‘Overtourism:’ Finding a balancing point

Gumbo readers are by now used to city after city wondering how many visitors it can welcome and still be itself, or in extreme cases, still survive. It’s not an easy issue, and a number of cities are groping toward finding a balance.

Cities want the business, but not the problems, which can include overcrowding, overtaxed transit systems, and especially pressures on local living costs when part of the housing stock becomes tourist rentals.

Visitors, on the other hand, are anxious to visit and take part—and can often only do so when costs are kept lower than traditional hotel costs. And they tend to concentrate on the cities with the biggest and best reputation and tourism promotion.

Venice is the extreme at one end: It is now essentially a small town, with a population just over 60,000 that exists mainly for visitors, and cannot handle the volume and scale under present conditions. Recent new legislation attempts to discourage more central locations for hotels and B&Bs, and to encourage visitors to see other parts of the city. That’s a change from attempts earlier to legislate what would have amounted to a toll-booth entry control.

Amsterdam’s much larger and has more going for it than tourism, but its reputation, its museums and other attractions and its name as a laid-back venue for edgy pursuits has given it consistent growth. But it’s also put pressure on the narrow streets, the housing stock and the compact city center. 

Amsterdam has been actively working with Airbnb and others to come to some limits, and to spread the load around the city. Other cities have recently taken similar steps, and a number of city executives from across Europe have been meeting to share solutions. As one analyst says:  “Banning or capping tourists is not the way forward. Instead what is needed is a dialogue with all stakeholders to come to a mutually beneficial solution. This is what Amsterdam is trying to achieve.” A longer analysis of the situation is available from Skift.

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