As revenge travel has taken off after the lockdown era, a new set of problems has emerged. Massive, borderline uncontrollable crowds descending upon overstretched cities, trash and human waste blighting forests and beaches, and local or traditional ways of life being disrupted or erased forever.
These consequences of the era of rising incomes and cheap travel has been aptly summarized in one word―overtourism.
Described by the UN Tourism as “the absence of good management and uncontrolled development“, overtourism has been seen throughout the developed and developing world, particularly in places such as Venice, Kyoto, Boracay and Bali.
Efforts to combat this dark side of tourism have included governmental and systemic efforts, such as limiting crowds through tickets and visitor quotas, imposing a visitor tax to fund countermeasure initiatives, along with marketing and educational campaigns to dissuade visits to high-traffic areas and redirect them to lesser-known destinations.
But, as the responsible traveller, you have a part to play here as well, however small. From your itinerary to your budget and even your luggage, you can contribute to making tourism a force for good!
Seek the Road Less Travelled
The most obvious steps you can take as a traveller to combat overtourism starts with the very first step of your itinerary―where you travel to!
Sure, first world countries like Japan and Italy are full of romantic destinations that are hard to resist, but that’s precisely why they’re suffering from the effects of overtourism!
In Japan, cities such as Kyoto have had overwhelmed bus systems squeezing out locals and their iconic geisha being harassed by bad apple tourists. Meanwhile, in the Italian cities of Rome and Venice, tourists clog up both “bucket list” UNESCO World Heritage Sites and trash cans everywhere.
Does that mean no holidays ever? Of course not! You simply have to adjust your itinerary a little!
Rather than squeezing yourself inside of a bus just to see the tired Gion geishas of Kyoto, how about a change of plans to Kanazawa instead, where seasonal events and private sessions allow you to experience the full artistic skills of this ancient profession.
Or if you’re feeling a Renaissance vibe, seek out the heritage hiding in the hills of Urbino which includes classical squares, manors and monuments.
Or better yet, why not both? The Second City practice encourages tourists to visit a second, less-travelled city in addition to the big-ticket destinations. Not only do you get do cross off your bucket list, you’ll also spread your tourist spending and burden more evenly across your host country. For example, you could enjoy the famous streets of Osaka and the grand old castle of nearby Himeji!
In the end, the point isn’t to deprive yourself of the joys of travelling, it’s simply being considerate of the people actually living in your holiday destinations, all while giving yourself a more comfortable vacation!
Avoid Peak Season
Another way to combat overtourism and give yourself a unique itinerary is to simply pick a different date!
Lots of destinations, particularly in temperate countries, are extremely popular during the spring or summer months. These peak seasons inevitably attract millions of tourists who pummel the local infrastructure and facilities for a short period while leaving them deserted or at least poorly visited for the rest of the year.
This poses a conundrum to local authorities, who may not be willing to invest and maintain in facilities which are only going to be used for a few months out of the year. The result is hordes of tourists putting stress on limited facilities such as narrow streets that were only really meant to serve locals, leading to a poor experience for all.
An example of this can be in Paris, which attracts a surge of tourists during the spring and summer.
One way to tackle this is to treat destinations as year-round by visiting during the off-season!
Instead of jostling for good selfies spots at the Eiffel Tower during the peak season, why not visit during the off-periods in autumn and winter (besides the Christimas period)?
Not only do you get way less people fighting over great vantage points and public transport, you also get to enjoy way more favorable hotel rates, making this a great option for budget travellers! And that’s not even mentioning the chance to see a side of a country that not many even bother to explore.
Snap some fairytale shots of the snow-covered Champs-Élysées or even some romantic scenes of the Seine River’s autumn coat, the sky’s the limit with off-season travel!
Go Local
So now you’ve got a time and place, where are you going to stay?
The biggest and most luxurious hotels or maybe even an Airbnb, I hear you say. Sure, but is that really a win-win situation for the people living there?
In the era of globalization, large, multinational hotel chains usually occupy the top end of luxury accommodation. In most of these establishments, locals are rarely in charge while profits are diverted overseas, leaving local communities all the more poorer.
Besides hotels, short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb drive up rental and houses prices thanks to more houses being used for rentals, pricing out and gentrifying locals away from their very own neighbourhoods.
And finally, more and more surrounding shops and restaurants start catering to international travellers, diluting what makes a place special in the first place.
To counter these aspects of overtourism, you, the conscious traveller, can make sure to prioritize accommodation and businesses that empower local communities, lifestyles and even ecosystems. In other words, that means staying local, shopping local and travelling local!
That could mean staying in a family-run guesthouse, having a meal where locals hang out or just shopping at the small business that’s served the locals for generations.
Basically, going local means giving back to your hosts and their communities while immersing yourself in authentic culture.
Travel Light
Another consequence of overtourism that’s frequently overlooked is how big and heavy you’re travelling!
No, no need to lose weight, travelling light means travelling in smaller groups with lighter luggage and an even lighter footprint. Overall, this is meant to reduce the resources, waste and carbon footprint expended during your vacation.
With large groups such as massive tour groups or even cruises, establishments usually have a harder time dedicating the required resources to accommodate them comfortably, such as with food, water and waste disposal.
As a result, rooms are messier, food quality suffers and, in some extreme cases such as in Spain, water rationing has become a fact of life thanks to global-warming induced drought.
On the bright side, travelling with smaller groups or even solo allows you to enjoy your destination without overburdening your hosts and their place of living.
You can even bring reusable bottles plus cutlery, cut down on plastic use or even use showers instead of baths to further lower your impact on your hosts’ environment!
Travelling light can even mean bringing along less bulky luggage, which can take up time and space inside of packed public transportation.
Travelling in smaller groups can also bring some unexpected benefits, such as limiting your time spent inside a bubble of your compatriots.
When you have less familiar people to fall back on, you’ll tend to embrace more opportunities to speak with locals, further immersing yourself in your hosts’ culture and expanding your horizons!
Slow Down
Last but not least, your next weapon in the fight against overtourism is―slowing down!
Nowadays, whirlwind tours where you stop by an attraction briefly, check off a generic bucket list and move on to the next have become popular. Sadly, this doesn’t just do a disservice to the destination, but yourself as well.
Look to cruise ships for an infamous example of this practice, which dumps hundreds of visitors into towns and cities for an afternoon, particularly in European and Caribbean locales such as Marseille and Aruba.
And that’s not even the worst bit. Since cruise vacationers typically stick close to their ship, they spend a painfully limited amount of time exploring their destinations. This in turn means lost revenues for hotels, restaurants and stores who would otherwise have benefited from longer-term stays.
This isn’t even mentioning the loss of cultural contact and rise in businesses solely catering to day trippers, which can be seen in souvenir stores bursting with fridge magents and tacky t-shirts.
In other words, fast tourism doesn’t cater to or benefit the locals who actually bear most of the cost.
So, to reduce the harms of fast tourism”, why not take your foot off the pedal and smell the roses a little with slow travel?
Slow travel generally means travel with an emphasis on sustainability and the environment, but it can also mean simply taking your time with a select few destinations to soak in the region’s beauty and charms.
Instead of itineraries spanning multiple cities and countries, try narrowing down and going in depth on one or two areas that you’re curious about.
By spending just a few extra days at a place or even just a few more hours, you can immensely raise the educational and cultural quality of your holiday experience. This can include taking the time to appreciate the exhibits of Beijing’s National Museum of China, exploring the quieter beaches of Phuket or simply hanging out at a random café or bar for an afternoon.
Slow travelling can even extend to transportation, such as sleeper trains and road trips that afford more opportunities to really soak in the views and landscapes of your destination.
So, those are just a few ways you can contribute to reducing the harms of overtourism. Mass and government-level action is still the best in affecting change though, so why not share and discuss this with the people around you?
Who knows, you might be a part of making tourism a force of good for the decades to come!
