Overtourism and Crowd avoidance Redefined
- Have you ever turned away and went to a different destination during your holiday, just because you did not find parking space at a crowded beach that was in your initial plan?
- Have you ever been told to visit an isolated wild nature location, only to find yourself after many hours of driving or even walking at a place full of people, because an excursion organizer has moved 30 jeeps to sell his safari experience? No silence, no space, no way to enjoy the landmark.
- Was your day plan during holidays ruined, because you wasted one hour waiting in a queue at the entrance of a museum? Or blocked in city traffic?
- Do you know places where rent prices are pushing out local tenants to make way for holiday rentals?
These are all signs of Overtourism, that might disappoint visitors even at magnificent locations.
The travel industry, like many others, focuses on continuous growth and profitability, with little or no concern for the impacts.
BUT
Too many visitors at a particular destination causes overtourism. The number that defines “too many” is just a matter of the consequences measured by local residents, business owners and tourists who will record their negative experience. However, COVID-19 introduced also health experts and civil protection rules to define which conditions of density and presence in a specific area are dangerous and risky for public health and therefore, they should be avoided and identified upon their occurrence.
After decades of continuous growth, in many destinations, tourism created more problems than benefits. The reaction of local residents since 2017 has worsened the situation. Authorities seek ways and measures to mitigate the problem. Visitor taxes, imposition of decisions, limited capacities or even closure of areas, made the issue more and more known to the general public. COVID-19 hit tourism to an extent that might seem to make overtourism not an item to discuss, but actually it is the main reason that imposed more strict rules for people gatherings, for any reason, not only because of tourism.