Reflection on Over-tourism

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Reflection on Over-tourism

According to the film, over-tourism is the growth of tourists in destinations more than the estimated number of tourists (Francis, 2018). This has resulted in several adverse effects compared to the expected positive effects from the tourism industry. There are just so many tourists in destinations all over the world that people feel as if it has become toxic. The tourists also end up that the places having lost their authenticity as the residents feel that they are being deprived of their homes. The residents have hence become angry and are having demonstrations (Francis, 2018). The economy has increased because tourists are charged more, and residents are forced to move to places with more affordable lifestyles.

There are several countries currently affected by over-tourism. These countries include Venice and Barcelona. In Venice, residents are complaining that tourists have stolen their identities, so the things that make their city stand out have been stolen from them (Francis, 2018). The towns have become overpopulated and overcrowded. In Barcelona, the residents have had their city stolen from them too. Their markets have more products that focus on the needs of the tourists rather than the residents. The tourists also go to markets to take pictures of the place rather than buy products (Francis, 2018). Residents have also been forced out of their residential apartments, turning them into rentals for tourists since they pay more.

Some factors contribute to over-tourism. One of these factors is the low cost of plane tickets across traveling airlines (Francis, 2018). Cheap flights encourage people to travel more compared to when they were costly. Another factor is travel writing, where travel destinations pay journalists to write about them. This makes some destinations more visited by tourists than others. The destinations end up over-visited (Francis, 2018). The same problem is caused by honey-pot sites, which many people visit at specific times of the year. There is also the emergence of cruise liners which cause environmental damage. Lastly, people are being pushed out of their rentals to create room for holiday apartments. This makes residents feel unwanted in places where they have lived since birth and increases inflation (Francis, 2018).

I have several takeaways from the film about over-tourism. One of them is that the growing population in the world, with over a million people being born per day, is a factor of over-tourism. The problem will worsen before it improves (Francis, 2018). The people involved in the tourism market do not know the adverse effects caused by over-tourism. In case they do, they are not willing to change. Nobody is in charge of the tourism industry, and therefore nobody is to blame for the over-tourism (Francis, 2018). Most people are not willing to live in tourist destinations. In the future, they are planning to move to more straightforward, comfortable lives.

Reference

Francis, J. (Presenter). (2018). Crowded Out: The Story of Over-tourism. Responsible Travel.