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Destinations that oust mass tourism

2 min reading time

Published on 21/08/17 - Updated on 17/03/22

Ces destinations qui craignent le tourisme de masse

Dissuasive measures implemented by some municipalities and certain highly (too?) touristic sites have multiplied in recent years. Their goal is to cap the flow of visitors in order to combat the deterioration of neighborhoods or monuments, or the rise in property prices, which are often sources of conflict with local populations. Overview of these "anti-tourism" actions.

Limitation of accommodation offers, control of the number of authorized visitors, implementation of restrictive measures in urban centers ... More and more cities and tourist sites are now taking actions to deal with the nuisance of mass tourism, that is often perceived negatively by local populations, which deplores not only the degradation of certain districts or monuments but also the rise in property prices and the lack of non-tourist housing. 

In Venice or Barcelona for example, measures to prohibit the construction or conversion of buildings into hotels in the city center have recently been announced. Airbnb platforms, which are also in the sights of large municipalities, face stricter regulations. In Barcelona, procedures have been put in place to force platforms that have rented apartments without a license number to pay a fine of up to €600,000. The city of Berlin has also banned the rental of an entire accommodation on Airbnb when it is a main residence.

In addition to accommodations, some destinations rely on regulating the number of authorized visitors. This is particularly true in Santorini Island in Greece, which caps the number of arrivals to 8,000 per day, or the region of Liguria in Italy, which is experimenting with a system to monitor the number of visits in five fishing villages classified as UNESCO World Heritage. Other popular attractions, such as Machu Picchu or Mount Everest, tend towards these measures and require, for example, visitors to be accompanied by a certified guide.

Restrictive measures are also being implemented in major cities, such as in Milan where food trucks are banned and where it is now forbidden to walk with a can, a glass in hand or even a selfie stick. Same thing in Rome, where tourists are no longer allowed to sit on the edges of the city center's fountains, to bathe in it, or even eat nearby, or risk being fined. In Florence, the steps of the main churches are watered at lunchtime to prevent improvised picnics. For their part, the cities of Venice or Verona have banned non-local dishes' sales in certain tourist districts.

Finally, some cities, such as Amsterdam, have opted for a system of tourist taxes aimed at obtaining a better distribution of tourist flows, for example, by encouraging the area around the capital rather than the city center where the tax is higher.

Nevertheless, tourism is a significant source of revenue for many destinations, particularly in Spain and Italy, and limiting it is not necessarily the best solution from an economic point of view.
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