Crowds of tourists enter Propylaea, the entrance of the Athenian Acropolis in Athens, Greece on 14 March, 2024. Photo: AFP/Beata Zawrzel
Transforming the way we travel will be key to addressing 'overtourism', an expert in sustainable tourism says.
Parts of the Northern Hemisphere have been struggling under the weight of high number of tourists all year round following the rapid growth of global travel post-pandemic.
Western Sydney University Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Heritage Joseph Martin Cheer told Afternoons overtourism was a term used to describe situations where demands of tourists exceed what a community could provide.
Results varied from burdening the daily lives of residents, to excessive waste and even ecological damage.
"The term came about just before Covid when international travel reached a peak in destinations like Barcelona and Bali and others were just inundated with tourists. But the scale of the issue now has made it a new problem," Cheer said.
"We're more mobile, we have generally more money and affluence to allow us to travel, airlines will take us just about anywhere, no where is out of reach. As a result, with more people travelling and largely to the most popular places that introduces the problem of a magnitude that we've never seen before."
Heading Off: 'Overtourism' and how to address it
Venice has put new rules in place which ban loudspeakers and limit tour group sizes to 25 in an attempt to limit the impact of over-tourism in the Italian city.
St Mark's basilica is a popular attraction for visitors to Venice. Photo: Matthias Kabel ex Wikimedia Commons CC3.0
Cheer said tourist behaviour generally meant people wanted to travel in places that were popularised, through Instagram for example.
"Not everyone is an adventure tourist and wants to go climb a mountain on their own. In general, people want to be amongst the mood and buzz that busy tourist areas provide."
"This is why overtourism comes about - because most tourists feel comfortable being on the well trodden path, especially if the country is foreign to you where you don't speak the language."
The impacts of overtourism were felt most acutely by the host communities, he said.
"The industry is not complaining about overtourism, governments are usually not complaining about overtourism because of the economic impacts, it's usually the people who bear the cost of this growth but don't generally share in the benefits."
For example, Mount Fuji, which is one of Japan's most iconic photo spots, is to be blocked by authorities with a big black barrier. It comes after residents of Fujikawaguchiko accused mainly foreign tourists of dropping rubbish and parking illegally as they search for the perfect photo.
A huge black barrier will be erected to block Mount Fuji from view at this popular photo spot in an attempt to detract crowds of badly behaved tourists. Photo: AFP/Philip Fong
So can we travel responsibly to make sure we are not adding to the problem?
Cheer encouraged people to consider going to places outside of the norm.
"One of the issues is people tend to be constrained and have limited time and a budget to work through. I would say to people do some research before you go - if you have a tight budget in Japan you can go to some of the more remote areas and pay a fraction of what you would pay in the city.
"I would say take a risk, be bold and go to somewhere you've never heard of and it's amazing the experiences you will have there. At the same time travellers by their very nature - travel gives bragging rights. We want to say 'Hey we've been to the Eiffel Tower, we've been to Tokyo'. That's the challenge."
Cheer said the local tourism industry could help by drawing limits on the number of people that could go into a place, or introducing a cost.
New Zealand tourism operators say there is an appetite for international visitors to pay to access the country's national parks to help cover costs. Officials have told Conservation Minister Tama Potaka he should consider more user charges and raising existing fees, which he has not ruled out.
"If you put a value on experiences and you put limits around the number of people that can visit these places you give people the sense that there needs to be a greater consideration - it's not just a consumptive thing - it's actually something you need to do mindfully rather than just do it as a way of ticking off that bucket list.
"I would say slow travel, mindful travel is the way to go to get the best out of things."