Tourism and communities
Overtourism
The situation in which visitor numbers exceed a destination's capacity, degrading residents' quality of life, ecosystems and the visitor experience itself.
Definition
Overtourism describes destinations where the volume or behaviour of visitors exceeds environmental, social or infrastructural carrying capacity, causing congestion, housing pressure, cultural erosion, ecosystem damage and resident backlash. The term entered wide use in the late 2010s as cities such as Venice, Barcelona and Amsterdam experienced protests against mass tourism.
References
definition and management responses
policy framing and destination case evidence
Overview
What it means
Overtourism is less about absolute numbers than about concentration — in time, space and impact — and about who captures tourism's benefits versus who bears its costs. Responses include visitor caps, tourist taxes, cruise ship restrictions, short-term rental regulation and dispersal strategies.
How it is used
Destination managers, UN Tourism (UNWTO) and researchers use the concept in visitor management and sustainable tourism planning; it has become a standard frame in urban policy and heritage protection debates.
Why it matters
Tourism supports one in ten jobs globally, but unmanaged growth can destroy the environmental and cultural assets it depends on; overtourism forces the question of tourism's net contribution to community wellbeing.
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