Destinations at the Limit

Overtourism is one of the watchwords of the moment, recently added to dictionaries and increasingly present in the media and in public and policy debates, not least at the G7 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting held in Florence last fall. A word of recent coinage to describe a well-known phenomenon, namely the negative impact that an excessive number of visitors can have on a destination.

Although it has been a known problem for decades, in recent years it has taken global dimensions, attracting the attention of researchers, politicians and the media as the result of a combination of factors that are creating a "perfect storm". The continued expansion of the global middle class generated 1.5 billion international arrivals in 2024 and the number of 2 billion is expected to be attained by 2030. The reduction in travel costs and the increase in direct connections, also thanks to low-cost airlines, and the spread of platforms for hospitality and short-term tourist rentals have made a greater number of trips per capita possible, but also favored short stays and quick visits. Furthermore, direct access to information and the influence of social media have exponentially promoted iconic destinations, creating a wish list that tourists feel the need to complete. In some territories, the combination of these phenomena has led to uncontrolled developments, with local infrastructure and resources that often cannot keep up with demand from visitors.

This is why translating overtourism as simply overcrowding is reductive. Discomfort, environmental and cultural degradation, loss of authenticity, impacts on host communities are just some of the well-known impacts the word overtourism is associated with. Recent research highlights the fact that overtourism occurs when various thresholds of the carrying capacity of a territory are exceeded, including political or administrative capacity. This aspect is interesting because it brings the issue of destination management and the effects of tourism to the center of the debate on cities and their policies. It is a fact that many destinations continue to promote tourism without simultaneously adopting adequate measures to manage tourist flows.

To effectively address the problem of overtourism, however, it is essential that the public debate goes beyond the simple dramatization of the phenomenon. Focusing exclusively on the negative effects risks yielding an unbalanced vision, which does not acknowledge the role that tourism can be a part of the solution, not just the source of the problem. A more constructive approach would be to enhance the efforts that many destinations are already making to manage tourist flows in a sustainable way, aware of the significant economic benefits and in terms of social and cultural exchange that the sector brings. In many destinations, local administrations, industry operators and various stakeholders are adopting innovative measures to mitigate the impact of tourism, by balancing the sometime diverging needs of residents, visitors and local communities. Ignoring these policy advances while demonizing tourism as the sole cause of all cities' problems is not very productive.

It is desirable that tourist destinations adopt a mix of tools acting on at least three main fronts: prevention, management, and promotion of sustainable practices. This implies the implementation of regulatory measures, even restrictive measures in some cases, the use of innovative solutions for the management of flows supported by technological advances, and an adequate strategy for promoting places and events. The goal is to balance two central aspects of the problem: reducing the excessive concentration of tourist flows and the overcoming of existing positions of rent that do not favor innovation and quality of the hospitality offer.

Overtourism is therefore not just a question of numbers, but also of sustainable management. For a long time, the metric of success for a tourism destination was the number of visitors, but now it has become clear that it is necessary to rethink this. Losing the challenge of overtourism would be an impoverishment for everyone, since, if we look closely, we are both host community members and visiting travelers in our lives.