A new report by Which? Travel reveals the European destinations under the most pressure from tourism, with southern Europe dominating the lists for most tourists per 1,000 residents and per square kilometre, and most overnight stays.
Most pressure
The dubious title of most tourist-crowded resort goes to the Greek island of Zante (Zakynthos), where visitors outnumber residents 150 to one. Mallorca handled the most overnight stays, however, with Rome just behind, and Athens comes second to Paris for the number of tourists per sq km.
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Istria in Croatia deals with 133,467 tourists per 1,000 residents, placing second for the highest pressure on the destination. Fuerteventura in Spain’s Canary Islands ranks third with 118,720 tourists per 1,000 residents.
Least tourism
Overtourism in Europe and local residents’ discontent have been felt in recent years in the shape of demonstrations about housing shortages, protests, vandalism targeting tourist infrastructure, and increasing tourist taxes. For travellers seeking out less-trodden places to visit, the report also points out the destinations across the continent that are under the least tourist pressure.
Eastern Europe offers crowd-free vacations in places such as Targovishte, Bulgaria, or Rybnik in Poland, where residents still outnumber visitors three times over. In Zasavska, Slovenia, there were only 22,990 overnight stays, and in Teleorman, Romania, only one tourist can be found be sq km.
Among these low-pressure destinations, remote Arctic circle locations such as Jan Mayen in Svalbard featured, but there were also surprises. Benevento, in central southern Italy, made it into the top three despite Italy’s otherwise synonymous association with overtourism.
Overtourism or anti-social behaviour?
With the rising popularity of so-called “destination dupes”, which rival better-known counterparts for architecture, history, or culture and yet are less-visited, Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, pulls no punches, stating that the data shows that “overtourism has overwhelmed some of Europe’s most popular destinations.”
He added: “With so many fantastic places in Europe, the truth is, you are going to have a far better holiday in a destination where there are not hundreds or even thousands more tourists than there are locals.”
But for other commentators, it is not necessarily the sheer volume of tourism but rather a perception of anti-social behaviour and a lack of destination preparedness for the sector’s growth and dominance. Prof Richard Butler of the University of Strathclyde told the Guardian that “long-established places like Blackpool, Las Vegas, and Orlando” do not experience overtourism issues, because they “essentially grew up with tourism being the only game in town.”
The Which? travel ranking
Highest tourist pressure (tourists per 1,000 residents)
Zante (Zakynthos), Greece: 149,887
Istria county, Croatia: 133,467
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: 118,720
Lowest tourist pressure (tourists per 1,000 residents)
Targovishte, Bulgaria: 332
Rybnik, Poland: 351
Benevento, Italy: 398
Highest number of tourists per sq km
Paris: 418,280
Central Athens: 88,535
Copenhagen: 63,944
Lowest number of tourists per sq km
Jan Mayen, Norway: 0
Teleorman, Romania: 1.21
Svalbard, Norway: 2.4
Most overnight stays
Mallorca: 51,193,029
Paris: 43,919,010
Rome: 41,135,744
Least overnight stays
Jan Mayen: 0
Teleorman: 6,983
Zasavska, Slovenia: 22,990
