Examining the mass tourism issue around the world

The more, the merrier? It’s not always true in tourism.

Inescapable victims of their cultural heritage, some destinations and tourist attractions have taken the major step of restricting the number of visitors admitted each day to both preserve the physical state of a destination and to ensure a more positive experience for visitors.

But the choice between runaway capitalism and environmental protection is not as simple as it may seem, even in 2017. It’s a dilemma that will only grow, considering that the World Tourism Organization estimates that the number of international travellers will increase by 50 per cent from the current level by 2030, to total 1.8 billion people.

Why limit access?

Aude Lenoir, a strategic intelligence analyst at the Transat Chair in Tourism, also emphasizes the fact that, in addition to the protection of a site’s heritage, there are many other advantages to limiting the number of visitors to a location.

First, it is obvious to maintain the quality of the tourism offer in order not to negatively affect the visitor experience, while reducing the risk of visual degradation of the landscape by annoying infrastructures.

Limiting access to the world's major tourist attractions also has other less-obvious effects on the local real estate market in popular travel destinations; with supply still severely affected by increasingly popular short-term rentals, this has the effect of exacerbating housing shortages and tax increases for residents, who, in turn, see both their quality of life and their identity deteriorate.

Take for example the case of Venice: In her book Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism, journalist Elizabeth Becker also documents the often harmful effects of the surge in global tourism over the past decade, citing Venice, where cafés and trattorias are gradually being replaced by shops filled with souvenirs made in China and fast-food chains, much to the chagrin of the residents, who have no choice but to leave their hometown.

Several possible measures

"These are not easy steps to implement, with the tourism industry generally noticing these decisions financially. For many destinations, this is a reality that is still at the project stage," said Lenoir.

Possible solutions include:

• Visitor quotas
• Entry fees
• Real estate regulations: limit real estate speculation and its harmful effects by prohibiting the construction / expansion of hotels, tightly supervising citizen-to-citizen housing or by limiting the presence of second homes to only 20 per cent (a measure present in several Swiss cantons)
• Control of entry visas to the country, such has been done in Bhutan
• Flow management: study the amount of tourists in real time by means of surveillance cameras and presence on social networks

Destinations which have had enough

Some countries have already enacted measures to limit tourism:

Iceland

The North Atlantic nation has seen its visitors grow from just half a million in 2010 to more than 2.3 million in 2016. That's a lot, considering that the population does not exceed 350 000 inhabitants.

The Icelandic government has even tried, unsuccessfully until now, to set up a "nature pass" at the cost of $14 for anyone wishing to roam the untamed countryside, in addition to charges already levied on accommodations. For the Director General of the Icelandic Tourist Board, Ólöf Ýrr Atladóttir, the solution is aimed primarily at preserving the natural splendors of the country: "We cannot just continue to welcome growing masses of visitors to a site like Þingvellir without thinking, on the one hand, of the damage they inevitably cause in their path, and on the other hand, of the kind of experience they seek."

Santorini, Greece

This member of Greece’s Cycladic Islands plans to make significant changes over the next few months, changing the way it handles the never-ending stream of cruise passengers.

With more than 630 cruise ships stopping there each year and a crowd of 10,000 visitors a day between May and September, Santorini is the most visited Greek island in the Aegean Sea; however, it would like to limit the number of vessels that can drop anchor in its waters and thus limit the number of passengers to around 8,000 per day. It would be a very modest improvement, considering that Oia, the idyllic village featured on countless postcards, has only 80 inhabitants per square kilometre!

Machu Picchu, Peru

Following the insistent recommendations of UNESCO - which called the Inca sanctuary "at risk" in January 2016, thereby requiring enhanced surveillance - Peru's premier tourist attraction imposes strict measures regarding visitors. Since July 1, all visitors must also call on the assistance of an expert guide, stick to three clearly marked trails and respect the two slots, from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Another novelty: guest presence on the site is now limited to a maximum of four consecutive hours. Antarctica

The growing popularity of the southern continent, with its penguins and glaciers, led to the ratification of the Antarctic Treaty in 2011, which aims to better regulate tourism activity in this extremely fragile ecosystem. It is therefore impossible for tourists to travel to Antarctica in a completely independent way, since the treaty requires that each expedition be conducted by an operator recognized and compliant with the requirements of local authorities. Thus, only passenger ships with a capacity of less than 500 passengers - one at a time - can moor and up to 100 passengers can land at the same time.

Barcelona, Spain

The construction and expansion of hotels in Barcelona is a thing of the past because of a law restricting, in a roundabout way, the amount of tourists who can stay in the city. Better known as the "Special Tourism Accommodation Plan", this law addresses the quantity of beds available (currently estimated at 175,000), both in hotels and apartments, by freezing the issuance of new permits. The city wants to limit real estate speculation, moderate the growth of minimum-wage jobs and ultimately return to previous levels of tourism, which in the past totalled only 1.6 million against the current levels of 32 million tourists annually.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Rapidly saturated with tourists due to its unique topography, the small fortified town now limits visitors to 6,000 per day by means of surveillance cameras that redirect pedestrian traffic once the limit is reached; the number is calculated in real time and is posted on the social networks of the municipality, suggesting alternatives to unlucky visitors literally banging on the doors.

It should be noted that Dubrovnik, which measures only 21.35 square kilometres, has welcomed more than one million tourists in the first ten months of 2016, approximately 20 tourists for each Dubrovnik resident.

Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Hawaii

The most beautiful beach in the United States, according to a survey conducted by the Los Angeles Times, is completely closed to the public one day a week. Located on the edge of Honolulu on Oahu Island, Hanauma's beautiful circular bay is home to an equally captivating and sensitive ecosystem. Local authorities, pioneers in environmental protection, made the decision several years ago to restrict access to the bay every Tuesday to allow a moment of respite to 450 species of wildlife (including colorful parrot fish and green sea turtles) and underwater flora. The construction around the bay is also radically regimented.

Conclusions

Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), is strongly against "tourismophobia", arguing that tourism is not the enemy, arguing in favour of sustainable growth. He said that "the misdeeds of illicit businesses, the degradation of ecosystems or the misbehavior of a small number of travelers do not mean that the entire sector suffers from a lack of ethics."

It must be said that, from an economic point of view, travel and tourism are an essential activity, accounting for 10 per cent of world GDP, providing one in ten jobs and 30 per cent of trade in services.