´s easy to tell other people who have probably never been there to choose other less well-known places BTW Barcelona is perfectly fine, if you stick to the tourist hotspots of course it can be crowded - not THAT bad, though- but there are lots of places and things to do away from the maddening crowd And/or go off-season, in the shoulder months there are less people and the weather is nice
People are really like sheep. They all vacation in the same cities. They walk like cattle around the city. How can they enjoy this when it is so busy!? They need to try to explore different regions outside of Europe. The locals and what they want must be respected first. Tourists are secondary.
This has been going on in places in the Caribbean , and other parts of the world for decades. But now more European and western cities are dealing with the problems. Not to mention the climate problems that tourism is effecting globally? More and more flights means more air pollution and noise pollution for people who live near airports.
I watched a documentary where in Jamaica the locals don’t even have public beaches anymore in some cities. All the beach land is owned by hotels, putting small fisherman out of work. Tourists have an ethical responsibility to also advocate for locals.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7wh I vote with my money. I don’t visit any place where tourists > locals. The whole point is traveling is to meet different people from different cultures
I don't think they know what they want. Some areas only survived and evolved due to turism . Otherwise, the'll be dead zones. Or it's just a way to extract more money from tourists ?
It's not a question of all or nothing. It's just become too much of a good thing. It's harmful to people now. There can be a middle ground in which it's good for the local economy while not harming local people and surroundings. There has to be rules and limits.
Some places have forgotten how desperately poor they were before tourism. Tourism was the one thing that worked because the location in question had nothing else economically to offer the market. Amsterdam certainly can restrict tourists hard, but the Canary Islands? Not so much.
Just cos you need to feed yourself, it does not mean you have to overeat... Everything needs balance. This over saturated tourism creates other social problems. It needs to be accessed and tackled so it can benefit both the industry and locals
@@quantummotion there's always something else. You just have to get past the obvious. Most industries don't depend on geography. Also, tourism exists in those islands for a long time and only now they complain. So tourism isn't the problem. Too much of it is.
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I've stopped travelling to the most popular destinations, and instead visit 2nd and 3rd cities, and less popular countries. The locals are generally happy when you visit there, as it benefits the local economy without the negatives.
Yes I did that when I traveled Europe
At last - a sensible intelligent person . Leave the hotspots to the deluded instagram crowd who believe their lives to be interesting to others
@@richardchorley1593 lol. Agreed Richard.
Completely agree, the crowds in the major tourist destinations are as unpleasant for tourists as they are for locals. There are so many amazing cities beyond Florence and Paris.
Until everyone does the same and becomes massified too. Tourists complaining that there are too many tourists while the locals can't say anything, "The locals are happy to have you visit them" , sure? It will be the one with the bar and the restaurant. The rest see it as an intrusion into their daily lives that they have an obligation to put up with. Do you like being visited every day without warning? unknown people who believe they are doing you a favor, that is saving your life, that without them you are nothing? That is the erroneous thinking and argument of the Tourist par excellence. Well no, the locals are fed up and have no obligation to even be happy or serve as if they were servants.
I went to Europe recently and I was shocked with the amount of influencers recording their content. I hadn’t gone to Europe, since 2007 and I forgot how much the world has changed since 2007.
I was in Spain this year visiting friends and we were in a restaurant when some other American women whipped out a huge phone light specifically made for influencers, and started doing their review. Crazy.
Same here
Influencers are 🤡🤡
Ugh - sounds awful.
Avoid Bali then
I am so glad that I traveled the world 30 years ago, before influencers existed. I met loads of local people and befriended them. It was great. You could actually experience the culture, and not be bombarded by tourists.
Those are my thoughts exactly! Also, staying somewhere was affordable, and you felt welcome.
Me,in the 1980s,and I couldn’t agree more.Backpacking,living on the cheap and experiencing the locals.
The 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s were so beautiful for travel. No entitlement, just pure enjoyment.
Influencers have nothing to do with this.
@@raddadray7535 Influencers have nothing to do with this.
Local places loose their identity, restructured for tourist expectations, costs escalating unaffordability for locals!
That doesn’t matter if countries in Europe don’t protect their borders from foreigners.
How do these places lose their identity? If they were generic and lacked identity then tourists wouldnt bother with them because they'd be unoriginal. The only argument I'm seeing from the few poor people griping about this is foreign patrons are overcrowding their favorite cafe in the summer. Which is dumb in my opinion.
Inflation is going to skyrocket after all of the tourists leave. Becareful what you wish for.
You mean the locals who voted for the government that subsidized the tourism industry and many of their jobs? Look, if a bunch of retirees come in and buy much of the homes, and then try to strangle all the local businesses, that’s pretty gross, but at least it’s the will of the people. Still, they are basically coming into an area that the government invested a ton of money in to create jobs and revenues, and sort of stealing that infrastructure.
@@timezero5949 > because they'd be unoriginal.
Like tourist have any clue. 😆
It's "Dysneyland"(c).
No one give a flying penny if it's "original" princess or not.
Why am I not surprised? I'm a 5 months/year traveler and I'm perfectly OK if restrictions are set. Adjust according to local people's needs. Cruise ships are the first that need to go.
This comment exactly! Literally what’s the appeal of visiting somewhere else if you’re not even getting an authentic experience of that place? Over tourism is just ruining the beauty that being a tourist can bring.
😮😊
I live in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and we are having a similar problem. Us locals cannot afford housing anymore, rents sky rocketed, new million dollar condos are only for rich foreigners and we are pushed further away inland. Tourists return to live here after they retire cause its cheaper than the US and Canada and then they still have the audacity to boss around over the locals, so entitled.
the irony of this statement is so delicious. You've been doing that to the US for years. Enjoy the karma.
😂
@@fatherson5907 Puerto Vallarta Mexico is nowhere near the American border.
And Mexicans are not buying up the best areas in the United States and then pushing out Americans.
Suesol, I hope your government is encouraged heavily tax the foreigners and pass that money on to the local residents. That would be awesome.
@@jamisojo typical hypocritical nonsense.
Is NYC near the border? Is Washington state near the border?
No, they’re buying up the cheaper areas which is much worse.
Air BNB hurts everyone
Housing is a basic necessity and should never become an investment business.
Absolutely. AirBNB not only has people (or companies) buying properties for investment purposes, but AirBNB is an unregulated hotel industry.
You could be renting a nice place at a good price, or renting a dump that shouldn't be on the market at all.
No it actually doesn't hurt anything
@@pavloss3119 troll?
It's not airbnb, it's too much airbnb. It's too much of everything tourism related really. There has to be rules and limits.
This is why Botswana 🇧🇼 decided on the high value low volume tourism policy many years ago. The environment needed to be protected. Wise decision.
Bhutan too.
What to see in Botswana?
@natsalta The big five, Okavango delta, salt pans, mokoro rides, safaris, birds, camping sites, sight seeing flights, down south there are 3 parks in the Kgalagadi desert. If you time your visit to after winter you might experience one of about 10 cultural festivals across the country. Makgadikgadi epic, Desert race, horse race in Maun, etc
Well done guys.
@@natsalta Ever heard of Safari? Not exclusive to Botswana, none the less you surely could do that there.
The problem is that locals benefit very little from tourism, most economic benefits go to a small portion of businesses that provide accomodation and services to tourists. But these are often low wage jobs and these businesses tend to hire non locals that will settle for less. So people that live there often have to deal with unaffordable housing and higher prices, plus having to deal with the aftermath of the messes that visitors often make.
You said it, brother. However, just a fraction of their evils.
Most of us Alaskans hate tourists, unless we're employed by or in bed with Holland America. Nearly all the tourism workers up here are 48ers or foreign students.
Our state motto should be "come to Alaska and bring your women and your money...leave Alaska without either."
That's the best summary for this crisis I have ever seen online, well put!
THIS!!
Been living in Lisbon, Portugal for almost 40 years and it's getting worse by the year.
That's the most ignorant thing I've read. Economics work very differently. Tourism benefits the economy - it creates jobs. It helps locals. You are only thinking of the little tourist shops? what about the hotels, local airlines, transport companies, supermarkets... and the taxes tourists indirectly pay to the locals govt?? Basic economics!!!
@@82easyrider talking like a true troll.
Time for diversifying the economy and not solely relying on tourism.
Excellent idea. Manufacturing, high tech, office work . . . but those have been mostly relocated, outsourced, automated. And nobody wants to do organic farm work.
🤣 Yeah, sure. People won't come to Venice or a gorgeous island anymore.
The economy will never healed. That's why many countries must rely on tourism. Understandable, but if not treated right, many places will destroyed.
Thats pretty much what they have now. Once its gone the misery and downfall will take place
The Canary Islands don't the land mass or expertise for anything else.
All these probelms exist in my hometown of Moab, Utah, here in the US. I'm glad overtourism is being discussed. Overtourism makes it impossible for the locals to afford anything and sometimes impossible to get around. This town wouldn't exist without tourism but too much is too much.
Bar Harbor, Maine too 🌊
Overtourism also makes tourists’s life unpleasant - because there are too many of them. Now that everybody travels, nobody enjoys travelling any more.
The last thing you wrote is the issue. The world has jumped the shark. Being from Colorado, I know plenty of people who strap their mountain bikes to their cars because they have to get that MOAB sticker for their Subaru or HydroFlask. Locals here have the same deal. Working class folks supporting the ski resorts spend what little money they make commuting on 70 in dangerous conditions.
I hope you will be banned to go outside of your hometown 😅😅😅
Same here in Nashville TN. 18 million tourist a year. Cost of living has increased beyond the locals salaries. What used to be quite neighborhoods are full of airbnb. 100 people a day moving here and we have the same roads and infrastructure as 30 years ago.
I stopped visiting tourist destinations years ago. I got disgusted at the amount of people allowed to trample on human antiquities. Rome is sad. I now do more natural and physically active travel, not walking around and looking at old stuff and eating.
sounds simply like "been there done that" you traveled around and had your fill...could you blame others for doing what you already did?
all these measurements target the tourist who is just consuming and using the offer that's provided by greedy investors. that's the source of the problem. your aunt who is renting her room or apartment to tourists is not the problem. the students who book that offer are not the problem. it's the companies and investors who are buying and renting real estate on a big scale and drive the locals away until the city turns into disneyland.
This is what happens when there aren't anything to balance the playing field, prime example of power goes unchecked.
Exactly
That is how AirBNB started and it was a terrific idea, but then big investors stepped in and ruined everything
Capitalism is fine when there are regulations to keep it in check; unchecked capitalism leads to wealth concentration for a few at the expense of the rest
Ban all cruise ships everywhere. Tourist destinations happier, mother Earth happier. Problem solved.
I've been to several places in Spain, France, and Italy. They're nice but not irreplaceable experiences. Not only that, but you could tell the locals are sick of dealing with tourists too or even just foreigners in general. At this point, they might as well charge tourists 100 euros per visit and that should fix their overtourism problem overnight.
€5 Euro daily fee for someone who was able to afford a trip to a foreign country, hotel, shopping and other activities. Somehow the Italian government thinks this will reduce tourist overcrowding in Venice 😅😂
They (Government) are just increasing their earnings....the average citizen has no benefit in the mass tourism but only looses.
Exactly, better off to shut down their airport and port, nobody in nobody out.. problem solved... and please don't ask for EU money to save your sinking city, Sunk Venice would be another option to keep tourist away.
It should be 1000$
@@emmanuelnaranjo8114Why?
@@Limecat88 I'm definitely doing a roadtrip this year through Europe. It's not the time to wait. It's gonna have a reverse effect.
No problem will go elsewhere
Jajajaja 🤣
Yup
That is exactly the plan. Heavily tax places people want to go the most. Everything else will fall into line.
For years I have not been on vacation, only the rich can afford it.
It IS expensive.
ryanair flights to portugal are like 30 euro and a room, if you dont need anything fancy maybe 35 per night
@@icwiener9935And meanwhile the population in Portugal can’t even afford to rent a whole house
@@andreiavieiradasilva7534 Entirely down to the Portuguese politicians, even Central and Eastern European countries are overtaking Portugal when it comes to the minimum national wage.
@@andreiavieiradasilva7534Nobody can afford to rent a house today anywhere in the west. Portugal acts like this situation is unique to them. Wake up. It's even more unaffordable in the US and Canada.
I live in Hawaii, a huge part of the problem are cruise ships. Dumping thousands in small areas, not equipped to manage water, waste, and resources. Cruise lines rarely help local economies. We must learn to manage tourism with care and respect to these local populations. I have always wanted an extended trip to Europe going to smaller less known towns. I want to experience the incredible history and the arts. Aloha and love from Hawaii.
A podcast phrased it quite accurately. Traveling for many people today is not about the experience, but about building your social media character. Everything is done for validation on social media platforms it seems. If less than 1000 people like the instagram shot, the trip was considered a failure I suppose.
Excellent post
What does the economy of the Canary Islands produce without tourism?
Be careful what you wish for.
Exactly. They’re biting the hand that feeds them
I spend my winters in Tenerife and I for one believe that simply capping the total number of rooms (hotels and private rentals) available would at least prevent the over tourism.
@@AMG-BENZ-1”capping” still reduces economic output. what are you going to replace it with?
Funny how many of the Canary Islanders were once tourists that decided to move there.
Being angry at the tourists won't help; they're the wrong target. Be angry at all the businesses that allow the tourists to even be there. The tour guides, the bus companies, the hotels, and definitely the low rung wannabe landlords doing Airbnbs.
As a tourist, if I can't easily get somewhere and find a place to stay...I'm not going. Problem solved
Cheap air travel and airbnb have destroyed many destinations.
Short term rentals steal homes from the locals.
Tourists are supposed to stay in hotels. And all that money goes back to the community. Instead of one selfish property owner.
so its better that a multinational corporation gets the money as opposed to a local?
@@stevenalvarado-doc7334it's not even locals... I've seen many rooms / places being managed by companies...
Hotels are too much also. Amesterdam for example has just forbided the construction of new ones. There has to be rules and limits for everything. They all can exist. To the point they don't become harmful.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7whExactly. I would rather stay in room/apartment in an AirBNB in the Alfama in Lisbon, and see the family that lives in the same building get the money so they can afford to stay in the Alfama. The local.pays taxes. My last trip to Portugal (Azores and Lisbon), both locations the landlord stayed in the building where I rented a room, both landlords only owned the one home I stayed at.
@@quantummotion
Disagree
It's like zoning-an Airbnb is in a residential area, in a residential home, these places are not supposed to be businesses.
A hotel is in a location for businesses, labeled as a business.
The neighbors of the place you stayed probably weren't happy.
If they don’t want us there that’s absolutely fine with me, Asia is absolutely full of amazing places that really want people to visit
Of course you are free to choose your destinations, but you missed the point
And even in Asia with a population density far higher than Europe, there are places - like Bali - where they are realizing that more is not necessarily better
They are destroying many places there as well.
@mypapaya590Europe is the overrated continent. Asia is amazing and as an Aussie I am glad we live in the neighbourhood.
Barcelona has a population of 1.5 million people. There's about 20 million tourist every year. If we cannot see the problem...
And those tourists bring a huge amount of income to that city and without that income many of the people living in Barcelona would be left without a job, so how is having more jobs a problem?
Barcelona already has other industries (medical research, TECH, car industry, etc, etc) ,and too much tourism is disturbing the other business and living population.
Too much greed of tour operators and Airbnb.
The government (local, regional and national level)is taken strict measures about this, if not greed of just few may destroy everything and also jeopardise other industry sectors.
Spain has a one good economic year and they think they can do without tourism. Amsterdam has also 20 million, but is a lot smaller than Barcelona. 900k population. We also get the stag do's of the UK.
@@cyberfunk3793 Barcelona is already shifting paradigm, but can't be made too fast due to politics. Barcelona has a tech hub, and many other industries thriving as well. It doesn't really need that much tourism, or at least mass tourism
@@Joey-ct8bm Barcelona is not as bad as it was 8 years ago. AirBnB is already almost banned unless you got a license and they don't mint new ones anymore
Air BNB should be banned and each country come up with it's own version that can be regulated to benefit the local communities where it operates. Why should the uber rich in San Fransisco get 15% of rental spaces in Barcelona and else where? If it could be kept local in would provide good jobs and could be tailored to local conditions. Boycott Air bnb and encourage local versions to be developed.
Levy large taxes on Airbnb properties. Make that much less profitable.
Tourists can stay in hotels like everybody else that travels.
You're a local in one place, and a tourist everywhere else.
I’m of the opinion that, like this man said, travelling to go on holiday to different countries is a luxury. I know people who travel at least 3 times a year to Spain, Bali and Thailand. I know of 16 year olds who have traveled round the world several times already. In the 1980’s we’d go on summer vacation ones a year and some of my classmates would maybe go on a ski vacation in winter as well. Now nearly everyone can afford going several times but that doesn’t mean you have to. Add to this that the world population has grown significantly since the 1980’s. I wouldn’t like to live on a small island and be overwhelmed by the passengers of cruise ships every day.
Cruise lines have created cheap mass tourism that are harming places not prepared to manage that many people dumped on their shores. I live in Hawaii, It breaks my heart to see what has happened here. Many are leaving because of cost of living in the U.S. Thereby driving up costs for these areas.
@@marjorielutzke6398 heartbreaking!!
What about the strains on water supply, sewage treatment, and trash disposal?
and the architectural heritage of some of these citys. There have been several reports of it becoming severely and rapidly degraded because of the amount of people visiting them. In the end, tourism can kill itself.
Build more water treatment plants. It is really that simple. Supply and demand my friend.
I was in Venice. The city center was transformed in a big Mall. You can find there all international brands. That city is built for tourists.
It was not when I visited it a few decades back. There were no cruise ships, no influencers. A short walk from the central square and you were in quiet corners with no one but a few locals.
Funny how some europeans don’t want people to even visit all while a greater number of europeans regularly immigrate elsewhere all while complaining about Europe😂
Sadly, on the other side of the globe, Hawaii, Japan, and Tahiti are suffering the same thing.
Do not travel in August.
Try to avoid the summer.
The time has come to avoid the hotspots: NYC, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague and many others.
Off season travel to Perugia, York, Lecce, Northern Spain, Poland or inland Croatia.
October or April should be considered.
Um no not northern Spain thank you very much.
@@shinyshinythings
So...visiting Northern Spain is a no go?
Could you say that about any area then?
What % of Spain's GDP comes from tourism?
Instead Canaries Island, go to Cape Verde next door, there you will be welcome, they appreciate Tourists spending their hard earn money in their country.
because they are poorer
Nothing there tho. Only the beach. No culture worth talking about.
Just having money in ones pocket does not mean they own other places or have more rights than those who live there.
@@shawnbell6392how are you owning anything after visiting for a week.
@@masterkraft4746because it has no tourism.
When I went to Europe, I did my best to speak the local language. I was in Barcelona, I loved it, yet I did not act touristy. I love Barcelona.
Double edged sword. Tourism props up their economies but the influx degrades their quality of life.
Time to simply raise the prices. If you have too much demand relative to what you're able and willing to supply, then its time to raise prices!
And then you worsen the experience for the locals. You can't charge different prices in cafés, restaurants etc between tourists an locals... This would hurt the locals a lot
@@TurinStark5 No, only for accommodation . . . wait . . . that's already affecting locals.
@TurinStark5 when I said raise prices, I meant in the hotels. An increase in hotel prices would reduce the number of tourists coming to the area. Also, with fewer tourists, restaurants would see falling demand and would lower their prices to compensate. This is basic economics
Това няма да спре туристите, само ще влоши качеството на предлаганите услуги. Омагьосан кръг.
@@TurinStark5 В Турция в ресторантите неофициално има различни цени за местните и туристите. И много мамят.
If tourism is limited, unemployment will go up. The pandemic kinda showed what happens when tourism stops to those popular destinations.
I've told my friends before not to use Air BNB as it's just destroying the housing and rental market. I've often heard the repsonse "but it's nice to have your own kitchen, you can have people round etc." - to that I think, these are luxuries that I am willing to sacrifice for the wellbeing of a local population. It isn't "your own kitchen", it's a kitchen that should be available to local residents on a long-term basis. Not a rotation of tourists who are on a short visit. Visit cities and towns that don't struggle with overtourism. Befriend the local residents, support their businesses, learn about the area that you're visiting and the issues that they may be facing as an area or a country. Show our governments and our councils that we are not interested in the act of cultural commodification.
Be careful what you wish for, if the tourists leave and never come back, and you have an economy that's based on tourism 🤷🏻♂️
WOW. You drank some KoolAid and said "Good!"
That is precisely the attitude that the large multi-nationals like Holland America wants you to have.
I've lived in some of those communities. Here's how it is, at least in Alaska.
The multi dominates the market. There is no competition, every "independent" operator has to pay a kickback (anywhere from 20 to 35%) to the multi or the tourists brought in by the multi (easily 75% of the traffic) never learn of those indie operators or are guided to a different operator cooperating with the multi.
Nearly the entire staff of the multi on site is imported. Close to 100%.
In Alaska it means, non-Alaskan Lower 48ers in management, and a few in customer contact roles and usually eastern Europeans and South Americans doing all the menial labor. The foreign imports are brought in because Alaskan minimum wage seems a fortune to them, they will each easily work 60 to 70 hours a week, and they make few complaints about living conditions and rarely know about overtime pay.
The tourism workers also spend (when they spend) their wages on site with the employer.
I could go on and on.
So if you ever visit Alaska, odds are great that if your guide speaks unaccented American English, he or she is a 48er and is highly unlikely to have any first hand knowledge...they also put NOTHING back into the local economy. Nothing. That guy bussing the table or the gal cleaning your hotel room? Romania or Malaysia or Brazil or etc.
No, tourism is a bane. We locals pretty much hate you, but we'll take your money if we can and your wife if we want to.
@@JD-tn5lzI'm glad they bring in people from elsewhere. Now visitors to Alaska don't have to deal with locals like you.
stop tourist coming in but dont cry if there is no tourists money coming in problem solved !
Een land moet niet afhankelijk zijn van toerisme. Er is voor autochtonen genoeg ander werk nodig en mogelijk.
For places like Venice, there isn't much money coming in from tourists. Most of the tourists come in from the Cruise liners and they eat and get everything from the boat. All they do is come, walk around and take pictures and leave their plastic in Venice. Mass tourism, particularly Cruise ships is not good for any place.
obviously they know they can survive without relying on tourism that’s why they started protesting
They're not against tourism. They're against OVER tourism. Massive difference.
@@elulugnie4250 how much is over and how much is normal according to you then
Stop the large cruiseship stopovers. They bring extremely high volumes in a short period. I've seen the gross overcrowding on the Greek Islands like Santorini and Mykonos brought by the huge cruiseliners
Imagine waking up in the morning ..holding ur cup of coffee in ur hand ..then looking outside ur window just to catch glimpse of strangers ..
Cruise ships are the worst. People will stop in cities without spending anything because they already have accommodation and food on the cruise ship. If it was for me, they would be allowed in the city only after paying a fee.
For starters, stop the locals for having theirs homes as "alternative accommodation". If regulated hotels were the only accommodation option, the number will reduce significantly. But then, most of the "tourist" destinations have businesses and significant part of the economy based on tourism. So guess winning "tranquility" and "serenity" would represent damages on local business.
The answer is finding a middle ground in which tourism and locals can coexist; in which (more)local businesses are actually better for people's lives, and don't make them worse. You don't have to forbid anything, but there has to be rules and limits. Hotels are too much also. Amesterdam just fordid the building of new ones for example.
The locals will sell their homes to the hotels for good money, and you will still end up with the same problem. The people with new money in hand buy cheaper property outside the cities, driving up prices in the towns and countryside. People will still complain.
They want to have both. it's like getting paid but not working for it.. free meal.
@@msg4alexandre It's the hotel and restaurants that are reaping most of the revenue, but locals having to pay more.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7wh >tourism and locals can coexist
OK. What local busineses Vienece have aside chained with tourism?
I remember visiting Venice when Covid still kept many tourists away, and the city was paradise then. I can appreciate why people are against tourists overcrowding their cities and why something has to be done to keep these beautiful places from becoming Disneyland
Over tourism make everything seems expensive even for the local ..😢
It baffles me how so many people think they all need to spend their vacation in one single place. I mean, come on, 20 million visitors in Venice per year! I've travelled around a lot in Europe, seen and spent time in many gorgeous places where the folk are begging for tourists. If all these millions of tourists were spread out over these places you wouldn't notice them and everyone would be happy.
you assume that everybody keeps going back and back to Venice and not that its people wanting to see Venice for the first time...these "hey i already travelled yet i ask you lot dont travel please" solutions are righteous and ineffective...yet you see them all over this thread
Have you been to Venice? Or other major destinations? I suspect you have, and now you are telling those who haven´t to go somewhere else
@@aquelpibe Do you not understand what it means to places such as Venice to allow the numbers of visitors to grow without limit? When I visited Venice for the first time in the early 1970s the city had a million visitors a year and 200 000 Venetians lived there. Now 20 million visitors come each year and only 50 000 Venetians live there. You think that is okay?
@@mikethespike7579 You misread my comment; I understand it perfectly, Venice tourism cannot go on like this
I am just saying that someone who has already been there telling others not to go is hypocritical
I too like to go to more out of the way, not so touristy locations but I am the first to admit that if I had never been to say Paris, Barcelona, Rome or Florence I would not choose the less visited places over the trendy ones
@@aquelpibe It is not hypocrisy to rub facts under people's noses, just because I was born earlier and able to visit these places when they were far less crowded.
The world is a big place, there are a lot of other places for tourists besides Europe. Not only are they cheaper but also more authentic if you stay away from the tour groups.
It’s fine to visit Europe, just visit some of the lesser know cities and towns and they will be happy to have you there. Trust me, I do it a lot and it’s a really enjoyable experience.
I think that this exists in a lot of places to some extent. We have this in our sleepy state from time to time. It creates a mess in small towns that aren't designed for traffic, visitors, and trash.
Maybe check to see if officials are advertising your town as a getaway to boost their pay-er I mean bring more dollars for the town. Two towns near me had ads all over(even yt) as a getaway and now it takes over an hour to get home from work in what use to be a 10 minute drive. As far as rent, there is NO way locals can pay rent for a decent home anymore. Try to buy a home and unless you know someone, it is impossible. Homes are sold within 10 minutes of listing and at crazy prices. .
@@Suehuskins We're a tourism state but we already have more than we can handle. People want a ton of recreation after the pandemic and someone doing a viral video of some out of the way place is more the problem than small towns advertising. One example (not in our state) is what happens to Salem, MA in September and October.
In destinations like the ones mentioned it's all the time like this. Numbers are crazy! And they aren't small towns, so there are a lot of people getting harmed.
Found out last year that my US State of New Jersey has ads in Dublin and yesterday in London lol
@@thehistorynerd8537 Chamber of Commerce type stuff? I suppose that states and cities can promote tourism from other countries not realizing the impact it can have on residents.
I’m in Prague right now. They have a 5 euro tax per day on tourists. I don’t think it is stopping many people. There are still thousands here in the city center.
Around the Estepona area, the greedy Spanish continue building masses of holiday apartments; rectangular box 'villas' with 4 bathrooms, taking up any spare green space. (Ghost town areas in winter.) There's water shortage, too much traffic and public transport is diabolical. Golf, golf, golf - the courses require water too.
Airbnb is not just a problem in tourist areas. There is one opposite me and we live in the suburbs.
I don’t want to be anywhere that I’m not wanted. I’ll just stay home, thanks.
You are very welcome in Florida. Wear sunscreen...lots of sunscreen...no, more than that.
Have you noticed that a lot of people want to migrate to Europe, but they do not want to adapt? Then they complain that there is racism.
Did you speak to one? Can you adapt very fast?
I'm willing to bet the few complainers have been tourists themselves.
The only vacation I've ever taken was to North Korea in 2011. I have the right to complain 😋
I mean, it depends for me at least. For me, overtourism is where there is no localness anymore, where restaurants and stores cater to tourists, and where you cannot hear the local language. So far in my experience, Dubrovnik was the worst, and Crete (specifically in Chania) was the best of both of experiencing the local places and the tourist places
Get rid of the cruise ships, those passengers don't spend a dime in these cities yet destroy the waterways like in Venice. People who cruise do so because they are cheap.
Welcome to the life of a New York resident.
A hard problem to solve now when so many areas, countries and businesses have become dependent on tourism. I remember a time when Paros was a quiet backwater. Even local, domestic over-tourism is a problem. I visited an area of Italy, not far from Rome, where the town and lake were overrun with Italian tourists in summertime but were dead in winter. I am from Jersey by descent there is a two tier property market that precludes visitors from buying certain properties. Perhaps something like this could be expanded but I can see local businesses objecting. Florence is a nightmare in the summer.
I don’t understand why tourists go to these places where they’re just crowded in by other tourists. It’s more fun going to less visited places where you have space to discover and get to know the local culture.
I dont blame them. Locals live there. In S Korea, there is Hankok village, Korean traditional houses. The tourists go there to look at their houses literally. Thats where residents live 24/7. There is no privacy nor nuisances
Same thing here in Holbox, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, etc. Too much turism and poor infrastructure.
Atleast Mexico has cartel$ to keep the mass population scared from visiting. If not you would really get overtourism
@@noh6865 It's a cliché. Some states indeed are no men's land, but Yucatán and Quintana Roo are safe. And honestly I feel more safe in Mexico than in a lot of states of the USA. Guess why so many Americans are migrating to Mexico? Ask them!
Tickets are still very cheap; because no tax on kerosine (jet-fuel). Tax of 30-50% is quite normal for petrol/diesel for cars. Use tax on kerosine for local housing. Problem solved.
Even if people think AirBnb are ok because of "free market" or "capitalism", they are actually getting more expensive than regular hotels (including cleaning fees), plus they may not have nice pools or dining services or bars.
I 'm glad the too many breaks a year thing was mentioned. So many people fly TOO MUCH, it's just not viable any more.
then stay home pal.
Tourism is a double edged sword
Local businesses want the money that tourists bring in, but tourists are looking to let loose and have a good time
They rarely are very considerate of the locals
Even Fort Lauderdale in the United States wants college students to stop coming there for spring break because of all the havoc that they cause
But if they actually got their way the community would lose a lot of money and I mean a LOT
From the tourist's viewpoint, the answer is to select places as yet unspoiled by tourism. Example destinations would include the rainy, crime-ridden city of Buenaventura (Colombia), Elephant Island in the Antarctic some of the more remote villages in the mountains of Afghanistan. In such resorts, the tourist can experience an authentic taste of local culture without the annoyance of meeting other tourists.
As a tourist I agree with the Canarians.
I've always loved Dubrovnik, and began visiting in 1973. Since then our friends (Croats) have stated that tourism has spoilt the area, especially cruise ships, which can mean an influx of up to 20k visitors in one day!!! Especially since Game of Thrones had scenes filmed there. I'm so glad we went when we did, and enjoyed the local cuisine (hardly available now) now replaced by more exotic and expensive dishes. I don't know if this is the correct spelling, but we loved the spicy cevapccici (meatballs) and I was looking forward to trying some on my recent visit to Dubrovnik this year, with no luck!! The true joy of the visit was destroyed by the humungous crowds, as the cruise ships spilled their cargo to the town. We were moored in the Bay of Lapad, where I recognised our old hotel Hotel Lapad across the bay. It was like coming home until I reached the city. Then the bubble burst!!
I refuse to travel to the popular destinations… not worth it
Dear tourists .... please don't go where you are not welcome.
The three or four measures that every government should put in place: 1) Ban AirBNBs and similar places, and keep a watchful eye for illegal tourist apartments; 2) Place a 100€ tourist tax to every adult visiting, and 3) Limit and watch the number of tour operators. But, above all, 4) BAN CRUISE SHIPS.
BAN PRIVATE JETS FOR THE HOLLYWOOD RULING CROWD.
Europe will go bankrupt😂😂
@@gazo11 No.
Last year, I flew from the US to Argentina and visited Colonia, Uruguay, by ferry, and then I flew to Ushuaia and drove to the southern point of the Pan Am highway, and finally flew to El Calafate and took motorcoach tours to El Chalten and Perito Moreno Glacier. I didn’t feel like any of those places were “overrun” with tourists, but they had quite a few tourists. Maybe it’s less crowded because of the long flights there and how far apart the attractions are?
Does tourism explain why every souvenir shop in Lisbon has Indians working in them??
Half the people are inviting me and the other half are asking me not to come. If you don't want me, close your hotels.
Japan is in despair with overtuorism by rude tourists. If you don't respect the local culture, get out!!
And why someone would take such a long flight without knowing or respecting the culture and going just for youtube or instagram is so utterly brainless.
@shawnbell6392 My guess is that things that Japan offers to them are like a bunch of sweet chocolates, which means the country is full of entertainment: good food ar cheap prices, nice places to visit where rude behaviors are overlooked, no tip needed, good public transport and the like.
Public security in Japan is there with unwritten and unspoken rules, but all that tourists can see is just what brings them joy and fun, no attachment to the rules.
The issue is that Europe's economy relies heavily on tourism, but much of the revenue flows back to large American companies, rather than staying within the local economy. Unfortunately, addressing this requires action at the governmental level.
I like tourists, they bring life to our city. Although my city is built for millions of people, so I can see thatr they are too much for a smaller community.
This is why NY has become less and less affordable since the early 90s. I think that there should be a retroactive state and federal law banning non-citizens from buying land and/or property. This would help to decrease rents and make buying affordable for more citizens.
NY has a political problem not a tourist problem 😅.
Germans when talking about too many Europeans going somewhere, spending money, and leaving 😡
Germans when talking about too many Non-europeans going somewhere, disturbing the local way of life, breaking social cohesion 🙈
Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Santorini/Tera & Mykonos: among places I was sure I would visit withing 20 years when I started travelling in the 1990's, but abandoned the 'plan' just because when visiting similarly 'mass visited' places (Mt Saint Michelle, Florence) I decided it would he better to 'know' them through looking at photo's. Instead I diverted travelling towards longer, more relaxed, journeys to destinations which are secondary. Like the Trodos mountains in Cyprus, Balkan mountains in Bulgaria or the Saronic gulf islands near Athens.
None of the above is empty of tourists... Just normal.
Travel has become way too easy
And people flexing holidays on social media doesn’t help …
Back when, traveling was a luxury and not many did it
Because only the rich and privileged could travel.
@@shauncameron8390no backpacking and living cheap was the norm in the 90s for young people you didn’t expect luxury you adapted to the environment you didn’t expect it to cater to you
Laws protecting property owners from bad tenants, sitting tenants & squatters were repealed.
Owners realised the better tenants were Airbnb visitors who paid in advance and were in and out. The owners were protected from the very people who complain about tourism overload.
Pretty much.
I want to travel in a years time so now I am nervous. I am no influencer so I am hoping I will go under the radar as I am there for the history
Careful what you wish for Europe. I don't see lots of other industries lined up for when the tourists don't go any more
Don't you dare point out how the Euro hit parity with the dollar recently
It seems like they forgot how many business suffers and went bankrupt during covid.
20 hour work week consequence
I was thinking the same, don’t those places live from tourism?
The problems of being popular...
Wow, let’s see what will happened when there is no tourists.
They should welcome tourists since tourists aren’t taking anyone’s jobs and are there to support local business. Tourism is a big amplifier for the countries economy.
Tourists chasing Instagram photos is the problem.
Why don't I see this much backlash in places Bangkok, Thailand or Bali, Indonesia?
Way to many people on the earth already
No, earth is big enough. But there are way to many greedy people...
Volunteer to sign out
Actually, were in population decline and many countries want their populations to have more children to combat this decline.
@@oldsenpai4337People are making that choice because there are too many people. Governments just want more taxpayers
@@voyd1507 They won't let us. Assisted dying is illegal.
They need to make laws to restrict mass-tourism, increase affordable housing, support environmental tourism (farm stays, conservational projects), ban cheap plastics, educate the public constantly (on conservation and respectful behaviour), and make quality offers in order to attract quality people.
As others have said, go somewhere else, to less visited places. I have gone to Europe a lot lately and instead of Paros or Athens, I did Thessaloniki, instead of Barcelona, did Gijon, Oviedo, la Coruña and Vigo . People were so happy to have me at these place and it reaffirms my sentiment even more. Dislike more and more these "tourist destinations"
There is always options.
Have you ever been to Barcelona?
@@aquelpibe like 10 times maybe.... it has its good and bad, but I cannot stand the amount of people, tourists. Its insane.
@@WebMentorCR my point precisely
When you´ve been to a place several times it´s easy to tell other people who have probably never been there to choose other less well-known places
BTW Barcelona is perfectly fine, if you stick to the tourist hotspots of course it can be crowded - not THAT bad, though- but there are lots of places and things to do away from the maddening crowd
And/or go off-season, in the shoulder months there are less people and the weather is nice
@@aquelpibe I do agree with you. People gotta live through it I guess....
Completely agree with those people!!
People are really like sheep. They all vacation in the same cities. They walk like cattle around the city. How can they enjoy this when it is so busy!? They need to try to explore different regions outside of Europe. The locals and what they want must be respected first. Tourists are secondary.
This has been going on in places in the Caribbean , and other parts of the world for decades. But now more European and western cities are dealing with the problems. Not to mention the climate problems that tourism is effecting globally? More and more flights means more air pollution and noise pollution for people who live near airports.
the list of problems is endless. Do low cost flying companys fly to the caribbean?
Most visited countries on the planet are European, France being first and Spain second
I watched a documentary where in Jamaica the locals don’t even have public beaches anymore in some cities. All the beach land is owned by hotels, putting small fisherman out of work. Tourists have an ethical responsibility to also advocate for locals.
@@lg206 in Greece tere have been recent protests on that too.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7wh I vote with my money. I don’t visit any place where tourists > locals. The whole point is traveling is to meet different people from different cultures
Would be interested in asking protestors if they have a vacation and where do they go? Or do they stay home?
Perhaps we should only go to places we've been invited.
I don't think they know what they want. Some areas only survived and evolved due to turism . Otherwise, the'll be dead zones. Or it's just a way to extract more money from tourists ?
It's not a question of all or nothing. It's just become too much of a good thing. It's harmful to people now. There can be a middle ground in which it's good for the local economy while not harming local people and surroundings. There has to be rules and limits.
Some places have forgotten how desperately poor they were before tourism. Tourism was the one thing that worked because the location in question had nothing else economically to offer the market. Amsterdam certainly can restrict tourists hard, but the Canary Islands? Not so much.
Just cos you need to feed yourself, it does not mean you have to overeat... Everything needs balance. This over saturated tourism creates other social problems. It needs to be accessed and tackled so it can benefit both the industry and locals
@@quantummotion there's always something else. You just have to get past the obvious. Most industries don't depend on geography. Also, tourism exists in those islands for a long time and only now they complain. So tourism isn't the problem. Too much of it is.
@@JoseFerreira-zb7whfacts, people don't understand the middle ground anymore 😂. Not everything should be all nothing. There can be compromises