One of the symbols of overtourism: the Trevi Fountain in Rome.Image: EPA ANSA
Once welcomed with open arms, tourists now seem to be less and less welcome. The proof is that measures aimed at limiting their influx are flourishing across the globe. Have we become less tolerant? Response elements.
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This is a first: at the end of April, Venice launched an entry ticket for one-day visitors, forced to pay 5 euros to visit the city. For the moment, the measure only applies to around thirty days of high tourist traffic. Its goal: to make the City of the Doges “more liveable”, according to the authorities.
Other locations could follow. The county of Kent, as well as the city of Edinburgh and Wales, are considering introducing a council tax. Elsewhere, the rebellion takes other forms: in the Canary Islands, residents took to the streets to demonstrate their discontent; in Japan, the authorities of a small village decided to install a net hiding the view of Mount Fuji, thus preventing vacationers from taking photos of it. The reasons given are always the same: to fight against an alleged “invasion” of tourists.
Already last summer, this type of reaction caused a lot of ink to flow. Since then, new restrictions have been announced at a frenzied pace – creating a build-up effect that can give the impression of widespread rejection. Is this really the case? “More and more localities that in the past welcomed tourism with open arms are now reacting more critically,” confirms Claudio Visentin, lecturer in the “Master in International Tourism” at the University of Switzerland. Italian.
“This often results in actions, disputes and protests on the part of the population”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
Until the 1980s, tourism was considered “an engine of progress and prosperity”, continues the specialist; its growth was therefore “a good in itself”. Since then, this trend has started to reverse: “Today we have become more sensitivewe see and understand the negative aspects of tourism better, also due to the climate crisis,” he explains.
The breaking point
However, this new sensitivity is not an absolute novelty. Tourist taxes are already in force in more than 60 destinations around the world, indicates The Conversation. And remember that the first measure of this type was introduced in France in 1910, although most current taxes date from the last two decades.
Claudio Visentin also places “the breaking point” around 2010. “Barcelona had, for example, two public administrations which worked strongly to limit tourism,” he explains.
“Amsterdam has completely changed its development model and has become the first city in the world to no longer promote tourism”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
How did we get here? On the one hand, the number of tourists has continued to grow and continues to do so, explains the teacher. “In the 1950s, there were around 25 million per year, today we are approaching a billion and a half, not to mention domestic tourism,” he illustrates. “The figure is impressive.”
Beyond mass tourism
But pure growth does not explain everything, he continues, because “it was accompanied by a change in organizational model”. Which ended up giving birth to something new. Claudio Visentin: “We no longer even talk about mass tourism, but about “overtourism” (“surtourisme” in French).”
“We use another name because the phenomenon has changed, it has entered a new phase”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
This change took place under the influence of several factors. First of all, the emergence of a series of new players on the tourist market: “A few years ago, there were no low-cost airlines, no Airbnb, nor the immense liners capable of transport 5,000 passengers,” lists the specialist. “Above all, there was no omnipresence of digital technology.” The advent of the web has disrupted the rhythm of tourism, giving it a speed that it did not have before, he believes.
Another decisive element: social networks, and Instagram in particular. “Travel used to be seen as a personal experience (I go where I want to go); it has now become a social experience (I go where I think my image will be most appreciated online),” explains Claudio Visentin. Result: certain places find themselves congested.
“In the past, what took precedence was the pleasure of discovery, of seeing new countries, of exploring new places. Social networks have imposed a pressure of approval, in the sense that they push people to visit a small number of destinations. Inevitably, the pressure on these places increases.”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
To the point where the authorities find themselves obliged to intervene, like what the City of the Doges began to do:
“The 5 euros entry fee to Venice marks the moment when a real city becomes an amusement park, a sort of Disneyland”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
Cities that are dying
We can still wonder if this desire to turn away from tourists does not betray a certain hypocrisy, especially on the part of cities which have made a lot of money thanks to them, such as Barcelona or Amsterdam.
“Tourism, in essence, is about going to see life in another place. This is why it can never be its first industry”, nuance Claudio Visentin, who puts forward, once again, the example of Venice: “It today has less than 50,000 inhabitants, the Airbnbs are much more numerous than the houses; it has become a gigantic museum.
“Of course, we can see the history, the past, the monuments. But his life is gone.”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
“When tourism becomes the number one industry in a place, it kills it. It kills his identity,” he adds. “In my opinion, the residents are right to defend themselves. It’s not ingratitude, but an instinct for survival.
Tourism is not dead
It remains to be seen whether these measures are effective. The results observed so far are “contradictory”, notes The Conversation. Most times, tourism taxes have had no effect, in others the impact has been limited. Sometimes, the money collected is even used to finance tourist infrastructure.
For Claudio Visentin, the solution could lie elsewhere: “It is still possible to travel, to live new experiences, to discover countries, precisely because international tourism is reduced to a few overcrowded destinations,” he believes.
“It is more possible than ever to travel if we do not reduce tourism to a social practice,” adds the specialist, who, to promote this mission, even created a school in 2005. And to conclude:
“Tourism is not dead, perhaps it is us who have become more conventional”
Claudio Visentin, University of Italian Switzerland
