does tourism ruin everything that it touches

Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

Travel Better, Cheaper, Longer

Why Tourists Ruin the Places They Visit

Last summer, while I was living in Sweden , I met up with travel writer Doug Lansky, the man behind several worldwide destination guides for Rough Guides. We were talking about travel (of course) and began discussing the philosophical question about whether, as traveler writers, we end up destroying the places we love by sharing them with the world.

By writing about those off-the-beaten-track destinations, those little local restaurants, and quiet parts of the city where you’re free of tourists, do we inadvertently contribute to the demise and overdevelopment of these destinations?

When I consider this question, I think about two things. First, I think about Tony Wheeler , the founder of Lonely Planet, the guy who pretty much commercialized backpacking. He’s the guy who turned the world onto Ko Phi Phi , which used to look like the left image and now looks like the right:

Secondly, I remember my own experience on Ko Lipe in Thailand (a tiny, out-of-the-way destination) and how overdeveloped that island has become in the last few years. Unfettered development has taken this tiny island and filled it with resorts and ruined coral reefs as drinking water needs to be pumped in from nearby islands to meet the needs.

And I think about how I always talk about Coral Bay, Australia — and other little towns and restaurants around the world — with great enthusiasm and encouragement. “Go there! They are wonderful and crowd free,” I proclaim.

By driving people to the next “undiscovered” place, do I just ruin it? Will I be that guy who returns and says, “Man, this place used to be cool 10 years ago.”

But, while not totally guiltless, I don’t think travel writers are to blame when destinations become crowded destinations full of tourists and overpriced hotels. (And, these days, there are a lot of factors that go into overtourism . It’s a complex — and urgent — problem!)

After ten years of traveling the world , I’ve come to realize that it’s the tourists themselves who ruin a destination.

And I don’t mean that simply because of the increase in visitors. I mean that because tourists end up supporting unsustainable tourism practices, and that’s what really destroys a place.

We simply love places to death.

Because, let’s face it, as a species, people are kind of assholes.

We can talk about sustainability and overtourism all we want but, if people really cared wouldn’t they stay in fewer Airbnbs, take fewer cruises, and try to avoid tours and animal tourism?

And then what happens?

You see many locals who are shortsighted and start building hotels, resorts, and businesses to try to cash in on the latest travel fad. And who can blame them? People need to eat, kids need to be sent to college, and money needs to be earned. The future is someone else’s problem, right? And I can’t really fault a lot of people for that. I don’t agree with that method of growth (not just in travel but in life in general), but how do you tell someone they can’t build something to feed their family?

I remember reading an article a few years back by Thomas Freidman from the New York Times talking about the rainforest in Brazil . In an interview, a local activist said that people need to eat, and, while most understand the need to protect the forest, with no alternative, people are going to choose food over protecting trees.

And it’s not just locals who do this.

Large corporations come in and take full advantage of lax regulation, low wages, and corrupt officials. Greenwashing , the practice of pretending you’re engaging in environmentally friendly actions, is very prevalent in travel.

(I think many countries in the world, including my own, should enact stronger environmental laws to help curb excessive building and development to ensure people take a longer view.)

Development is good, but unfettered development is bad and, unfortunately, there’s too much-unfettered development in tourism today.

But here’s why I put a lot of blame on visitors: As a writer, it’s important for me to not only highlight destinations (Go here! It’s great!), but to also emphasize responsibility so future generations can benefit from the place and enjoy it. There are a lot of great environmental travel blogs out there, and while this site deals more with the practical side of travel, I’ve talked about ruined places before and the need for better environmental protection many times .

But, as tourists, we ALSO have a responsibility to the destination. If we frequent operators, hotels, and services that are destructive — not only to the environment, but also to the local economy — we can’t really be surprised when we encounter mass development and “ruined,” overcrowded attractions.

How you spend your money is your vote for whether or not you accept what companies do. You know why companies have jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon? Money. Sure, some actually care about the environment, but for 99% of them, it’s money.

People will pay more money if they feel like they’re positively impacting the environment. Wal-Mart executives are pretty open about the fact that they began selling eco-friendly and organic products because their customers were demanding it and there was money to be made.

I think the same is true in travel.

We have a choice in the vendors we use, the hotels we stay in, and the tour operators we hire. Our dollars go very far in developing countries, and the businesses there will change if we demand it. Start demanding good environmental practices and suddenly you’ll find them. If more and more people tell businesses that they want to see better environmental practices, they’ll happen.

You’ve found a company underpaying or mistreating their local staff? Or partaking in destructive practices? Let them know and use their competitors. There’s a lot of information online that can help you learn more about companies to avoid:

• Cruise Critic
• Green Global Travel Blog
• National Geographic Green Living Resources

I feel that many people, when given the right information, will make the right choice. And, as a travel writer, I’d like to encourage people to make that right choice. That means looking up the environmental record of the hotel or resort you’re staying in, choosing a tour company that is ecologically friendly, and avoiding destinations that are already overdeveloped. How do you do that? A little research and common sense.

But I can’t stop people from behaving badly when they get to a destination. I can just push them in the right direction.

If we push locals to be eco-friendly, they will. If writers push travelers to be eco-friendly, maybe they will. It’s a virtuous circle in which we all contribute.

We all bear some responsibility, but those whose money supports the ruinous ways bear the most.

It’s not the volume of travel that matters, but how that volume is handled. And we have a responsibility to ensure that the volume we create is well managed.

Or you could very well be the last person to see that destination in all of its splendor.  

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner . It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld . If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• SafetyWing (best for everyone)
• Insure My Trip (for those 70 and over)
• Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.

Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.

Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.

Photo of Ko Phi Phi thanks to the Traveling Canucks . It’s a great blog; you should read it.

Got a comment on this article? Join the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter and share your thoughts!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to keeping the site community supported and ad free.

Related Posts

Get my best stuff sent straight to you!

Pin it on pinterest.

Winter is here! Check out the winter wonderlands at these 5 amazing winter destinations in Montana

• Travel Tips

Why Tourists Ruin Places They Visit (and What You Can Do)

Published: November 11, 2023

Modified: December 28, 2023

by Frieda Shields

• Plan Your Trip
• Sustainability

Introduction

Traveling is a wonderful way to explore new places, experience different cultures, and create lasting memories. However, it’s no secret that tourism can have a negative impact on the destinations we visit. In recent years, the issue of overtourism has gained significant attention, with popular tourist hotspots becoming overcrowded and suffering from environmental degradation, destruction of cultural heritage, and economic exploitation.

As travelers, we have a responsibility to minimize our negative impact on the places we visit and strive for sustainable and responsible tourism. In this article, we will delve into the reasons why tourists can contribute to the ruination of the very destinations they admire. We will explore issues such as overcrowding, environmental degradation, destruction of cultural heritage, and economic exploitation, and provide practical tips on how to become a more responsible traveler.

By understanding the potential consequences of our actions and making conscious choices while traveling, we can help preserve the beauty and authenticity of the places we visit for future generations.

The Impact of Tourism on Local Destinations

Tourism can bring immense benefits to local economies, providing job opportunities and boosting revenue. However, the rapid growth of the tourism industry has also led to detrimental effects on the very destinations that attract millions of visitors each year.

One of the most significant impacts of tourism is overcrowding. Popular tourist destinations often experience an influx of visitors, leading to overcrowded streets, long queues, and crowded attractions. This not only creates inconvenience for both tourists and locals but also puts a strain on the infrastructure and public services of the destination. Overcrowding can result in increased pollution, traffic congestion, and inadequate waste management.

Another consequence of tourism is environmental degradation. Increased tourist activity can lead to the destruction of natural habitats, deforestation, pollution of air and water, and disturbance of fragile ecosystems. Negative impacts on flora and fauna can occur through irresponsible tourist behavior such as littering, damaging coral reefs during diving or snorkeling, and disturbing wildlife in protected areas.

In addition to environmental degradation, the preservation of cultural heritage is also at risk. Tourists often flock to destinations known for their historical landmarks, archaeological sites, and cultural traditions. However, the influx of visitors can result in the deterioration of these sites due to physical damage, overuse, or inappropriate behavior. Furthermore, the commercialization and commodification of cultural practices to cater to tourist demands can lead to the loss of authenticity and cultural identity.

Lastly, tourism can contribute to economic exploitation. In some cases, large multinational corporations dominate the tourism industry, controlling key establishments such as hotels, restaurants, and tour operators. Local businesses may struggle to compete, leading to a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, while the majority of the local population does not benefit proportionately from the revenue generated by tourism.

It is essential to be aware of these impacts and take proactive steps to minimize our contribution to the negative consequences of tourism. In the next sections, we will explore practical ways to become a more responsible traveler and help mitigate the negative impacts of tourism.

Why Tourists Contribute to the Ruination of Places

While not all tourists intentionally cause harm to the destinations they visit, there are several reasons why their actions can contribute to the ruination of these places. Understanding these factors can help us make more conscious choices as travelers and work towards more sustainable tourism practices.

One of the main reasons is the sheer number of tourists. The rise in global tourism has led to overcrowding in many popular destinations. With more people wanting to explore the same locations, there is increased pressure on local infrastructure, natural resources, and cultural sites. As a result, the quality of the experience for both tourists and locals can deteriorate, affecting the overall attractiveness of the destination.

Furthermore, tourists may unwittingly engage in activities that harm the environment. Whether it’s leaving behind litter, disturbing wildlife, or contributing to pollution, these actions can have a cumulative negative impact on the ecosystem. For instance, in delicate natural areas such as coral reefs or national parks, heavy foot traffic and improper waste disposal can lead to irreversible damage.

In addition, tourists may not fully appreciate or respect the local culture and traditions. Cultural heritage plays a vital role in making a destination unique and authentic. However, some tourists may engage in disrespectful behavior, such as ignoring dress codes, taking inappropriate photographs, or participating in exploitative activities. This not only disrespects the local community but also erodes the cultural integrity of the destination.

Moreover, tourists contribute to the ruination of places through their spending habits. In some cases, tourists unknowingly support exploitative businesses that do not prioritize sustainability, fair labor practices, or community development. By choosing large multinational chains over locally-owned establishments, the economic benefits of tourism may not trickle down to the local community, exacerbating income inequality and ultimately harming the destination’s social and economic fabric.

While individual actions may seem inconsequential, the collective impact of millions of tourists engaging in these behaviors can lead to the ruination of once pristine and culturally-rich destinations. It is crucial for travelers to recognize their responsibility and take steps to minimize their negative impact, allowing future generations to continue enjoying these places.

Overcrowding and Overtourism

Overcrowding and overtourism have become pressing issues in many popular tourist destinations around the world. While tourism brings economic benefits, it can also lead to negative consequences when the number of visitors exceeds the carrying capacity of the destination.

Overcrowding is a result of the sheer volume of tourists, particularly in peak seasons. The influx of visitors can overwhelm the local infrastructure, creating bottlenecks in transportation, accommodation shortages, and overcrowded public spaces. This not only diminishes the quality of the experience for tourists but also disrupts the daily lives of local residents and can lead to tension and resentment.

Overtourism goes beyond overcrowding and encompasses a range of impacts on the destination. It can lead to the degradation of natural and cultural resources, increased pollution, and the loss of charm and authenticity. Tourist sites can become congested, making it difficult to fully appreciate their beauty and significance. The pressure on local resources, such as water and energy, may exceed their capacity, posing environmental risks.

Overtourism can also result in the phenomenon of “touristification,” where destinations become solely focused on catering to tourists and lose their genuine character. Local businesses may prioritize catering to the demands of tourists over meeting the needs of the local community, leading to a loss of traditional practices and authentic experiences.

There are several contributing factors to overcrowding and overtourism. The rise of budget airlines, online travel information, and the growing middle class in many countries have made travel more accessible and affordable. The concentration of tourist activity in specific locations, often due to limited marketing efforts or lack of infrastructure development in other areas, further exacerbate the problem.

To address the issue of overcrowding and promote more sustainable tourism practices, destinations may implement strategies such as implementing visitor quotas, managing tourist flows through time-ticketing systems, and diversifying tourism offerings to distribute visitors more evenly. These measures aim to balance the economic benefits of tourism with the preservation of the natural and cultural integrity of the destination.

As responsible travelers, we can also play a part in combating overcrowding and overtourism. By choosing to visit lesser-known destinations or traveling during off-peak periods, we can help alleviate the pressure on popular tourist hotspots. It is essential to respect local regulations, follow appropriate codes of conduct, and be mindful of the impact our presence has on the destination and the local communities.

By addressing the challenges of overcrowding and overtourism, we can ensure that both current and future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty and authenticity of the places we visit without compromising their sustainability.

Environmental Degradation

One of the significant impacts of tourism is environmental degradation. The rise in tourist activity can have detrimental effects on natural ecosystems, contributing to the loss of biodiversity, pollution, and the destruction of delicate habitats.

Tourists often flock to pristine natural areas, attracted by their beauty and unique ecosystems. However, the increased foot traffic and improper behavior can lead to erosion, soil compaction, and damage to vegetation, affecting the delicate balance of the ecosystem. Activities such as off-road driving, littering, and unauthorized camping can lead to irreparable harm to sensitive environments.

Marine environments, such as coral reefs, are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of tourism. Activities such as anchoring boats, careless diving practices, and improper disposal of chemicals and waste can lead to the destruction of coral reefs, which are essential habitats for numerous marine species. Overfishing and illegal harvesting of marine life for the tourist trade further threaten the delicate balance of marine ecosystems.

The increase in infrastructure development to accommodate the growing number of tourists can also contribute to environmental degradation. Construction of hotels, resorts, and other tourist facilities often involves clearing natural habitats, leading to deforestation and habitat loss for many species. Additionally, the demand for water resources by tourists can strain local supplies, putting pressure on limited freshwater sources and impacting the availability of water for local communities and ecosystems.

Pollution is another significant environmental concern associated with tourism. The increase in air and water pollution from transportation, waste generation, and energy consumption associated with tourism activities can have long-term negative consequences. Air pollution from transportation emissions contributes to climate change and affects air quality in tourist destinations. Improper waste management, such as the disposal of non-biodegradable items, can lead to contamination of land and water bodies, further impacting the local environment.

To mitigate environmental degradation from tourism, sustainable practices are crucial. Choosing eco-friendly transportation options, such as public transportation or cycling, can help reduce carbon emissions. Opting for accommodations that implement sustainable practices, such as water and energy conservation, waste recycling, and utilizing renewable energy sources, can significantly minimize environmental impact.

Responsible travel behavior includes following designated trails, respecting wildlife and their habitats, and adhering to waste reduction and recycling practices. Engaging in outdoor activities, such as hiking and snorkeling, with certified guides who prioritize conservation and responsible behavior ensures that you have a minimal impact on the natural environment.

Ultimately, preserving the natural environment is essential for the long-term sustainability and enjoyment of tourism. By being mindful of our actions and making environmentally conscious choices, we can minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the natural world and contribute to its preservation for future generations.

Destruction of Cultural Heritage

When it comes to tourism, cultural heritage plays a significant role in attracting visitors to a destination. However, the very influx of tourists can lead to the destruction and degradation of cultural sites and practices, ultimately eroding the authenticity and integrity of the local culture.

One of the primary causes of the destruction of cultural heritage is irresponsible tourist behavior. Some visitors may engage in activities that physically damage cultural sites or artifacts. Touching, climbing on, or defacing historical structures, statues, or artwork can cause irreparable harm. Moreover, the use of flash photography or improper handling of artifacts can accelerate their deterioration.

The commercialization and commodification of cultural practices also contribute to the destruction of cultural heritage. In an attempt to meet tourist demands, some communities may alter their traditions or perform them solely for entertainment purposes. This can result in the loss of cultural authenticity as traditions become diluted or staged purely for commercial gain.

Tourism can also lead to the displacement of local communities and disruption of traditional ways of life. As tourist infrastructure expands, local residents may be coerced into selling their properties or changing their livelihoods to cater to the tourism market. This erodes the social fabric of the community and can lead to the loss of generational knowledge and traditional practices.

Furthermore, the concentration of tourism activity in specific areas can create overcrowding and intense pressure on cultural sites. Increased foot traffic, improper waste management, and inadequate preservation measures can lead to the physical degradation of these sites over time.

To minimize the destruction of cultural heritage, it is important for tourists to approach these sites and experiences with respect and an understanding of their significance. Following established rules and regulations, such as avoiding prohibited areas, refraining from touching or damaging artifacts, and adhering to appropriate dress codes, helps protect cultural sites and practices.

Supporting responsible tourism initiatives that seek to preserve and promote cultural heritage is also crucial. This may include attending cultural performances that prioritize the preservation of authentic traditions, purchasing locally-made crafts and products, and supporting community-based tourism initiatives that involve local residents in sharing their culture and heritage with visitors.

Visitors can also educate themselves about the cultural significance of the places they are visiting. Learning about the history, traditions, and stories behind cultural sites allows for a deeper appreciation and respect for the destination. Additionally, engaging with local communities and seeking their perspectives can provide valuable insights into the importance of preserving and respecting cultural heritage.

By taking these actions, tourists can help preserve and protect cultural heritage, ensuring that future generations can continue to appreciate and learn from these invaluable aspects of our shared human history.

Economic Exploitation

Although tourism has the potential to bring economic benefits to local communities, it can also lead to economic exploitation, particularly when the benefits are not evenly distributed or when large multinational corporations dominate the tourism industry.

In some destinations, the tourism industry is controlled by a few powerful entities, such as multinational hotel chains or tour operators. This concentration of power often results in limited economic opportunities for local businesses. Small, locally-owned accommodations and establishments may struggle to compete, leading to a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few while the majority of the local population does not benefit proportionately from the revenue generated by tourism.

Furthermore, the demand for cheap labor in the tourism sector can lead to low wages and poor working conditions for local employees. Large hotels and resorts may seek to cut costs by employing staff on minimum wages or hiring migrant workers who may not have the same labor protections as local citizens.

Additionally, the establishment of tourist infrastructure and amenities often prioritizes the needs and desires of tourists over those of the local community. This can lead to increases in the cost of living, pushing locals out of their own neighborhoods or making it unaffordable for them to access essential goods and services.

The economic imbalance can also result in leakage, where a significant portion of the tourism revenue leaves the destination. This can occur when multinational corporations repatriate profits to their home countries, or when a substantial portion of tourist expenditures goes toward international-owned businesses and services. As a result, the local community sees limited direct financial benefit from tourism.

To address economic exploitation in tourism, it is crucial to support local businesses and initiatives that prioritize community development and empowerment. By seeking out locally-owned accommodations, restaurants, and tour operators, travelers can contribute directly to the local economy and ensure that a larger share of the tourism revenue remains within the community.

Engaging in fair and ethical tourism is also important. This includes supporting initiatives that promote fair wages and good working conditions for employees, as well as those that prioritize environmental sustainability and community involvement.

Furthermore, responsible travelers can seek out meaningful interactions with the local community, such as participating in cultural exchanges or purchasing locally-made products. By engaging in community-based tourism initiatives, travelers can directly contribute to local income generation and support the preservation of local culture and traditions.

Ultimately, promoting a more equitable distribution of tourism benefits involves a collective effort from all stakeholders, including governments, businesses, and travelers. By being conscious consumers and supporting initiatives that prioritize local empowerment and economic development, we can contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable tourism industry.

Responsible Tourism: What Can You Do?

As travelers, we have the power to make a positive impact and contribute to responsible tourism practices. By being mindful of our actions and making conscious choices, we can help minimize the negative impacts of tourism and ensure a more sustainable and enjoyable travel experience. Here are some practical steps you can take:

Choose Sustainable Accommodation: Opt for eco-friendly accommodations that implement sustainable practices, such as recycling, energy and water conservation, and use of renewable energy sources. Look for certifications or labels that indicate a commitment to sustainability, such as LEED certification or eco-friendly hotel certifications.

Support Local Businesses: Seek out locally-owned establishments, such as restaurants, shops, and tour operators. By supporting local businesses, you can help to ensure that the economic benefits of tourism reach the local community and contribute to its development. Also, consider purchasing locally-made products and souvenirs to directly support local artisans and craftspeople.

Respect the Local Culture and Traditions: Educate yourself about the local customs and traditions of the places you visit. Show respect by dressing appropriately, following local customs, and seeking permission before taking photographs, particularly at religious or sacred sites. Avoid participating in activities that exploit or commodify the local culture and instead engage in authentic and respectful cultural experiences.

Be Mindful of the Environment: Practice responsible behavior towards the environment by minimizing waste, conserving water and energy, and properly disposing of trash. Follow designated trails, respect wildlife and their habitats, and choose eco-friendly transportation options whenever possible. Consider offsetting your carbon footprint by participating in carbon offset programs.

Engage in Community-Based Tourism: Seek out opportunities to interact with local communities and learn from their experiences. Participate in community-based tourism initiatives that engage and empower local residents, ensuring that they have a say in tourism development. This can include homestays, guided tours led by locals, or participating in community-led projects that aim to preserve cultural heritage and protect the natural environment.

Spread Awareness: Share your knowledge and experiences with others to promote responsible tourism practices. Encourage friends, family, and fellow travelers to make conscious choices and be mindful of their impact on the places they visit. Use social media or travel blogs to inspire and educate others about sustainable travel practices.

By taking these steps, we can contribute to the preservation of the destinations we love and ensure that they remain vibrant, authentic, and accessible for future generations. Responsible tourism starts with each individual traveler, and together we can make a significant difference in creating a more sustainable and harmonious travel experience.

Choose Sustainable Accommodation

When planning your travel accommodations, one essential aspect of responsible tourism is choosing sustainable options. By selecting eco-friendly and socially responsible accommodations, you can minimize your environmental impact and support businesses that prioritize sustainability. Here are some key considerations when choosing sustainable accommodation:

Look for certifications and labels: Check for recognized certifications or labels that indicate a commitment to sustainability. These may include LEED certification, Green Key, or eco-friendly hotel certifications. These certifications often require meeting specific criteria related to energy and water conservation, waste management, and environmentally-friendly practices.

Consider the location: Opt for accommodations that are located in close proximity to the areas you plan to explore or that have good access to public transportation. This reduces the need for additional transportation and minimizes carbon emissions. Additionally, staying in smaller, locally-owned establishments in rural or less crowded areas can help promote the economic development of these communities.

Assess energy and water conservation: Sustainable accommodations prioritize energy and water conservation. Look for hotels that use energy-efficient lighting and appliances, implement water-saving measures such as low-flow showerheads and toilets, and utilize renewable energy sources. These practices help to minimize resource consumption and reduce the environmental footprint of the accommodation.

Waste management and recycling: Inquire about the accommodation’s waste management practices. Sustainable accommodations often have recycling programs in place and prioritize waste reduction. Look for facilities that provide opportunities for guests to separate and recycle their waste properly.

Support local and organic food: Choose accommodations that offer locally sourced and organic food options. Supporting local farmers and reducing the carbon footprint associated with food transportation are key elements of sustainable tourism. Some accommodations even have their own on-site gardens or work with local producers to ensure fresh and sustainable meals for their guests.

Community involvement and social responsibility: Consider accommodations that engage in community-based initiatives and support local communities. These establishments often hire locally, provide fair wages and good working conditions for their employees, and actively contribute to the social and economic development of their surrounding communities.

Alternative accommodation options: Consider alternative accommodation options, such as eco-lodges, guesthouses, or homestays, which are often owned and operated by local residents. These accommodations offer a more personal and authentic experience while supporting the local economy directly.

By consciously selecting sustainable accommodation options, you can contribute to the preservation of the environment and support local communities. Your choices as a responsible traveler can help create a more sustainable tourism industry and demonstrate the demand for eco-friendly and socially responsible practices.

Support Local Businesses

When traveling, one of the most impactful ways to contribute to the local economy and promote responsible tourism is by supporting local businesses. By patronizing locally-owned establishments, you can help to ensure that the economic benefits of tourism go directly to the local community. Here are some key reasons why supporting local businesses is important:

Community Development: Supporting local businesses helps to foster economic development within the community. These establishments provide employment opportunities for local residents, which in turn, improves the livelihoods of individuals and contributes to the overall well-being of the community. By spending your money at local businesses, you are directly supporting the local workforce and helping to create a sustainable economic ecosystem.

Promoting Cultural Authenticity: Local businesses often reflect the unique culture, traditions, and flavors of a destination. By opting for local restaurants, shops, and markets, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with the local community and experience the authentic flavors, crafts, and customs of the region. Supporting these businesses helps to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the destination, ensuring that it retains its distinct identity and charm.

Sustainability and Fair Trade: Local businesses are more likely to prioritize sustainable practices and support fair trade. They often source their products locally, reducing the carbon footprint associated with transportation and supporting local producers. By purchasing locally-made products, you encourage sustainability and contribute to the local economy rather than supporting mass-produced, imported goods.

Personalized Experiences: Local businesses tend to offer personalized and unique experiences that larger chain establishments often cannot provide. Whether it’s staying at a family-run guesthouse, booking a tour with a local guide, or dining at a neighborhood restaurant, you’re likely to have a more authentic and enriching experience. Local business owners have a deep knowledge and understanding of the area, allowing them to offer insights and recommendations that enhance your overall travel experience.

Preservation of Local Character: By supporting local businesses, you help to maintain the distinct character and charm of a destination. Instead of contributing to the homogenization of tourism, where destinations become overly commercialized and lose their authenticity, your support enables local businesses to thrive and continue their unique contributions to the local community.

Spreading Economic Benefits: When you spend your money at local businesses, a higher percentage of the revenue remains within the local community. This allows the economic benefits of tourism to trickle down to more individuals and sectors, fostering a more inclusive and equitable distribution of wealth.

By consciously supporting local businesses, you become an active participant in the local economy, ensuring that your travel experiences have a positive impact. Take the time to explore local markets, dine at family-owned establishments, and choose locally-owned accommodations. Through these choices, you can help create sustainable and vibrant communities while gaining a richer and more authentic travel experience.

Respect the Local Culture and Traditions

When traveling, it is essential to respect the local culture and traditions of the places you visit. By being mindful and respectful of the customs and practices of the local community, you can foster cultural understanding, preserve the authenticity of the destination, and ensure positive interactions with locals. Here are some key considerations when it comes to respecting the local culture and traditions:

Do your research: Before visiting a new destination, take the time to learn about the local customs, traditions, and social norms. Familiarize yourself with any cultural practices or dress codes that may be different from your own. Understanding the cultural context will help you navigate the destination with sensitivity and respect.

Dress appropriately: Respect local dress codes, especially when visiting religious sites or conservative communities. Modest clothing is often required, which may include covering shoulders, chest, and legs. By dressing appropriately, you show respect for the local customs and avoid causing offense or discomfort.

Observe and follow local customs: Pay attention to local customs and norms and follow them accordingly. This can include practices such as removing shoes before entering someone’s home, greeting others in a specific manner, or refraining from public displays of affection. Being observant and respectful of these customs will help create positive interactions and show your appreciation for the local culture.

Ask for permission: When taking photographs, especially of people, always ask for permission first. Respect the privacy of individuals and sacred places. Some attractions or cultural sites may have specific rules about photography, so be sure to adhere to them.

Engage in cultural activities responsibly: Participate in cultural activities or performances with respect and sensitivity. Be mindful of the context and significance of the activity, and avoid supporting or participating in practices that exploit or misrepresent the local culture. Seek out authentic and ethical experiences that involve local communities and support their traditions in a sustainable and respectful manner.

Learn basic local phrases: Making an effort to learn a few basic phrases in the local language can go a long way. Even simple greetings or expressions of gratitude can demonstrate your respect for the local culture and make interactions more meaningful.

Show appreciation, not appropriation: Respect the difference between appreciating and appropriating the local culture. Appreciation involves understanding, learning from, and showing respect for the culture, while appropriation involves borrowing or adopting elements of a culture without proper understanding or respect. Avoid practices such as wearing traditional cultural attire as costumes or using sacred symbols without understanding their significance.

Listen and learn: Engage in conversations with locals and be open to learning from them. Ask questions, show genuine curiosity, and be respectful of their perspectives and experiences. Being a respectful traveler involves being open-minded and embracing opportunities to broaden your cultural understanding.

By respecting and embracing the local culture and traditions, you not only enhance your own travel experience but also contribute to the preservation and appreciation of the local heritage. Recognize that you are a guest in the destination and act with humility, showing respect for the uniqueness of the local culture and the individuals who call it home.

Be Mindful of the Environment

Being mindful of the environment is a crucial aspect of responsible tourism. By minimizing our environmental impact while traveling, we can help preserve the natural beauty and ecological balance of the destinations we visit. Here are some key considerations to be mindful of the environment:

Reduce waste: Reduce your waste generation by opting for reusable alternatives whenever possible. Carry a reusable water bottle, shopping bag, and utensils to avoid single-use plastics. Dispose of waste properly in designated recycling or compost bins and follow local waste management guidelines.

Conserve water and energy: Conserve precious resources by being mindful of your water and energy use. Take shorter showers, report leaks in accommodation facilities, turn off lights and air conditioning when leaving your room, and unplug electronic devices when not in use. Be aware of your consumption and strive to minimize your ecological footprint.

Respect wildlife: Observe wildlife in their natural habitats from a respectful distance. Do not feed, touch, or disrupt animals, as this can cause stress and harm to their behavior and well-being. Follow designated trails and adhere to guidelines for wildlife encounters to minimize your impact.

Choose eco-friendly transportation: Opt for eco-friendly transportation options whenever possible. Consider using public transportation, cycling, or walking to explore destinations. If you must use a vehicle, consider carpooling or renting fuel-efficient or electric vehicles. Additionally, offsetting your carbon emissions through recognized programs can help reduce your travel’s environmental impact.

Support sustainable tour operators: Choose tour operators or guides who prioritize sustainable practices and responsible wildlife encounters. Look for those who observe ethical guidelines, promote conservation efforts, and support local communities. Responsible operators will prioritize the well-being and preservation of the environment in their activities.

Leave nature as you found it: When hiking, camping, or engaging in outdoor activities, leave no trace. Respect natural areas by taking any waste or litter with you, sticking to designated trails, and refraining from disturbing plants or wildlife. Let the beauty of nature inspire you, but ensure it remains unspoiled for others to enjoy.

Support environmental initiatives: Seek out and support local environmental initiatives, whether it’s participating in beach clean-ups, volunteering for conservation organizations, or donating to local environmental projects. These efforts contribute directly to the preservation and restoration of natural landscapes and habitats.

Choose eco-friendly accommodations: Look for accommodations that prioritize sustainability. Choose establishments that implement energy and water conservation measures, utilize renewable energy sources, and have waste management and recycling programs in place. Eco-lodges, hotels with green certifications, or accommodations with eco-friendly initiatives are excellent choices.

By being mindful of the environment, we can leave a positive impact while exploring the world. Our actions as responsible travelers can contribute to the preservation of fragile ecosystems, protect wildlife, and ensure the longevity of the natural wonders that inspire us to travel. Together, we can make a difference in creating a more sustainable and harmonious relationship between tourism and the environment.

Engage in Community-Based Tourism

Engaging in community-based tourism is a meaningful way to connect with local communities, support their development, and promote sustainable and responsible travel. It involves actively participating in activities and initiatives that involve and benefit the local residents. Here are some reasons why community-based tourism is important and how you can engage in it:

Promoting Local Empowerment: Community-based tourism empowers local communities by providing them with economic opportunities and allowing them to take control of their own tourism development. By participating in community-led initiatives, you directly contribute to the well-being and economic growth of the local residents.

Cultural Exchange and Authentic Experiences: Engaging in community-based tourism allows for authentic cultural exchange. You will have the opportunity to interact with locals, participate in their daily activities, learn about their traditions, and gain a deeper understanding of their way of life. This cultural immersion provides a richer travel experience and fosters mutual respect and appreciation.

Preserving Cultural Heritage: Community-based tourism helps preserve cultural heritage by supporting the continuation of local crafts, performing arts, and traditional practices. By participating in activities such as traditional cooking classes, handicraft workshops, or guided village tours, you contribute to the preservation and promotion of these cultural traditions.

Supporting Sustainable Development: Community-based tourism often prioritizes sustainability and environmental stewardship. Initiatives may include sustainable farming practices, protection of local ecosystems, and the use of renewable energy sources. By engaging in these activities, you contribute to the conservation of natural resources and the protection of the environment.

Creating Economic Opportunities: By choosing community-based tourism, you support local businesses and artisans. Stay at locally-owned guesthouses or homestays, eat at local restaurants, and purchase locally-made crafts and products. This ensures that a larger share of the revenue generated from tourism stays within the community and benefits its members directly.

Participating in Volunteering and Skill-Sharing: Engaging in community-based tourism can also involve volunteering or skill-sharing opportunities. You can contribute your skills, knowledge, or time to community projects such as environmental conservation, education, or community development initiatives. This allows you to actively give back to the community and develop a deeper connection with the local residents.

Respecting Local Customs and Traditions: When engaging in community-based tourism, it is important to respect the local customs and traditions. Be open-minded, embrace cultural differences, and follow cultural protocols. Seek guidance from community leaders or guides to ensure that your participation is respectful and in line with local customs.

Remember, community-based tourism involves forming genuine connections and building relationships with the local community. Take the time to listen, learn, and understand the perspectives and aspirations of the community members. By engaging in community-based tourism, you contribute to the sustainable development and preservation of the local culture, heritage, and environment.

In conclusion, responsible tourism is crucial for preserving the destinations we love and ensuring their longevity for future generations. By understanding the negative impacts of tourism, such as overcrowding, environmental degradation, destruction of cultural heritage, and economic exploitation, we can make informed choices to minimize our contribution to these issues.

Choosing sustainable accommodation, supporting local businesses, respecting the local culture and traditions, being mindful of the environment, and engaging in community-based tourism are key ways to promote responsibility. These actions not only benefit the local community and environment but also enhance our own travel experiences by fostering authentic connections and preserving the cultural authenticity of the places we visit.

As responsible travelers, we have the power to make a positive impact. By supporting local initiatives, participating in sustainable activities, and embracing cultural diversity, we contribute to the preservation of our planet’s natural and cultural treasures.

Let us remember that responsible tourism is an ongoing commitment. It is about being mindful of our choices and continuously striving to minimize our negative impact while maximizing the positive contributions we can make. By practicing responsible tourism, we can ensure that our travels leave a legacy of sustainability, cultural preservation, and economic empowerment for the destinations and communities we encounter along the way.

• Privacy Overview
• Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

A Year Without Travel

For Planet Earth, No Tourism Is a Curse and a Blessing

From the rise in poaching to the waning of noise pollution, travel’s shutdown is having profound effects. Which will remain, and which will vanish?

By Lisa W. Foderaro

For the planet, the year without tourists was a curse and a blessing.

With flights canceled, cruise ships mothballed and vacations largely scrapped, carbon emissions plummeted. Wildlife that usually kept a low profile amid a crush of tourists in vacation hot spots suddenly emerged. And a lack of cruise ships in places like Alaska meant that humpback whales could hear each other’s calls without the din of engines.

That’s the good news. On the flip side, the disappearance of travelers wreaked its own strange havoc, not only on those who make their living in the tourism industry, but on wildlife itself, especially in developing countries. Many governments pay for conservation and enforcement through fees associated with tourism. As that revenue dried up, budgets were cut, resulting in increased poaching and illegal fishing in some areas. Illicit logging rose too, presenting a double-whammy for the environment. Because trees absorb and store carbon, cutting them down not only hurt wildlife habitats, but contributed to climate change.

“We have seen many financial hits to the protection of nature,” said Joe Walston, executive vice president of global conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “But even where that hasn’t happened, in a lot of places people haven’t been able to get into the field to do their jobs because of Covid.”

From the rise in rhino poaching in Botswana to the waning of noise pollution in Alaska, the lack of tourism has had a profound effect around the world. The question moving forward is which impacts will remain, and which will vanish, in the recovery.

A change in the air

While the pandemic’s impact on wildlife has varied widely from continent to continent, and country to country, its effect on air quality was felt more broadly.

In the United States, greenhouse gas emissions last year fell more than 10 percent , as state and local governments imposed lockdowns and people stayed home, according to a report in January by the Rhodium Group, a research and consulting firm.

The most dramatic results came from the transportation sector, which posted a 14.7 percent decrease. It’s impossible to tease out how much of that drop is from lost tourism versus business travel. And there is every expectation that as the pandemic loosens its grip, tourism will resume — likely with a vengeance.

Still, the pandemic helped push American emissions below 1990 levels for the first time. Globally, carbon dioxide emissions fell 7 percent , or 2.6 billion metric tons, according to new data from international climate researchers. In terms of output, that is about double the annual emissions of Japan.

“It’s a lot and it’s a little,” said Jason Smerdon, a climate scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory . “Historically, it’s a lot. It’s the largest single reduction percent-wise over the last 100 years. But when you think about the 7 percent in the context of what we need to do to mitigate climate change, it’s a little.”

In late 2019, the United Nations Environment Program cautioned that global greenhouse gases would need to drop 7.6 percent every year between 2020 and 2030. That would keep the world on its trajectory of meeting the temperature goals set under the Paris Agreement, the 2016 accord signed by nearly 200 nations.

“The 7 percent drop last year is on par with what we would need to do year after year,” Dr. Smerdon said. “Of course we wouldn’t want to do it the same way. A global pandemic and locking ourselves in our apartments is not the way to go about this.”

Interestingly, the drop in other types of air pollution during the pandemic muddied the climate picture. Industrial aerosols, made up of soot, sulfates, nitrates and mineral dust, reflect sunlight back into space, thus cooling the planet. While their reduction was good for respiratory health, it had the effect of offsetting some of the climate benefits of cascading carbon emissions.

For the climate activist Bill McKibben , one of the first to sound the alarm about global warming in his 1989 book, “The End of Nature,” the pandemic underscored that the climate crisis won’t be averted one plane ride or gallon of gas at a time.

“We’ve come through this pandemic year when our lives changed more than any of us imagined they ever would,” Mr. McKibben said during a Zoom webinar hosted in February by the nonprofit Green Mountain Club of Vermont.

“Everybody stopped flying; everybody stopped commuting,” he added. “Everybody just stayed at home. And emissions did go down, but they didn’t go down that much, maybe 10 percent with that incredible shift in our lifestyles. It means that most of the damage is located in the guts of our systems and we need to reach in and rip out the coal and gas and oil and stick in the efficiency, conservation and sun and wind.”

Wildlife regroups

Just as the impact of the pandemic on air quality is peppered with caveats, so too is its influence on wildlife.

Animals slithered, crawled and stomped out of hiding across the globe, sometimes in farcical fashion. Last spring, a herd of Great Orme Kashmiri goats was spotted ambling through empty streets in Llandudno, a coastal town in northern Wales. And hundreds of monkeys — normally fed by tourists — were involved in a disturbing brawl outside of Bangkok, apparently fighting over food scraps.

In meaningful ways, however, the pandemic revealed that wildlife will regroup if given the chance. In Thailand, where tourism plummeted after authorities banned international flights, leatherback turtles laid their eggs on the usually mobbed Phuket Beach. It was the first time nests were seen there in years, as the endangered sea turtles, the largest in the world, prefer to nest in seclusion.

Similarly, in Koh Samui, Thailand’s second largest island, hawksbill turtles took over beaches that in 2018 hosted nearly three million tourists. The hatchlings were documented emerging from their nests and furiously moving their flippers toward the sea.

For Petch Manopawitr, a marine conservation manager of the Wildlife Conservation Society Thailand, the sightings were proof that natural landscapes can recover quickly. “Both Ko Samui and Phuket have been overrun with tourists for so many years,” he said in a phone interview. “Many people had written off the turtles and thought they would not return. After Covid, there is talk about sustainability and how it needs to be embedded in tourism, and not just a niche market but all kinds of tourism.”

In addition to the sea turtles, elephants, leaf monkeys and dugongs (related to manatees) all made cameos in unlikely places in Thailand. “Dugongs are more visible because there is less boat traffic,” Mr. Manopawitr said. “The area that we were surprised to see dugongs was the eastern province of Bangkok. We didn’t know dugongs still existed there.”

He and other conservationists believe that countries in the cross hairs of international tourism need to mitigate the myriad effects on the natural world, from plastic pollution to trampled parks.

That message apparently reached the top levels of the Thai government. In September, the nation’s natural resources and environment minister, Varawut Silpa-archa, said he planned to shutter national parks in stages each year, from two to four months. The idea, he told Bloomberg News , is to set the stage so that “nature can rehabilitate itself.”

An increase in poaching

In other parts of Asia and across Africa, the disappearance of tourists has had nearly the opposite result. With safari tours scuttled and enforcement budgets decimated, poachers have plied their nefarious trade with impunity. At the same time, hungry villagers have streamed into protected areas to hunt and fish.

There were reports of increased poaching of leopards and tigers in India, an uptick in the smuggling of falcons in Pakistan, and a surge in trafficking of rhino horns in South Africa and Botswana.

Jim Sano, the World Wildlife Fund’s vice president for travel, tourism and conservation, said that in sub-Saharan Africa, the presence of tourists was a powerful deterrent. “It’s not only the game guards,” he said. “It’s the travelers wandering around with the guides that are omnipresent in these game areas. If the guides see poachers with automatic weapons, they report it.”

In the Republic of Congo, the Wildlife Conservation Society has noticed an increase in trapping and hunting in and around protected areas. Emma J. Stokes, regional director of the Central Africa program for the organization, said that in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, monkeys and forest antelopes were being targeted for bushmeat.

“It’s more expensive and difficult to get food during the pandemic and there is a lot of wildlife up there,” she said by phone. “We obviously want to deter people from hunting in the park, but we also have to understand what’s driving that because it’s more complex.”

The Society and the Congolese government jointly manage the park, which spans 1,544 square miles of lowland rainforest — larger than Rhode Island. Because of the virus, the government imposed a national lockdown, halting public transportation. But the organization was able to arrange rides to markets since the park is considered an essential service. “We have also kept all 300 of our park staff employed,” she added.

Largely absent: the whir of propellers, the hum of engines

While animals around the world were subject to rifles and snares during the pandemic, one thing was missing: noise. The whir of helicopters diminished as some air tours were suspended. And cruise ships from the Adriatic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico were largely absent. That meant marine mammals and fish had a break from the rumble of engines and propellers.

So did research scientists. Michelle Fournet is a marine ecologist who uses hydrophones (essentially aquatic microphones) to listen in on whales. Although the total number of cruise ships (a few hundred) pales in comparison to the total number of cargo ships (tens of thousands), Dr. Fournet says they have an outsize role in creating underwater racket. That is especially true in Alaska, a magnet for tourists in search of natural splendor.

“Cargo ships are trying to make the most efficient run from point A to point B and they are going across open ocean where any animal they encounter, they encounter for a matter of hours,” she said. “But when you think about the concentration of cruise ships along coastal areas, especially in southeast Alaska, you basically have five months of near-constant vessel noise. We have a population of whales listening to them all the time.”

Man-made noise during the pandemic dissipated in the waters near the capital of Juneau, as well as in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve . Dr. Fournet, a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell University, observed a threefold decrease in ambient noise in Glacier Bay between 2019 and 2020. “That’s a really big drop in noise,” she said, “and all of that is associated with the cessation of these cruise ships.”

Covid-19 opened a window onto whale sounds in Juneau as well. Last July, Dr. Fournet, who also directs the Sound Science Research Collective , a marine conservation nonprofit, had her team lower a hydrophone in the North Pass, a popular whale-watching destination. “In previous years,” she said, “you wouldn’t have been able to hear anything — just boats. This year we heard whales producing feeding calls, whales producing contact calls. We heard sound types that I have never heard before.”

Farther south in Puget Sound, near Seattle, whale-watching tours were down 75 percent last year. Tour operators like Jeff Friedman, owner of Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching , insist that their presence on the water benefits whales since the captains make recreational boaters aware of whale activity and radio them to slow down. Whale-watching companies also donate to conservation groups and report sightings to researchers.

“During the pandemic, there was a huge increase in the number of recreational boats out there,” said Mr. Friedman, who is also president of the Pacific Whale Watch Association . “It was similar to R.V.s. People decided to buy an R.V. or a boat. The majority of the time, boaters are not aware that the whales are present unless we let them know.”

Two years ago, in a move to protect Puget Sound’s tiny population of Southern Resident killer whales, which number just 75, Washington’s Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law reducing boat speeds to 7 knots within a half nautical mile of the whales and increasing a buffer zone around them, among other things.

Many cheered the protections. But environmental activists like Catherine W. Kilduff, a senior attorney in the oceans program at the Center for Biological Diversity, believe they did not go far enough. She wants the respite from noise that whales enjoyed during the pandemic to continue.

“The best tourism is whale-watching from shore,” she said.

Looking Ahead

Debates like this are likely to continue as the world emerges from the pandemic and leisure travel resumes. Already, conservationists and business leaders are sharing their visions for a more sustainable future.

Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines’ chief executive, last year laid out a plan to become carbon neutral by spending $1 billion over 10 years on an assortment of strategies. Only 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions are traced to aviation, but a 2019 study suggested that could triple by midcentury.

In the meantime, climate change activists are calling on the flying public to use their carbon budgets judiciously.

Tom L. Green, a senior climate policy adviser with the David Suzuki Foundation , an environmental organization in Canada, said tourists might consider booking a flight only once every few years, saving their carbon footprint (and money) for a special journey. “Instead of taking many short trips, we could occasionally go away for a month or more and really get to know a place,” he said.

For Mr. Walston of the Wildlife Conservation Society, tourists would be wise to put more effort into booking their next resort or cruise, looking at the operator’s commitment to sustainability.

“My hope is not that we stop traveling to some of these wonderful places, because they will continue to inspire us to conserve nature globally,” he said. “But I would encourage anyone to do their homework. Spend as much time choosing a tour group or guide as a restaurant. The important thing is to build back the kind of tourism that supports nature.”

Lisa W. Foderaro is a former reporter for The New York Times whose work has also appeared in National Geographic and Audubon Magazine.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.

Come Sail Away

Love them or hate them, cruises can provide a unique perspective on travel..

 Cruise Ship Surprises: Here are five unexpected features on ships , some of which you hopefully won’t discover on your own.

 Icon of the Seas: Our reporter joined thousands of passengers on the inaugural sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas . The most surprising thing she found? Some actual peace and quiet .

Th ree-Year Cruise, Unraveled:  The Life at Sea cruise was supposed to be the ultimate bucket-list experience : 382 port calls over 1,095 days. Here’s why  those who signed up are seeking fraud charges  instead.

TikTok’s Favorite New ‘Reality Show’:  People on social media have turned the unwitting passengers of a nine-month world cruise  into  “cast members”  overnight.

Dipping Their Toes: Younger generations of travelers are venturing onto ships for the first time . Many are saving money.

Cult Cruisers: These devoted cruise fanatics, most of them retirees, have one main goal: to almost never touch dry land .

What is overtourism and how can we overcome it? 

The issue of overtourism has become a major concern due to the surge in travel following the pandemic. Image:  Reuters/Manuel Silvestri (ITALY - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT)

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Joseph Martin Cheer

Marina novelli.

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Travel and Tourism is affecting economies, industries and global issues

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:, travel and tourism.

Listen to the article

• Overtourism has once again become a concern, particularly after the rebound of international travel post-pandemic.
• Communities in popular destinations worldwide have expressed concerns over excess tourism on their doorstep.
• Here we outline the complexities of overtourism and the possible measures that can be taken to address the problem.

The term ‘overtourism’ has re-emerged as tourism recovery has surged around the globe. But already in 2019, angst over excessive tourism growth was so high that the UN World Tourism Organization called for “such growth to be managed responsibly so as to best seize the opportunities tourism can generate for communities around the world”.

This was especially evident in cities like Barcelona, where anti-tourism sentiment built up in response to pent-up frustration about rapid and unyielding tourism growth. Similar local frustration emerged in other famous cities, including Amsterdam , Venice , London , Kyoto and Dubrovnik .

While the pandemic was expected to usher in a new normal where responsible and sustainable travel would emerge, this shift was evidently short-lived, as demand surged in 2022 and 2023 after travel restrictions eased.

Have you read?

Ten principles for sustainable destinations: charting a new path forward for travel and tourism.

This has been witnessed over the recent Northern Hemisphere summer season, during which popular destinations heaved under the pressure of pent-up post-pandemic demand , with grassroots communities articulating over-tourism concerns.

Concerns over excess tourism have not only been seen in popular cities but also on the islands of Hawaii and Greece , beaches in Spain , national parks in the United States and Africa , and places off the beaten track like Japan ’s less explored regions.

What is overtourism?

The term overtourism was employed by Freya Petersen in 2001, who lamented the excesses of tourism development and governance deficits in the city of Pompei. Her sentiments are increasingly familiar among tourists in other top tourism destinations more than 20 years later.

Overtourism is more than a journalistic device to arouse host community anxiety or demonize tourists through anti-tourism activism. It is also more than simply being a question of management – although poor or lax governance most definitely accentuates the problem.

Governments at all levels must be decisive and firm about policy responses that control the nature of tourist demand and not merely give in to profits that flow from tourist expenditure and investment.

Overtourism is often oversimplified as being a problem of too many tourists. While that may well be an underlying symptom of excess, it fails to acknowledge the myriad factors at play.

In its simplest iteration, overtourism results from tourist demand exceeding the carrying capacity of host communities in a destination. Too often, the tourism supply chain stimulates demand, giving little thought to the capacity of destinations and the ripple effects on the well-being of local communities.

Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon too. In China and India, two of the most populated countries where space is a premium, crowded places are socially accepted and overtourism concerns are rarely articulated, if at all. This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.

We also tend not to associate ‘overtourism’ with Africa . But uncontrolled growth in tourist numbers is unsustainable anywhere, whether in an ancient European city or the savannah of a sub-Saharan context.

Overtourism must also have cultural drivers that are intensified when tourists' culture is at odds with that of host communities – this might manifest as breaching of public norms, irritating habits, unacceptable behaviours , place-based displacement and inconsiderate occupation of space.

The issue also comes about when the economic drivers of tourism mean that those who stand to benefit from growth are instead those who pay the price of it, particularly where gentrification and capital accumulation driven from outside results in local resident displacement and marginalization.

Overcoming overtourism excesses

Radical policy measures that break the overtourism cycle are becoming more common. For example, Amsterdam has moved to ban cruise ships by closing the city’s cruise terminal.

Tourism degrowth has long been posited as a remedy to overtourism. While simply cutting back on tourist numbers seems like a logical response, whether the economic trade-offs of fewer tourists will be tolerated is another thing altogether.

The Spanish island of Lanzarote moved to desaturate the island by calling the industry to focus on quality tourism rather than quantity. This shift to quality, or higher yielding, tourists has been mirrored in many other destinations, like Bali , for example.

Dispersing tourists outside hotspots is commonly seen as a means of dealing with too much tourism. However, whether sufficient interest to go off the beaten track can be stimulated might be an immoveable constraint, or simply result in problem shifting .

Demarketing destinations has been applied with varying degrees of success. However, whether it can address the underlying factors in the long run is questioned, particularly as social media influencers and travel writers continue to give attention to touristic hotspots. In France, asking visitors to avoid Mont Saint-Michelle and instead recommending they go elsewhere is evidence of this.

Introducing entry fees and gates to over-tourist places like Venice is another deterrent. This assumes visitors won’t object to paying and that revenues generated are spent on finding solutions rather than getting lost in authorities’ consolidated revenue.

Advocacy and awareness campaigns against overtourism have also been prominent, but whether appeals to tourists asking them to curb irresponsible behaviours have had any impact remains questionable as incidents continue —for example, the Palau Pledge and New Zealand’s Tiaki Promise appeal for more responsible behaviours.

Curtailing the use of the word overtourism is also posited – in the interest of avoiding the rise of moral panics and the swell of anti-tourism social movements, but pretending the phenomenon does not exist, or dwelling on semantics won’t solve the problem .

Solutions to address overtourism

The solutions to dealing adequately with the effects of overtourism are likely to be many and varied and must be tailored to the unique, relevant destination .

The tourism supply chain must also bear its fair share of responsibility. While popular destinations are understandably an easier sell, redirecting tourism beyond popular honeypots like urban heritage sites or overcrowded beaches needs greater impetus to avoid shifting the problem elsewhere.

Local authorities must exercise policy measures that establish capacity limits, then ensure they are upheld, and if not, be held responsible for their inaction .

Meanwhile, tourists themselves should take responsibility for their behaviour and decisions while travelling, as this can make a big difference to the impact on local residents .

Those investing in tourism should support initiatives that elevate local priorities and needs, and not simply exercise a model of maximum extraction for shareholders in the supply chain.

How is the World Economic Forum supporting the development of cities and communities globally?

The Data for the City of Tomorrow report highlighted that in 2023, around 56% of the world is urbanized. Almost 65% of people use the internet. Soon, 75% of the world’s jobs will require digital skills.

The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation is at the forefront of advancing public-private collaboration in cities. It enables more resilient and future-ready communities and local economies through green initiatives and the ethical use of data.

Learn more about our impact:

• Net Zero Carbon Cities: Through this initiative, we are sharing more than 200 leading practices to promote sustainability and reducing emissions in urban settings and empower cities to take bold action towards achieving carbon neutrality .
• G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance: We are dedicated to establishing norms and policy standards for the safe and ethical use of data in smart cities , leading smart city governance initiatives in more than 36 cities around the world.
• Empowering Brazilian SMEs with IoT adoption : We are removing barriers to IoT adoption for small and medium-sized enterprises in Brazil – with participating companies seeing a 192% return on investment.
• IoT security: Our Council on the Connected World established IoT security requirements for consumer-facing devices . It engages over 100 organizations to safeguard consumers against cyber threats.
• Healthy Cities and Communities: Through partnerships in Jersey City and Austin, USA, as well as Mumbai, India, this initiative focuses on enhancing citizens' lives by promoting better nutritional choices, physical activity, and sanitation practices.

Want to know more about our centre’s impact or get involved? Contact us .

National tourist offices and destination management organizations must support development that is nuanced and in tune with the local backdrop rather than simply mimicking mass-produced products and experiences.

The way tourist experiences are developed and shaped must be transformed to move away from outright consumerist fantasies to responsible consumption .

The overtourism problem will be solved through a clear-headed, collaborative and case-specific assessment of the many drivers in action. Finally, ignoring historical precedents that have led to the current predicament of overtourism and pinning this on oversimplified prescriptions abandons any chance of more sustainable and equitable tourism futures .

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:

The agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;} weekly.

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

.chakra .wef-1dtnjt5{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;} More on Industries in Depth .chakra .wef-nr1rr4{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;white-space:normal;vertical-align:middle;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;border-radius:0.25rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;line-height:1.2;-webkit-letter-spacing:1.25px;-moz-letter-spacing:1.25px;-ms-letter-spacing:1.25px;letter-spacing:1.25px;background:none;padding:0px;color:#B3B3B3;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:0.875rem;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:1rem;}} See all

Robot rock stars, pocket forests, and the battle for chips - Forum podcasts you should hear this month

Robin Pomeroy and Linda Lacina

April 29, 2024

Agritech: Shaping Agriculture in Emerging Economies, Today and Tomorrow

Confused about AI? Here are the podcasts you need on artificial intelligence

Robin Pomeroy

April 25, 2024

Which technologies will enable a cleaner steel industry?

Daniel Boero Vargas and Mandy Chan

Industry government collaboration on agritech can empower global agriculture

Abhay Pareek and Drishti Kumar

April 23, 2024

Nearly 15% of the seafood we produce each year is wasted. Here’s what needs to happen

Charlotte Edmond

April 11, 2024

How can we stop overtourism from ruining the world's great cities and natural wonders?

Social Sharing

As a growing, global middle class gains increasing access to low-cost travel, residents in tourism hotspots, particularly in Europe and Asia, say they are overrun.

Housing costs are skyrocketing, driving out residents.

Infrastructure is overburdened.

The environment is suffering — and sometimes, residents say, so is local culture.

According to the United Nations, there were 1.3 billion international arrivals in 2017. Critics say that is already an unsustainable number.

[La Rambla] is now really kind of a no-go area for residents for about nine months of the year, because it's just so full of tourists. - Stephen Burgen

The Sunday Edition convened a panel on the subject of 'overtourism,' and while opinions varied, on one point there was unanimity: the way tourism is managed in much of the world needs to change, fast.

Barcelona is one city that's grappling with the implications of huge tourist numbers.

Stephen Burgen writes for The Guardian; he has lived in Barcelona for nearly two decades.

He told Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition, that when he first arrived in the city, there were fewer than 10 million annual visitors. Now, there are about 30 million tourists every year.

Burgen says certain areas, such as the famous La Rambla pedestrian boulevard, are clogged with tourists.  

"[La Rambla] is now really kind of a no-go area for residents for about nine months of the year, because it's just so full of tourists."

In those neighbourhoods, Burgen says, businesses that formerly served local residents, such as dry-cleaners, are being driven out due to high rent and replaced by tourist-oriented services like bicycle-rental shops and tapas bars.

He says short-term, apartment-rental agencies like Airbnb are driving up housing costs, meaning many locals can't afford to live in the city any longer.

Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism , says tourism is an immense, powerful industry that governments are struggling to regulate.

Supporters of tourism often point to the huge sums of money it can bring to local economies.

But Becker says the financial benefits aren't as large as people imagine.

Often, visitor dollars don't stay in the locale, but instead flow back to tourism operators based elsewhere.

When tourism creates jobs, they're often low-paying.

Cases where local politicians have figured out how to control the industry are rare.

"My favourite city example is Bordeaux, France, where a mayor reconfigured his city, thinking of tourism to benefit the people and to replace their old industry of shipping ... but did it in such a way that the money stayed in Bordeaux," Becker said.

We always say 'there is not overtourism, there is bad management. - Sandra Carvao, UNWTO

She says policy makers have to beware of too much "fly-by tourism," such as cruise ships, where visitors arrive at a destination, use the infrastructure but spend very little money locally, then leave.

Sandra Carvao works with the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and oversaw the recent report, " Overtourism?' Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth Beyond Perceptions ."

Carvao says much of the frustration associated with tourism in places like Barcelona has to do with how tourists congregate in specific areas.

"We always say 'there is not overtourism, there is bad management.' And that comes to the issue of concentration, because you probably have businesses three streets away which are not benefiting while you have others which might be overcrowded."

Carvao's report recommends that policy makers find ways to divert visitors from areas that are oversaturated, to places that have yet to significantly benefit from tourism dollars.

Click "listen," above, to hear the discussion. 

More from this episode

• Why did Ultima Thule fail to excite us the way space travel used to?: Michael's essay
• Why virtuoso violinist Leila Josefowicz champions the music of living composers
• In Quebec, family caregivers are demanding real change. They just might get it
• PERSONAL ESSAY Uncovering a family's hidden past
• Reading feminist classics in the wake of #MeToo to become a better man
• Early risers are not necessarily healthier, wealthier or wiser
• FULL EPISODE: The Sunday Edition for January 13, 2019

• Share on Facebook
• The Idea File

Mass Tourism Is Destroying the Planet

Dec 12, 2019 | 16 videos video by the atlantic.

Last year, 1.4 billion people traveled the world. That’s up from just 25 million in 1950. In China alone, overseas trips have risen from 10 million to 150 million in less than two decades.

This dramatic surge in mass tourism can be attributed to the emergence of the global middle class, and in some ways, it’s a good thing. But the consequences are grave—particularly for the planet. In a new episode of The Idea File , the staff writer Annie Lowrey explains how overtourism has contributed to large-scale environmental degradation, dangerous conditions, and the immiseration and pricing-out of locals.

“Tourists can alter the experience of visiting something such that they ruin the very experience that they’ve been trying to have,” Lowrey says in the video. “That’s the essential definition of overtourism.”

For more, read Lowrey’s article, “ Too Many People Want to Travel .”

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected].

Authors: Catherine Spangler , Vishakha Darbha , Jackie Lay

About this series.

Deconstructing the way we live, with The Atlantic's writers

Most Watched

• The Atlantic Selects

What Was Lost When SXSW Was Canceled

The next wave of climate refugees, the world’s tallest waterslide was a terrible, tragic idea, more in this series, the great giraffe illusion, the nuclear family wasn’t built to last, how cities became childless.

• Atlantic Documentaries

The Iguana King

A substance like nothing else on earth, a coronavirus prayer, the last true hermit was alone for 27 years, ‘my boyfriend died of covid-19’, ‘don’t let us die in here’.

• The Atlantic Argument
• Home School
• Visual Histories
• Atlantic Interviews
• You Are Here
• School Myths

The end of tourism?

The pandemic has devastated global tourism, and many will say ‘good riddance’ to overcrowded cities and rubbish-strewn natural wonders. Is there any way to reinvent an industry that does so much damage?

O f all the calamities that befell tourists as the coronavirus took hold, those involving cruise ships stood apart. Contagion at sea inspired a special horror, as pleasure palaces turned into prison hulks, and rumours of infection on board spread between fetid cabins via WhatsApp. Trapped in close proximity to their fellow passengers, holidaymakers experienced the distress of being both victims and agents of infection, as a succession of ports refused them entry.

When it began, the deadly situation at sea was seen as a freakish outgrowth of what many still thought of as a Chinese problem. The first ship to suffer a major outbreak was the Diamond Princess . By mid-February, 355 cases had been confirmed aboard, and the ship was held being in quarantine in the port of Yokohama. At the time, the ship accounted for more than half of reported cases outside China. Fourteen passengers on the Diamond Princess would die of the virus.

The nightmare at sea has not concluded. Even after passengers from more than 30 afflicted cruise ships were allowed to disembark, and flooded into hospitals, quarantine hotels or on to charter flights home, an estimated 100,000 crew and staff remained trapped at sea, some in quarantine, others blocked from disembarking until their employers could make onward travel arrangements. This second drama led to a mass hunger strike – by 15 Romanian crew in limbo off the coast of Florida – and a police intervention to quell disturbances on a ship quarantined in the German port of Cuxhaven. As recently as 1 June, crew and staff aboard 20-odd cruise ships marooned in Manila Bay were reportedly clamouring to be allowed ashore.

Cruises have become a symbol of the ravages that coronavirus has inflicted on tourism. A sector that until January was worth $150bn, by its own estimate, is shedding jobs, issuing debt and discounting furiously simply to survive. But even before the current crisis hit, cruising had become symptomatic of the damage that tourism wreaks on the world.

Tourism is an unusual industry in that the assets it monetises – a view, a reef, a cathedral – do not belong to it. The world’s dominant cruise companies – Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian – pay little towards the upkeep of the public goods they live off. By incorporating themselves in overseas tax havens with benign environmental and labour laws – respectively Panama, Liberia and Bermuda – cruising’s big three, which account for three-quarters of the industry, get to enjoy low taxes and avoid much irksome regulation, while polluting the air and sea, eroding coastlines and pouring tens of millions of people into picturesque ports of call that often cannot cope with them.

What goes for cruises goes for most of the travel industry. For decades, a small number of environmentally minded reformists in the sector have tried to develop sustainable tourism that creates enduring employment while minimising the damage it does. But most hotel groups, tour operators and national tourism authorities – whatever their stated commitment to sustainable tourism – continue to prioritise the economies of scale that inevitably lead to more tourists paying less money and heaping more pressure on those same assets. Before the pandemic, industry experts were forecasting that international arrivals would rise by between 3% and 4% in 2020. Chinese travellers, the largest and fastest-growing cohort in world tourism , were expected to make 160m trips abroad, a 27% increase on the 2015 figure .

The virus has given us a picture, at once frightening and beautiful, of a world without tourism. We see now what happens to our public goods when tourists aren’t clustering to exploit them. Shorelines enjoy a respite from the erosion caused by cruise ships the size of canyons. Walkers stuck at home cannot litter mountainsides. Intricate culinary cultures are no longer menaced by triangles of defrosted pizza. It is hard to imagine a better illustration of tourism’s effects than our current holiday away from it.

Coronavirus has also revealed the danger of overreliance on tourism, demonstrating in brutal fashion what happens when the industry supporting an entire community, at the expense of any other more sustainable activity, collapses. On 7 May, the UN World Tourism Organisation estimated that earnings from international tourism might be down 80% this year against last year’s figure of $1.7tn, and that 120m jobs could be lost. Since tourism relies on the same human mobility that spreads disease, and will be subject to the most stringent and lasting restrictions, it is likely to suffer more than almost any other economic activity.

As tourism’s impact on the world has deepened, so the global economy has come to depend on it. Now, after the freeze forced upon foreign travel – unimaginable even six months ago – we have a rare opportunity to extract ourselves from this destructive cycle, and do things differently.

T o accusations that it is spoiling the planet, the tourism industry responds with an economic argument: one in 10 jobs in the world depend on it. Governments tend to like tourism, because it creates jobs in the time it takes a hotel to open and the hot water to come on – and it brings in plenty of foreign money.

One industry advocate I spoke to quoted Lelei Lelaulu, a development entrepreneur who, in 2007, described tourism as “the largest voluntary transfer of cash from the rich to the poor, the ‘haves’ to ‘have nots’, in history”. Even if one allows for considerable “leakage” – whereby much of tourists’ expenditure doesn’t go to the destination country but to foreign tour agencies, airlines and hotel chains whose services they use – it cannot be denied that Australians have spent liberally in Bali, Americans in Cancún and Chinese in Bangkok.

At the end of January, when the flow of Chinese tourists to Europe dried up, Melissa Biggs Bradley – the founder of Indagare, a high-end US travel company, and a board member of the Center for Responsible Travel – was called by Italian colleagues who warned her: “Rome is empty. You have no idea how devastating this is going to be.” In those early days of the crisis, industry analysts reached for reassuring precedents. In 2009, international tourist arrivals fell by 4% as a result of the global financial crisis. The following year the industry roared back with 6.7% growth. After a series of terrorist attacks in Turkey in 2016, tourists stayed away, but Turkey’s loss was Spain’s gain , and the Costa Blanca experienced a surge in arrivals.

It soon became clear that such comparisons were little help in understanding a global disease without a cure. In late March, Bernstein, a leading research firm, sent a note to investors that replaced an earlier, merely gloomy assessment of the hotel industry’s prospects with a properly cataclysmic one. “Just two weeks ago we considered 80% revenue declines ‘highly unlikely’, and now adopt it as our base case,” the note ran. “How naive we were!” And that was before room occupation in Spain and Italy bottomed out at 5%.

Tourism accounts for around 15% of Spain’s GDP and some 13% of Italy’s. But painful though its loss is for the most diversified economies in southern Europe, it is life-threatening for tourism’s dependencies, such as the Maldives , where tourism contributes around a third of GDP, or for emerging destinations like Georgia, where visitor numbers have more than quadrupled in the past decade.

In April, Edmund Bartlett, the tourism minister of Jamaica – where the industry brings in more than 50% of the island’s foreign currency – bemoaned the fact that there had been “zero arrivals for Montego Bay’s airport, zero arrivals for Kingston’s airport and zero guests in hotels … on top of the 300,000 people who are without jobs because all of the transportation systems that support tourism are at a halt, [because] the farmers who support tourism have nowhere to sell their crops, [because] the attractions … are closed.”

For all the money the industry usually brings in, one of the prices of allowing a place to be taken over by tourism is the way it distorts local development. Farmers sell their land to the hotel chain, only for the price of crops they once grew to inflate beyond their reach. Water is diverted to the golf course while the locals go short. The road is paved as far as the theme park, not the school. In its subordination of an economy to a powerful, capricious, external motor, tourism dependency has something in common with the aid dependency that I observed as a reporter in Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. In both cases, the worst threat is the possibility of sudden withdrawal.

Biggs Bradley pointed to a number of “small, vulnerable” places that will be devastated, such as those islands in the Pacific that have recently become popular with diving tour operators. “They were opened up by the phenomenal rise in new air routes of recent years,” she said, only for the planes to stop arriving, leaving debt and unemployment behind.

Tsotne Japaridze, whose tour agency Traffic Travel organises adventure holidays in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, described the pain that the virus inflicted on his business and those who rely on it. Japaridze employs three people full-time, hires 15 guides and drivers during the summer season, and sends tour groups to 30-odd vineyards, guesthouses and private houses around the country. His company can be seen as a powerful core diffusing revenue that supports hundreds of people. At the start of the crisis, Japaridze put his employees on unpaid leave (“It was a difficult decision but I had no option,” he said). As tourism vanished, demand has exploded for services that do not require customers to leave their homes. One of Japaridze’s former guides, who used to take tour groups to the beautiful Svaneti region of Georgia, is now making ends meet by delivering food on his motorbike.

I f one danger of tourism dependency is that the tourists might suddenly stop arriving, a more common problem is overtourism – the saturation of a destination by visitors in numbers it cannot sustain. Near the peak of the pandemic, I spoke by Zoom to Jane da Mosto, whose NGO, We Are Here Venice , fights valiantly to keep the most noxiously over-touristed place on earth a tolerable place to live.

While chopping vegetables for the family supper, Da Mosto confessed to a certain unease at the juxtaposition of apocalypse in Italian hospitals and the scenes of serenity and quiet observable from her window. The bridges were empty and seahorses cavorted in the Grand Canal, while peddlers of phallic-shaped pasta had been replaced by boatmen delivering homemade tortellini to the city’s residents.

When Da Mosto moved out of view to attend to her potatoes, her place was occupied by her 19-year-old son, Pierangelo. From the day he first slid behind the wheel of his father’s boat, Pierangelo has lived for the water, and he feels queasy if obliged to sit in a car. He works as a carpenter and a restorer of the city’s famous keel-less boats, while also beetling about on an electric launch and showing tourists “Venice from a Venetian perspective”.

A Venetian who acknowledges the importance of tourism but longs to relax its grip, Pierangelo and his friends – designers, students, fellow carpenters – had been discussing life after the virus, when, with fewer visitors, they would be faced with a steep drop in income, and would be obliged to make up the shortfall by drumming up business from local residents.

And how, I asked, does he feel when he’s bobbing on the Giudecca Canal and turns to see a cruise ship bearing down on him?

“Small,” Pierangelo smiled. “Very small.”

Were it not for tourism, much of Venice’s Gothic fabric would have crumbled or been redeveloped years ago. But while the tourism industry provided much of the economic rationale for the preservation of the city’s architecture, power was handed to investors in hotels, restaurants and boats, many of them outsiders for whom Venice was simply a business opportunity. On 15 July 1989, the global music industry commandeered the city for a free concert, the memory of which vexes Venetians even now. As many as 200,000 people from all over Europe converged that day on the Piazza San Marco, the city’s spiritual and aesthetic core, some of them packed on to boats offshore, to see Pink Floyd on the final leg of their world tour.

Panicky city councillors argued almost until the opening note of Shine on You Crazy Diamond about whether the concert should go ahead. In the end, the band agreed to lower the decibels and shorten their playlist to fit global TV schedules (Italian national broadcaster Rai did very nicely), while shopkeepers around the square sold warm beer at triple the price to fans who discovered too late that the authorities hadn’t laid on a single toilet. The following morning, the famous old flagstones were covered by cans, cigarette butts and puddles of urine.

As an example of tourism squatting on the public good, an invasion of a medieval city centre by 200,000 people who pay no entry fee and leave the city to clear up their mess is hard to beat. One Italian TV report described the concert as a violation of human rights, “those of the invaders and those of the invaded”. So virulent was criticism of the city council that its members resigned en masse.

Long before the invasion by rock fans, residents had been deserting the city. Between 1950 and 2019, Venice’s population dropped from about 180,000 to nearer 50,000, while the number of annual visitors rose from 1 million to 30 million. According to Jan van der Borg, a tourism specialist who teaches at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University, and advises tourism authorities across Europe, this exceeds the city’s “carrying capacity”, the number it can accommodate without permanently damaging its infrastructure and way of life, by at least 10 million.

Whether it is a gondola owner who lives far away and deputes someone else to row tourists through the packed canals, or the budget airlines that deposit thousands of tourists every day in an area barely one and a half times the size of New York’s Central Park, in Da Mosto’s words, “a huge number of people live off Venice without living in it”.

And, says Van der Borg, the tourists are the wrong kind. Some 70% are day-trippers, who after being “spat from their tour buses, cruise ships and airplanes”, spend a few hours congesting the historic heart of Venice “but without contributing to its maintenance”. After parting with perhaps €15, enough to buy them a souvenir manufactured thousands of miles away, they are hurried by their guide on to their next destination.

According to the unapologetic elitism that informs the thinking of Van der Borg and other industry strategists, “high-impact, low-value” excursionists should be made less welcome than the affluent independent travellers who stay in a hotel, eat at neighbourhood restaurants and perhaps round off a day in the city’s lesser-known churches with a bellini at Harry’s Bar – like Truman Capote before them. At every step, runs this line of reasoning, “quality” tourists contribute to the city’s wellbeing through taxes, tips and human interaction.

So is the package holiday on the way out? According to a UK trend report by Abta in 2019, people considering their next holiday abroad were looking, above all, to spend less. If the budget holidaymaker is to be given a lukewarm welcome, British tourists have not got the hint.

I n the past 10 years, the curse of “Venetianisation” – the hollowing out of a place, as it fills with tourist-termites – has beset city after city, as budget airlines and Airbnb have brought a weekend somewhere cobbled within reach of millions. That hasn’t just meant long-established destinations such as Venice or Paris, but sleepy coastal towns such as Porto, on Portugal’s Atlantic coast, that were completely unprepared for the numbers of tourists unleashed on them.

The fightback can be dated to July 2015, when the city council in Barcelona – whose famous promenade, La Rambla, had been rendered all but impassable by the sheer number of tourists – introduced a moratorium on new hotels. The following year Airbnb was served a €600,000 fine for listing unlicensed properties – small beer for a company whose revenues from a single quarter have been known to exceed $1bn, but a sign of growing hostility towards an industry that could make a city unrecognisable to its residents in a short space of time.

Last year, the mayor of Dubrovnik – whose perfectly preserved old town was overrun by visitors after it featured in the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones – shut 80% of the souvenir stalls clogging up the city centre and imposed a quota on bus and cruise tourists. The Belgian canal city of Bruges recently moved to limit the number of cruise ships docking at any one time and halted all advertising aimed at daytrippers.

There is, of course, a financial cost to limiting tourism. As Fermín Villar, the president of the Friends of La Rambla, which represents the street’s residential and commercial interests, told the Guardian two years ago, “La Rambla is above all a business … every year more than 100 million people walk along this street. Imagine,” he enthused, “if each person spends only €1.” But mass tourism displaces other businesses, while the exodus of many creative and productive residents, as well as the stress placed on local infrastructure by visitors in such numbers, carry a cost of their own. Da Mosto told me that, in purely economic terms, Venice is a net loser from an industry that has set up shop on its premises and remits much of its revenues elsewhere.

Behind the recent campaigns against over-tourism lies a growing appreciation that public goods that were assumed to be endlessly exploitable are, in fact, both finite and have a value that the price of visiting them should reflect. “Polluter pays” is an economic principle that is gradually being introduced to farming, manufacturing and energy. The idea is that if your business produces harmful side effects, then you should be the one who picks up the tab for the cleanup operation. Something similar, incorporating not only environmental harm but also wider cultural degradation or damage to way of life, might become the guiding principle of a properly sustainable tourism industry. At present the focus is centred narrowly on tourism taxes, which aim to reduce the number of tourists while also bringing in more revenue. Modest though they remain – Amsterdam adds 7% to your room bill in addition to a flat €3 per person per night – they are the tentative beginnings of a trend towards controlling tourism and turning it to the locals’ advantage, rather than the other way around.

A certain nimbleness is required of companies that make money out of tourism but do not want to be seen as blind to its effects. The guide book publisher Fodor’s issues an annual “ no list ” of destinations that people should altruistically abstain from visiting. This year’s list features Easter Island and the Cambodian temple complex of Angkor Wat. Meanwhile Fodor’s also promotes “twenty-five places to see in the US before you die”. That list includes Big Sur, a stretch of Californian coastline that was recently festooned with a banner reading “Overtourism is killing Big Sur”.

G azing at the distant profile of Mount Kenya from lightly chlorinated water in the African bush might seem like a bearable way to sit out the crisis, but the infinity pool at the Loisaba tented camp, one of three safari lodges in a 23,000-hectare reserve of the same name, hasn’t seen a swimmer in months. Less than a month after flights into the country were suspended on 25 March, Loisaba’s CEO, a Kenyan veteran of bush tourism called Tom Silvester, told me that he had laid off 90 employees, “and with each job around here carrying up to 10 dependents, that’s a big impact”.

The damage done by the collapse of Kenya’s tourism industry, which is worth $1.6bn and employs 1.6 million people, is fearsome. After shuttering 24 properties across east Africa, Elewana, the hotel company that operates Loisaba’s three lodges, is drawing on cash reserves to support its 2,000-odd employees and their families. The website of another reserve, the Nashulai, is emblazoned with a plea for donations to combat starvation among the communities that rely on it.

While in many places getting rid of tourists may be the only way to restore a healthy natural world, in countries where the tourist industry focuses on the environment, the opposite may be true. When I suggested to Karim Wissanji, Elewana’s CEO, that the best way to conserve Africa’s wildlife might be for human beings to migrate to the cities and leave them in peace, he retorted: “The future of our wildlife and their habitats are intrinsically linked to the future of the safari adventure industry.”

Three-quarters of the 2 million foreign tourists who came to Kenya last year came for the wildlife. Were it not for tourism, many of the 160 private reserves that provide vital corridors for migrating animals and excess grazing capacity for the country’s national parks would revert to being hunting grounds or be turned over for agriculture, threatening one of the greatest concentrations of animal life in the world. Competition for grazing land, especially during times of drought, has intensified long-standing conflict between the needs of local communities and the region’s unique wildlife. As Paula Kahumbu, the CEO of conservation organisation Wildlife Direct, wrote in the Guardian, “most Kenyan youth see wildlife as irrelevant, something that benefits a few, rich visitors or white landowners”. In the wake of violent incursions on ranches and wildlife parks over the years, safari outfits have looked for ways to make tourism directly support the local population.

The loss of incomes caused by the pandemic might yet precipitate disaster. On 21 April, Conservation International, a US charity that protects areas of exceptional biodiversity, reported that there has been an “alarming rise in bushmeat and ivory poaching in Kenya”. Loisaba has only been able to maintain its anti-poaching patrols thanks to a donation from The Nature Conservancy, another charity that funds and gives scientific advice for conservation projects around the world.

Habitually operating at less than 40% occupancy, with just 48 beds to all those acres, you might think of Loisaba as a high-value, positive-impact answer to the daily disgorging of thousands of cruise passengers into Venice’s city centre. By paying $700 per day to enjoy the company of elephants, reticulated giraffes and an ark’s worth of other birds and mammals, Loisaba’s visitors are effectively paying to protect the wildlife from more intrusive human interventions. As Matthew Brown, The Nature Conservancy’s Africa director, put it, tourism that “tangibly contributes to conservation outcomes” is “the best way to finance biodiversity. Without it, the idea that one can protect animals and help local people quickly falls apart.”

For all the money that foreigners bring to Loisaba, the reserve lacks the diversity of clientele that is an ingredient of the most resilient tourist businesses. Bush tourism in general is attracting too few of Kenya’s growing middle class – while the high cost of living keeps many at home, those who do travel for holidays tend to head for the coast.

Being able to call on local customers would allow the country’s game reserves to recover faster once the current travel restrictions lapse – which will happen for African tourists sooner than for those coming from further afield. In April, Kenya’s tourism minister, Najib Balala, called for a “paradigm shift” in favour of the domestic and pan-African market. “It is no longer about waiting for international visitors to come in,” he said. “If we start now, in five years we will be resilient [in the face of] any shocks whatsoever, even travel advisories imposed by the western countries.”

Such a swift recovery is unlikely for the traditional stars of conservation tourism, the gorillas that are spread across national parks in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. After coming close to extinction in the 1980s, their numbers recovered thanks to an international rescue effort funded in part by blue-chip tourism. (Americans visitors to Rwanda spend an average of around $12,000 per trip.) In 2016, the Rwandan government doubled to $1,500 the fee that tourists must pay for a single hour with the coveted primates. This had the miraculous effect of upping revenues from $15m to $19m – some of this money goes to pay rangers and fund local welfare schemes – while also reducing the number of visitors who tramp through their habitat in the Volcanoes National Park, from 22,000 to 15,000 .

Now that the country’s borders are shut and rich foreign tourists won’t be back for months, a new conservation strategy will be needed. From an environmental point of view, the immediate peril is that the great apes catch coronavirus . The longer-term challenge is to protect them from a rise in poaching for gorilla meat, and from getting caught in snares laid for antelopes.

In June, Sheba Hanyurwa, who runs a tourism business across Uganda and Rwanda, told me that over recent years tourism revenues have allowed a certain economic diversification to take place. The relatively high salaries commanded by rangers and guides have enabled their communities to keep cows and chickens for their own needs. During the crisis, the governments of Uganda and Rwanda have maintained frequent patrols in their national parks – with greater success than the DRC, where 12 rangers were recently killed in the perennially unstable Virunga National Park. But, Hanyurwa told me, “hotel workers and porters have been laid off and people are hungry. The only livelihood here is from tourism and there won’t be any international tourists at least until next year.”

Covid-19 has exposed the flaw in the model of elite tourism with a conscience. There is no plan B.

N ot all nature-based tourism is good for the nature it is based on. As environmental awareness has grown, many businesses have adopted feel-good terms like “eco-friendly” and “green” – even though, in the words of one body that assesses tourism sustainability, “the experiences they sell are neither of these things”. Some travellers fail to notice that flying across the world to sit in a cabin sourced from illegally logged trees isn’t as eco-friendly as their Instagram feed makes out. Others balk at the cost of being good. According to a survey conducted by travel company Tui in 2017, while 84% of European holidaymakers consider it important to reduce their carbon footprint, only 11% are willing to shoulder the additional costs of a sustainable holiday over an ordinary one.

Among the nations that have, in recent years, tried to build up wildlife tourism is Indonesia, home to the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon. Last year, the government announced a plan to make the town of Labuan Bajo, which is currently the access point for Komodo national park’s numerous islands, into one of 10 major tourism destinations. Ominously, the government scheme is called “ 10 new Balis ”.

The idea isn’t to ease pressure on the over-touristed island of Bali, for which a major new airport is planned, but to emulate its success at attracting millions of tourists on cut-price holidays every year. In the process, Bali’s combination of heaving beaches, growing water shortages and mountains of rubbish may also be replicated at the 10 other destinations. “What was once a small fishing village is now supercharged with boom-town zeal and non-stop construction of restaurants and hotels,” reported a CNBC correspondent visiting Labuan Bajo in January.

Between 2008 and 2018, the annual number of visitors to Komodo national park increased from 44,000 to 176,000. One big attraction, apart from the nature itself, is the price. After your $50 flight from Bali lands at Labuan Bajo’s new airport, I was told by Glenn Wappett, a former British serviceman who skippers yachts around eastern Indonesia, “you can stay in a hostel and take a day boat to see the dragons and still get change from $100”. That includes the roughly $12 park entry fee. Lonely Planet named the island chain that includes Komodo its “best-value destination” for 2020. (That was before the guidebook publisher was hit by the global lockdown and suspended most of its commercial activities in April.)

Indonesia’s preference for mass over elite tourism has been guided by the addition of 2 million young people to the labour market each year. More tourists means more jobs. After all, even if their per-capita outlay is low, large numbers of visitors need more waiters, taxi drivers and marine guides than a handful of extravagant ones.

But as visitor numbers to the islands have risen, the dragon population has fallen . Mating practices were disrupted by tourists, while deer poaching depleted their main food source and logging destroyed their habitat. In 2018, Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat, the governor of the province of East Nusa Tenggara, in which the park lies, advocated increasing the entrance fee to $500 with the aim of attracting richer tourists, reducing visitor numbers and protecting the lizards. In March 2019, after smugglers stole more than 40 Komodo dragons, his administration went a step further and announced that the island of Komodo, home to around 1,700 giant lizards, would close for the whole of 2020 to allow the reptiles, the deer they feed on and their shared habitat, to recuperate.

But the governor’s attempts at conserving the region’s main attraction went down badly with many of the locals who make a living from tourism. “There was a huge backlash from dive companies, hotels and restaurants,” recalled Wappett. They demanded that tourists be allowed on Komodo, and in October, the national government overruled the governor and the plan was scrapped .

The virus is succeeding where the governor of East Nusa Tenggara failed. Entry to the Komodo National Park has been barred to all but the fishing communities that inhabit it. The dragons sup on venison and fish, which, according to Wappett’s friends in the area, have returned in spectacular numbers to these overvisited waters.

Still, it’s not hard to imagine what will happen once tourism becomes feasible again. On 14 April, Indonesia’s finance minister predicted that coronavirus, by freezing the tourist trade, could leave as many as 5.2 million Indonesians unemployed. Unless some alternative path for job creation can be found in the future, as soon as flights resume, tourists will be encouraged to return en masse and the dragons will once again come under threat.

O n 7 May, the UN World Tourism Organisation suggested that the coronavirus crisis would squeeze the industry so hard that progress towards making tourism sustainable – principally by reducing overcrowding and addressing climate change – would be not just halted but reversed. Indeed, since the start of the crisis, airlines and cruise companies have been lobbying hard for tax breaks and the lifting of environmental measures.

From the petrol and particulates that spew from jetskis to pesticides drenching the putting green, the holidaymaker’s every innocent pleasure seems like another blow to the poor old planet. Then there is the food left in the fridge and the chemicals used to launder the sheets after each single-night occupancy in one of Airbnb’s 7 million rental properties, and the carcinogenic fuel that is burned by cruise ships. And then there are the carbon emissions. “Tourism is significantly more carbon-intensive than other potential areas of economic development,” reported a recent study in the journal Nature Climate Change. Between 2009 and 2013, the industry’s global carbon footprint grew to about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the majority generated by air travel. “The rapid increase in tourism demand,” the study went on, “is effectively outstripping the decarbonisation of tourism-related technology”.

Destructive though it is, the virus has offered us the opportunity to imagine a different world – one in which we start decarbonising, and staying local. The absence of tourism has forced us to consider ways in which the industry can diversify, indigenise and reduce its dependency on the all-singing, all-dancing carbon disaster that is global aviation.

For Komodo in Indonesia the alternative ending involves fewer visitors paying more to visit the national park while the surrounding communities develop the fishing and textile industries that have kept them going for centuries. In Georgia’s Svaneti region, where the lure of tourist dollars has drawn people to abandon animal husbandry in favour of opening guesthouses and cafes, Tsotne Japaridze told me the crisis could be a “lesson not to forget their traditional means of making a living”.

More broadly, tourism must be valued not as a quickfire source of foreign exchange, but as an integrated part of a nation’s economy, subject to the same forward planning and cost-benefit analysis as any other sector. In places where tourism is too dominant, it needs to shrink. All this needs to happen in tandem with wider efforts to decarbonise society.

As an international industry, tourism means nothing less than the aggregate of activities that range from building airline engines at Rolls-Royce’s plant in Derbyshire to pulling pints in the Irish pub in Montego Bay. From this global perspective, it cannot easily be planned or controlled. Its natural bosses are municipal, provincial and national governments, and it is to these institutions that responsibility for reform now falls. Some have already begun. The council in Barcelona, for example, reclaimed parts of town that had been lost to holiday lets; the governor of East Nusa Tenggara tried to price the Komodo Dragon out of danger. Such instincts to tame tourism’s excesses through taxes and pricing need to be adopted everywhere. Tourism isn’t the right that many holidaymakers, whatever their budgets, seem to think it is. It’s a luxury that needs to pay its way.

• The long read
• Travel & leisure
• Coronavirus
• Airline industry
• City breaks

Most viewed

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

State of the World from NPR

• LISTEN & FOLLOW
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Amazon Music

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Tourism in Europe Recovers Causing Delight and Dismay

Miguel Macias

The front gate of San Isidoro School, in Barrio de Santa Cruz. Miguel Macias/NPR hide caption

The front gate of San Isidoro School, in Barrio de Santa Cruz.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, European cities experienced a dramatic drop in tourism. Now that visitors have returned in force, locals have mixed feelings. Many cities rely on tourism money, but throngs of people and the demand for short-term rentals can change the very places people are clamoring to visit. We hear about how Seville, Spain is experiencing that tension.

20 places around the world that are being ruined by tourism

• Tourists can make everyday life much harder for locals in cities all over the world. 
• Some tourists vandalize ancient monuments, like one traveler who carved his name into the Colosseum in Rome, Italy . 
• Cities often receive an influx of tourists during peak season, sometimes far more than their own population.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more.

It's no surprise that locals often get frustrated with tourists who visit their home city — sometimes tourists behave very poorly while traveling .

In fact, some cities have encountered so many problems with tourists that they've introduced caps on how many people can visit the city per day. Locals in other cities have even held protests against tourism in their hometowns.

Keep reading for 20 places that have been ruined by tourism.  

Kyoto, Japan

As tourism in Japan increases, small cities, like Kyoto, have been taking a hit . Kyoto quickly became famous for its small, quaint streets and its cozy teahouses. It's also known as the perfect place to spot a geisha and their apprentices. As a result, tourists have been flocking to the city to take pictures, invading private property and bothering the geishas. Some tourists even go as far as to chase the geishas and pull on their kimonos.

A local resident group in the city voted to charge tourists $92 if they are caught taking pictures of private property or of geishas without their permission. Locals will be enforcing the new rule until video surveillance is set up. 

Hallstatt, Austria

Located in the Austrian Alps, Hallstatt is a village of just 800 people , but every year, 1 million tourists flock to the quaint town. 

"We have a lot of short-term visitors who swamp the place, and then leave after two or three hours," a local resident told the BBC. "That isn't good for the people who live here."

When Insider reporter Rachel Hosie visited, she noticed how the selfie-obsessed tourists are ruining the village . While walking around, Hosie saw some private residences were roped off because tourists would go onto private property to get the perfect photo.

"Despite the adorable buildings and natural scenery of Hallstatt, I found it hard to enjoy it," Hosie wrote. "I found myself craving space, peace, and quiet, and was desperate to find somewhere not rammed with people. My time in Hallstatt left me feeling conflicted. It's an incredible place, but I left thinking it had been ruined by everyone taking photos."

Hallstatt's government said it will be reducing the number of buses that come into the village to curb tourism.

Hanoi's "train street," Vietnam

A street in Hanoi, Vietnam, has become popular among tourists in recent years as a place to get the perfect selfie for Instagram. The famous street —  dubbed "train street" — has a single railroad track with shops and cafes that sit dangerously close to the tracks. 

Built in 1902, the unique neighborhood was once known as the "rough part of town," but social media turned the area into a tourist attraction. Businesses benefited from tourists who wanted to take selfies on the railroad tracks. 

In October 2019, a train had to make an emergency stop because too many tourists were on the tracks and would not move. As a result, the Hanoi municipal government is forcing the local businesses to close by October 12. 

"Though the railway cafes attract tourists, they are, in fact, violating some regulations," Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Ha Van Sieu said.

Spanish Steps, Rome

The Spanish Steps in Rome were made famous in 1953 after they appeared in the Audrey Hepburn rom-com "Roman Holiday." Since then, tourists have been flocking to the famous staircase outside of Piazza di Spagna .

As a result, the 135 stone steps are now dirty with red wine stains and lumps of chewing gum. In 2016, the city spent $1.68 million to clean and restore the steps. Now, the Italian government has made it illegal to sit on them altogether . Visitors who sit on the steps can be fined $280 to $448. 

Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, Iceland

Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon in Iceland was featured in a recent Justin Bieber music video , and made appearances in the most recent seasons of "Game of Thrones." The canyon's cameos in pop culture have made it a popular travel destination for tourists, but the influx of travelers to the site has badly damaged it, prompting a visitors ban.

The Environment Agency of Iceland reports that about one million people have visited the site since Bieber's video was released in 2015. They expect even more now that " Game of Thrones " has come to an end, despite the ban recently implemented by environmentalists, which hasn't discouraged visitors from going. According to the AP, visitors have snuck in overnight.

Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam

In the center of Amsterdam, you can find the Bloemenmarkt, a collection of flower shops that sit atop floating barges. The popular attraction is now closing due to over tourism . 

The market dates back to a time when the shops would receive their flower shipments directly on the canal and sell them right on the barges, but now most of the shops have been turned into cheap souvenir stalls.

Michael Saarlos, the last of Bloemenmarkt's florists , said it's because large tourist groups stop to take pictures in front of the shops, blocking locals from buying flowers. 

"I have had enough of all the tourists who ruin my trade," Saarlos told Dutch newspaper De Trouw . "If they are here with a group, I can no longer see my own customers."

This year, 18.5 million people are expected to visit Amsterdam, and that number is predicted to jump to 23 million by 2025.

Komodo Islands, Indonesia

Komodo Island in Indonesia announced in April that it will close the island to tourists for a year because of the dwindling Komodo Dragon population. The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry said it caught smugglers trying to sell 41 Komodo Dragons on the black market for $35,000 each. 

The island is home to 1,800 Komodo Dragons, which is the largest living lizard, weighing in at 200 pounds and up to 10 feet long . 

During the year of closure, conservationists will monitor the habitat and ensure that the reptiles have enough food and a healthy natural environment. The goal is to increase the Komodo Dragon population. 

Venice, Italy

Venice is already known to be sinking , and the masses of tourists that visit the city every year certainly aren't helping.

Locals have complained that tourism, including cruise ships, is responsible for increased pollution in the city , and  the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is concerned about the impact it has on Venice's many historical sites.

Venice has implemented strict rules regarding tourism: littering, engaging in horseplay, not wearing a shirt in public, leaving love locks, and writing on or damaging trees or buildings are all fineable offenses in the city. According to CNN, the city is even limiting  the number of new hotel rooms .

Dubrovnik, Croatia

In part due to the popularity of HBO's "Game of Thrones," Dubrovnik, Croatia, has seen a significant increase in tourism in recent years. The coastal city that is frequently seen on the show experienced a 10% rise in tourism in 2015 due to "Game of Thrones," according to Dubrovnik's mayor. 

The city hasn't been able to handle to recent influx of tourists, however. In August 2017, Dubrovnik's mayor announced plans to reduce the maximum number of tourists allowed in the city per day from 8,000 to 4,000 over the next two years. 

Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland, is a popular vacation destination , especially given recent airfare deals. However, the entire country has been overwhelmed with tourists in recent years.

In 2015, 1.26 million people visited Iceland, compared to the country's population that year of approximately 330,000 . In 2016, the number of American tourists alone will be greater than the number of locals.

A local politician recently complained about the number of tourists, comparing the island country to Disneyland . While tourism has given the economy a much-needed boost post-recession, it's bad news for local infrastructure ( there's construction everywhere ), and it has pushed local prices sky-high.

Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico, is a beautiful island surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. It's also the second most popular cruise ship destination in the world, according to the BBC.  

Coral reefs surround the island, although significant amounts of coral have been destroyed by boats and scuba divers. The remaining reefs have also been damaged by pollution from heavy boat traffic.

Barcelona, Spain

Locals in Barcelona aren't shy about their disdain for tourists. Earlier this year, a protest against tourism in the city turned violent when protesters attacked a tour bus and hotel. 

Popular attractions have even changed their rules as a result of tourist activity. La Boqueria, a large public market, banned tourist groups of more than 15 people in 2015 . Before the ban, large groups of vacationers often blocked foot traffic while taking photographs, causing disruption for vendors and regular customers, according to The Telegraph.

New York, New York

New York City has been a popular vacation destination for years, although the tourism industry is only growing.

The New York Times reported earlier this year that the city currently has 113,000 hotel rooms, although that number is expected to rise to 137,000 by 2019. 

From the ever-growing hotel market to the influx of trendy, Instagram-worthy foods that tourists wait in line for hours to try, some would argue that the tourists have taken over in New York City. 

Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru

The ancient Inca village of Machu Picchu attracts thousands of visitors daily — far more than the 2,500 limit set by Peru and UNESCO in 2011. However, this massive influx of tourists is putting the site in danger, causing irreparable damage.

Plans requiring tourists to hire guides and follow specific paths are in the works, and should be implemented by 2019.

Santorini, Greece

Santorini is a beautiful island off the coast of Greece, although it's often packed with tourists during the summer. 

In fact, due to the seasonal influx of tourists, the island imposed a cap on visitors from cruise ships to 8,000 per day. A whopping 790,000 people from 636 cruise ships visited Santorini in 2015, according to Conde Nast Traveler,  while the entire island only has a population of just over 15,000.

Rome, Italy

Rome is a beautiful city full of ancient ruins, but too many tourists fail to respect their history.

The latest example of tourists ruining a Roman monument occurred in August 2017, when a tourist from Ecuador was caught carving his family's names into the Colosseum . He faced fines up to $23,000 for vandalizing the 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheater. 

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is another city that is popular among partying tourists because of its lively bar scene and cheap beer. 

Rowdy tourists have gotten so out of control that local officials had to step in to enforce a city-wide "night quiet time" at 10:00 p.m. according to CNN.

Big Major Cay Island, Bahamas

The adorable swimming pigs of Big Major Cay Island in the Bahamas   have been dying in large numbers   because tourists have been feeding them on the beach, causing them to ingest too much sand.

The fact that rowdy tourists regularly  feed them beer and rum, and even try to ride them, doesn't help matters.  The pigs' owners are now working with the government to implement regulations.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam has long been a popular vacation destination for party-loving travelers, but  chief marketing executive of Amsterdam, Frans van der Avert, told Travel Weekly , "A lot of smaller historic cities in Europe are getting destroyed by visitors."

Vacation rental sites, like Airbnb, have had negative effects on the city, according to van der Avert, who said that vacation rentals have taken over the city's canal district.

In response to a rise in tourism, the city has put restrictions on Airbnb in place so that a rental listing cannot have more than four people at a time, and cannot rent apartments for more than 60 days a year. 

According to the New York Times , a record number of 3.5 million visitors last year has led to a food shortage for locals, who are also unable to pay for many basic items, which have skyrocketed in price as hotels stock up on them.

The Cuban government has since imposed price caps on necessities to keep them affordable for locals.

Sign up  here  to get INSIDER's top travel stories straight to your inbox every week.

• Main content

Does tourism really suffer at sites listed as World Heritage In Danger?

PhD candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University

Disclosure statement

Jon C. Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

James Cook University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

In 2014, 1.88 million tourists visited the Great Barrier Reef, bringing an estimated A$5.17 billion into Australia’s economy and helping to employ some 64,300 tourism workers .

With those numbers, it’s easy to see how threats to the Reef’s future, such as the recent mass bleaching event , are confronting for the tourism sector. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many tourism operators have chosen to remain quiet about their concerns or downplay the issue , fearful that mentioning the threats would turn tourists away.

The federal environment department evidently felt the same way, judging by its request that all references to Australian World Heritage sites, including the Reef, be removed from a UNESCO report on climate change and World Heritage tourism .

But does this reasoning stack up? Three other famous tourist destinations have also been in the spotlight of the World Heritage Committee, with little indication that this has turned visitors away.

Galápagos Islands

Galápagos was listed as World Heritage In Danger from 2007-10 , primarily because of the impacts of tourism, and was taken off again once the World Heritage Committee was satisfied that its concerns had been addressed. The area is now facing other issues , including biosecurity, sustainable development and fishing, but Galápagos tourism continues to grow, as shown in the graph below, with almost 225,000 visits in 2015.

Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park was listed as World Heritage In Danger in 1993, and remains on the list today (although it was briefly taken off in 2008 before being reinstated in 2010). Annual visitor numbers have fluctuated around the 1 million mark, although official figures count only those who pass through the park’s entrance stations, and many more people enter through the miles of surrounding waters.

Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

Belize’s reefs have been on the World Heritage In Danger list since 2009, due to a range of issues including invasive species, oil and gas exploitation, and inappropriate visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure. Tourist numbers recently reached a high of 968,131 cruise arrivals in 2014.

What can we learn from these numbers?

The first thing to note is that the Great Barrier Reef has, to date, avoided being listed as World Heritage In Danger, thanks to last year’s successful campaign by the federal and Queensland governments – although there is no guarantee it will not be added in the future.

But what do the statistics above tell us about what happens to tourism numbers when World Heritage sites are officially listed as “In Danger”?

Galápagos suffered a very slight downturn in tourism after it was added to the In Danger list in 2007, but since then tourism has continued to grow, and today numbers are higher than they have ever been.

In Belize, tourism has fluctuated since the site was listed as World Heritage In Danger in 2009, but here too, tourist numbers today are at record highs despite the fact that these reefs remain on the In Danger list.

Finally to the Everglades, which has been placed on the World Heritage In Danger list twice – both times at the request of the US government . This shows that, while sites can be taken off the list if their prospects improve, not all governments think that an In Danger listing is itself a bad thing. Certainly, Everglades tourism numbers do not seem to have suffered since it was placed back on the list in 2010.

Why did the United States lobby to have the Everglades officially described as In Danger, while Australia fought to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the list? As Carol Mitchell , Deputy Director of the South Florida Natural Sciences Center, has explained, the In Danger listing makes it clear to the national and international community that the Everglades still needs attention. Mitchell wrote to me:

It helps to keep some external pressure on both the federal and Florida state governments in their efforts to restore the park … both governments are strongly committed to Everglades restoration; nevertheless … the ability to call upon important, very visible international designations … does help to maintain those commitments.

Tourists already know the Great Barrier Reef is threatened

Despite what the Australian government and many tourism operators would like to believe, the threats to the Great Barrier Reef are already widely known, because they have drawn global media attention.

How this translates into the perceptions of prospective tourists in not yet clear. But the indications from elsewhere around the world is that In Danger listing does not have a significant impact on tourism, and presumably we could say the same about inclusion in documents such as UNESCO’s tourism report.

Many other factors are far more important to tourists, including the economic situation, access, weather events, service quality and, importantly, a site’s relative quality compared to alternative destinations.

Tourism operators are increasingly recognising that the Great Barrier Reef faces myriad threats , and that its outlook is poor. Many people agree with Tony Fontes, a dive operator from the Whitsunday Islands, who previously told me that an In Danger listing “might actually be the catalyst to ensure the GBR is properly protected”.

Recently, other GBR tourism operators have spoken out about the worst crisis ever faced by the GBR, with some 200 businesses and individuals pleading with the government to tackle climate change and the many other threats that together threaten the Reef’s future.

What needs to be done?

Ignoring the indisputable fact that the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem is under unprecedented pressures will help neither tourism nor the environment in the long term. A more effective strategy would be for the relevant agencies and operators alike to create realistic expectations, and responsibly inform tourists of the real situation.

University of Queensland professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg has summed up the situation :

The reef is in dire trouble, but it’s decades away before it’s no longer worth visiting. That’s the truth. But unless we wake up and deal with climate change sincerely and deeply then we really will have a Great Barrier Reef not worth visiting.

Australia has an international obligation to safeguard the Great Barrier Reef for future generations. As a relatively rich country, Australia needs to show global leadership, but this will require more government assistance , leadership from industry and, crucially, widespread public support for action. If reef tourists from around the world know the real situation, they might be able to help too.

• Great Barrier Reef
• Galapagos Islands
• UNESCO World Heritage sites

Events and Communications Coordinator

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Earth System Science (School of Science)

Sydney Horizon Educators (Identified)

15 Travel Destinations Being Ruined by Tourism

• SUNY Oswego
• University of Houston

Aaron Black / Getty Images

• Sustainable Fashion
• Art & Media

Travel provides folks with the opportunity to discover new places, experience different cultures, and learn about the great wonders of the natural world. While tourism can be positive for some in the local economy, it isn't always beneficial to the environment or local residents. Unfortunately, many of the most beautiful places in the world are being marred by too many visitors.

Here are 15 places around the world that are being threatened by tourism.

Machu Picchu

Kelly Cheng Travel Photography / Getty Images

Perched high in the Andes Mountains of Peru, these Incan ruins remained relatively unknown to outsiders until 1911 when archaeologist and explorer Hiram Bingham was led there by local Quechuas. Since then, hundreds of thousands of tourists have flocked to Machu Picchu every year, threatening the fortitude of the ancient site. In January 2020, for instance, the Peruvian government deported several tourists who had snuck onto the grounds and caused damage to the stone wall of the Temple of the Sun. UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, has issued repeated warnings of the ongoing threat posed to Machu Picchu by tourism.

Teotihuacan

Anuska Sampedro / Getty Images

Constructed between the first and seventh centuries CE, the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan is a spectacular display of Mesoamerican civilization that sits just northeast of Mexico City. The remarkable ancient city and the structures found there, like the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon and the Temple of the Plumed Serpent, are under constant threat of urban development encroaching ever closer to the site. 

Malcolm P Chapman / Getty Images

The massive Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia contains the remains of the Khmer Empire, including the iconic Angkor Wat temple, and has been under threat since opening up to tourism in the 1990s. One significant issue created by the influx of tourists involves the tremendous amount of strain put on the local water supply. Due to these shortages and the resulting tapping of groundwater to make up for the losses, the water table in the area has dropped to dangerous levels. In turn, this has caused the soil on which these ancient temples stand to begin to sink.

Beachmite Photography / Getty Images

Stonehenge, the famous Neolithic arrangement of stones in southern England, receives more than one million visitors per year. The roughly 5,000-year-old monument is situated amid bucolic rolling hills that might inspire tranquility, if not for the loud and often-congested two-lane highway that runs near the site. To remedy this, a proposal was approved in 2020 to replace the problematic section of road with a tunnel that would carry passengers underneath the grounds. Many archaeologists, as well as UNESCO’s world heritage committee , however, have expressed serious concern that the tunnel’s construction would destroy millions of artifacts in the soil that have yet to be discovered.

Mount Everest

Westend61 / Getty Images

The 29,032-foot-tall Mount Everest on the border of Nepal and China was first summited in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Since then, adventure-seekers have reached the mountain’s peak with ever-increasing frequency, with many more (500 per day during peak season) ascending to the mountain’s Base Camp. As a result of this influx of tourists, Mount Everest has become riddled with trash and its footpaths have begun to erode. In 2019, 24,000 pounds of trash were removed from the site, but the root cause of the problem persists.

Tony Shi Photography / Getty Images

Built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife, the Taj Mahal is considered one of the premier architectural wonders in the Indo-Islamic cultural sphere. The white marble mausoleum has attracted more and more tourists each year, with several million visiting per year. To limit any potential damage to the site by the large, daily crowds, UNESCO has proposed that an “Integrated Management plan is necessary to ensure that the property maintains the existing conditions.”

Ngorongoro Crater

Abdelrahman Hassanein / Getty Images

The Ngorongoro Crater in the United Republic of Tanzania is one of Africa's great natural treasures. Known for being the biggest, unbroken caldera, or volcanic crater, in the world, the Ngorongoro Crater is home to many endangered species, like the black rhino , and archaeologists have discovered much about human evolution from evidence found beneath its soil. Unfortunately, the rapid increase in tourism to the crater is placing severe pressure on the infrastructure needed to support such numbers. Further construction of roads and accommodations for tourism pose threats to the crater’s natural state and the wildlife that live within it.

Blaine Harrington III / Getty Images

Venice, Italy—the romantic, ancient city built on water—is home to some of the most impactful architecture and culture in all of the world, but the large number of visitors who travel there are threatening its very survival. While only around 50,000 people live year-round in the historical city of Venice as of 2021, roughly 30 million tourists fill its buildings and canals each year. The disproportionate number of residents versus tourists has caused many Venetians to be displaced from their homes in favor of commercial interests, which, apart from the personal human impact, fundamentally alters the culture of the place.

The Galapagos Islands

Markus Gebauer Photography / Getty Images

The 21 islands of the Galapagos, made famous by Charles Darwin for his study of the endemic species there, are under threat from overtourism. Large cruise ships bring more than 150,000 tourists to the Ecuadorian islands each year, and they frequently contaminate the seawater with engine oil. New high rise buildings, hotels, and restaurants have been built in Puerto Ayora, the most populated town on the islands, to support the lucrative tourism industry. One conservation plan aimed at reducing tourism includes allowing only small cruise ships into harbor. Another plan hopes to achieve the same goal by doubling the fee to Galapagos National Park.

Andrew Peacock / Getty Images

Although Antarctica is the least visited continent in the world, its fragile ecosystem makes tourism there all the more impactful. Each austral summer season (November to February), tens of thousands of visitors flock to its icy shores on large cruise vessels. Tourists seeking to get the most out of their experience often visit the most dramatic landscapes with a high density of animal life. Some penguin species , like the Adélie penguin, become frightened of the large crowds of people and are forced to migrate away from their preferred nesting grounds.

Paul Souders / Getty Images

The 580-square-mile Masai Mara game reserve in Narok, Kenya is known the world over for its extraordinary wildlife population—from leopards and lions to ostriches and African wild dogs . The reserve is also notable for the Great Migration that takes place within its borders and includes millions of Thomson’s gazelles, blue wildebeest, topi, Grant’s zebras, and common elands. However, an increase in tourism to Masai Mari is dramatically impacting the land and the animals that live on it. Hordes of tourist-filled jeeps on safari startle, and even chase, wildlife through the Serengeti for just a glimpse of an animal. The increasing crowds have also built up demand for more lodging, which presents its own set of problems with roads and construction that disrupt the natural cycle of life on the reserve.

Phi Phi Islands

Fabio Achilli / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

The beautiful Phi Phi islands in Thailand were made famous by the 2000 film “The Beach,” but the spike in tourism that followed has damaged the delicate ecosystem there. In a place that is ostensibly popular for its natural beauty, tourists are welcomed to the Phi Phi Islands by dozens of hotels, a strip of shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. Maya Bay, where filming for “The Beach” took place, was receiving 5,000 tourists per day for swimming, snorkeling, and boating. As of 2018, however, Maya Bay has been closed off to tourists entirely in an effort to repair its fragile ecosystem.

Thank You (21 Millions+) views / Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Known for its scenic beaches and vibrant nightlife, the 250-square-mile island of Cozumel off the coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula has long been a popular tourist destination. Although a boon for the local economy, the millions of visitors who flock to the Caribbean island each year have begun to negatively impact its environment. The large number of ships and boats that crowd Cozumel’s waters create underwater noise that scares off the very creatures divers hope to see. Coral reefs are also under grave threat from overtourism, although groups like the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative have worked to mitigate the damage through extensive education efforts.