Cities like Venice, Amsterdam and Barcelona were in danger of suffocating under the weight of mass tourism. The pandemic was a respite. Now these cities are aiming to prevent overtourism in the future. Can they succeed?
In Venice, you can see with your own eyes how the city is recovering during the coronavirus pandemic. Now that tens of thousands of tourists are not walking through the historic Old Town every day, cruise ships are not passing by, and even the tourist boats are at a standstill, the water is suddenly clearer than it has been in 60 years. Even dolphins are said by some to have been seen in the lagoon around the city. And the Venetians have also been able to move freely in their city again for years without having to squeeze through crowds of visitors.
At the same time, they realized how dependent they are on tourism. After all, the 20 million or so visitors here spent around 3 billion euros a year – and that in a city whose historic center is home to just 50,000 people.
Amsterdam taking controversial measures
The Dutch capital was particularly hard hit by the influx of tourists. In the year before the pandemic, nearly 22 million tourists came – more than 25 times as many people as live in the city. By 2030, there could be as many as 32 million visitors a year, the Netherlands’ tourist board estimates. Much like Venice or Prague, a large number of them flock to a small, particularly iconic part of the city.
Barcelona: Like never before?
In Barcelona, there are no plans for imposing any such restrictions. On the contrary, the Catalan capital is currently advertising for tourists to come back with the slogan “Barcelona like never before.” From now on, the city wants to see itself even more as a sustainable cultural destination and thus attract “quality tourism” to the city, its tourism marketing department writes. “Barcelona wants to move away from the crowds and invite its visitors to stroll through open, green and accessible spaces,” the statement says. It doesn’t say how exactly that goal will curb mass tourism in the future.