While some cities are trying to manage overtourism with tourism taxes, it is a Band-aid fix that puts economies at risk, said the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
According to the organisation, if 11 major European cities capped visitor numbers, it would cost $245 billion in lost GDP and almost three million jobs over three years.
Instead, the WTTC is urging destinations to build long-term strategies and has developed a paper, Managing Destination Overcrowding: A Call to Action, encouraging governments and local leaders to work together.
The report outlines practical ways that overtourism can be managed, including creating taskforces with a cross-section of stakeholders; developing a shared vision; and gathering data to make evidence-based decisions.
It also evaluates the main causes of the issue, such as an underinvestment in infrastructure and poor planning.
To offer practical tips and inspiration, several destination case studies that have effectively managed increased numbers of tourists are featured in the report, including Visit Flanders in Belgium, which views tourism as a tool to support locals, and Dubrovnik, which has partnered with CLIA to reduce congestion.
“Travel and tourism brings huge benefits including jobs, investment, and deeper cultural understanding, but growth needs to be managed carefully,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC President.
“We’re encouraging all decisionmakers to think ahead, work together, and focus on long-term benefits for residents and visitors alike…this is not about stopping tourism, it’s about making it work for everyone,” Simpson added.
Local protests against overtourism reached fever pitch this summer in Europe, when campaigners in a dozen destinations launched coordinated efforts to bring attention to the impact travel has had on their homes.
Thousands marched across Barcelona, while in Genoa, protesters dragged a giant cardboard cruise ship through the city’s narrow alleyways, and in Lisbon, a replica of St Anthony being ‘evicted’ from his church was carried to the site of an upcoming luxury hotel.
