The politics of overtourism

One reason we are struggling and failing to make sufficient progress towards the aspiration of sustainable development is that to achieve it, we need to think holistically and consider the consequences of our actions. Since those dramatic photos of Earthrise were published in 1968, we should have been aware of our finite world and its fragility, and briefly, we were. In 1970, the annual Earth Day was launched, and the US government established their Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. But all too quickly, the lesson was forgotten and ignored. April 22^nd this year, Earth Day, went by largely unnoticed. Like rising average temperatures and the consequences of climate change, the negative impacts we have on our planet are accepted – they are the new normal. Only a few perceive climate change as a real and present danger; fewer still think that we can tackle it. Most of us are in denial.

Overtourism is different, it is real and present. It manifests the consequences of unrestrained growth in a finite world. The ‘victims’, the residents, experience the negative impacts of tourism and can identify solutions. They protest. Overtourism is a consequence of unsustainable growth, and residents and tourists alike experience the consequence. Awareness of the damage caused in so many destinations by excessive tourism was made all the more apparent as tourism has boomed post-Covid. During the pandemic, residents were reminded of what their places, their homes, were like without hordes of tourists and day visitors. Residents are taking to the streets to demand that their governments take action.

Overtourism is a classic example of what Hardin describes as a tragedy: “Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit – in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.”  Destinations are each finite; and as the British NGO pointed out for years, “We take our holidays in their homes.” The issue of how we travel and how we behave when we are in other people’s places is coming to the fore.

The language of social anthropology is relevant here; we aspire to be treated as guests, but we do not always behave as guests. Jost Krippendorf, in The Holiday Makers, reminded us that “every individual tourist builds up or destroys human values while travelling”.  The Guardian has published extensive advice on how to “Be a better tourist! 28 ways to have a fantastic holiday – without infuriating the locals”. In theUS, Visit Oceanside has launched Love O’Side to encourage more responsible traveller behaviours. The World Travel & Tourism Council and IC Bellagio have partnered to launch a new consumer campaign focusing on Community Conscious Travel, raising awareness on how responsible tourism can positively impact the communities travellers visit each year. Cornish Stuff is promoting seven crucial tips for tourists aiming to travel sustainably in Cornwall.

What is the political question?

Responsible Tourism is about making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit in that order. You know that when people get the order wrong, they do not understand even the basics. There is a blunt question that should be addressed to politicians. Do you want your constituency to be used by tourism, or do you want your constituents to be able to use tourism for their sustainable development?

We all make choices about how we travel, and about the tours and opportunities that we provide for our clients and guests. The tourism sector cannot leave it all to the tourists. Tourists can only buy potable water in plastic bottles and then discard them into the environment if they are available in destinations. Some accommodation providers, tour operators, restaurants and cafes have taken responsibility, providing water so that people can refill their bottles. Most, of course, have not. The industry, too, has to take responsibility, it determines the choices available to tourists and, to a large extent, determines which kinds of tourists arrive. What is offered determines who arrives. Amsterdam has worked to deter hen and stag parties and to attract art lovers.

Overtourism emerged as a political issue in Amsterdam and Barcelona a decade ago and has gained momentum with demonstrations and even a hunger strike. Over the last decade, tourist arrivals in the Canaries have increased by 40% from 11.5 million to 16 million. The pressure has become intense: water shortages (golf courses, swimming pools and accommodation), food price inflation and housing shortages, with residents sleeping in their cars and, some say, caves. Canarias Se Agota called for a hunger strike and a human chain to make the strength of feeling clear to the government. Canary Island residents are exhausted. The eleven people who went on hunger strike lasted 20 days from 11 April.

Many factors contribute to overtourism, and the causes and, consequently, the solutions vary from destination to destination. Generally, the problems arise at the sub-national level, but local authorities have only the powers available to them through national legislation. National governments are particularly interested in attracting international visitors, and still, ministers for tourism are judged by international visitor arrival figures. International tourists bring export earnings and valuable foreign currency. Tourism is a good thing. Except that tourism is a polluting industry: litter, trampling, congestion, noise and shops selling tourist trinkets displacing bakers and butchers, to name but a few.

The vast majority of us are conspicuous consumers when we travel. We spend more daily than we would at home and have the disposable income and leisure time to enjoy someone else’s place. We bring additional local demand for restaurants, bars, cafes, and attractions. Increased demand either increases residents’ prices and costs or supply, as tourist shops and cafes displace grocery stores.

B&Bs, guest houses, and gites have been rentable for years, but the internet has made it easier and grown the sector. The site Airbedandbreakfast.com, now Airbnb, was officially launched in 2008, and guests shared the host’s accommodation, which still happens but is now much rarer. Tourists have more spending power; they are able and willing to pay more for accommodation than local residents. Local residents become poorer as more and more of their income has to be spent on housing and then they are displaced to sleep in cars, huts and caves. Simon Calder in The Independent has listed “seven cities where residents are telling tourists to stay away and urging their lawmakers to crack down on overtourism.”

Overtourism takes many forms, but the hottest issue is the decline in properties to rent for local people and the rapidly rising costs of renting or buying a home. Housing has become commoditised. Holidaymakers can afford to pay more for accommodation than locals. I wrote here two weeks ago about the difficulty of balancing tourism growth with housing affordability. 

Ministries of tourism, tourism boards, DMOs and NTOs have pursued arrival numbers, and tourism has been seen as an engine of economic growth. The label DMO has always been ambiguous. The ‘M’ often stands for marketing but is reduced to promotion with no effort made to attract tourists who will “fit in” as guests. Rarely does the ‘M’ signify management, and when it does, often the tourism administrators and regulators lack the powers to intervene. Tourism authorities almost never have powers to regulate the housing market.

In Barcelona, the city authorities have long experience of using the full range of regulation and planning powers to shape and regulate the industry, and the mayor has announced that if plans go ahead with no hiccups, “from 2029, tourist flats as we conceive of them today will disappear from the city”. Political will and joined-up government is required to tackle overtourism.

The traditional industry has rightly pointed to the core of the problem. As I wrote here two weeks ago TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel has pointed out: “These are not protests against tourism. They are protests for tourism that is socially responsible and economically successful for the local people…. There are two forms of tourism. Organized, one could say, steered tourism. This is what the classic package holiday stands for. Guests go to hotels built for holidaymakers and where many local people work…  Apartments are scarce because more and more housing is being offered as holiday homes on online platforms such as Airbnb. This is also driving up the price of housing.”

Last weekend 20,000 people marched through the streets of Mallorca: “The Balearic government said they agreed with many of the concerns which had been expressed by demonstrators and that they were working on a new tourism model which would reduce tourism. Much of the business community echoed the government’s stance saying that mass tourism was not the way forward. … the Hoteliers Federation said that the government should be doing more to crackdown on illegal holiday rentals and … that over the last few years more than 90,000 more illegal holiday places had come on the market.”

The tide may have begun to turn.