(Quiz master Phanindra Ivatury, an Indian national now residing in the Netherlands, shares his thoughts and experience on over-tourism at bucket list travel destinations)
UTRECHT, (The Netherlands), Sept 3 (NNN-Bernama) — On a scorching July afternoon this year I landed in the city of Rome, essaying the role of a tour guide to perfection for my sister’s family who were in Italy as a part of their summer tour of Europe.
The next two vacation days in Rome were spent jostling through visitor lanes bursting with awestruck international tourists at the Colosseum, Vatican and Trevi Fountain.
At every historic site, unmindful of their sweaty brows and sapping energies, a portion of the audiences were crowding entrances, hallways, statues and fountains with their mobile phones on outstretched hands or selfie-sticks, desperately trying to land that ultimate ‘bucket list tourist spot pic’, presumably intended for social media glory.
For most of us pouring tourists filling up top notch global travel spots these days, it’s all about having that validation on our petite clicking instruments that we have ‘been there, done that’.
Barring ten holy minutes inside the Vatican’s ‘Sistine Chapel’ where thankfully they don’t allow pictures, we experienced the same ‘selfie-trampling’ commotion at other sightseeing spots of the eternal city. It is widely believed that the photography ban still exists inside the Chapel to protect precious art work that adorns its roof and walls from getting damaged by camera flashes.
Impacting Tourism
Akin to my experience in Rome, it’s a similar comparable saga of tourist count bulging like a bamboo forest at many world famous tourist cities like Venice, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Siem Reap, Beijing or Agra to just name a few.
As a fortunate traveller blessed with life opportunities to visit the above mentioned cities, I have had first-hand experience in learning a bit about looming over-tourism threats to famous sites, particularly those which are getting affected with multiplying visitors, mushrooming souvenir markets, restaurants, hotels and cafes thereby also leading to a phenomenon of forcible emptying out of locals from such areas.
A case in point is the recent “Towel Movement” in Greece where complaining residents of an island felt pushed off a beach by seaside businesses catering to tourists with priced lounge chairs and umbrella covers.
What is “Over-tourism?”
Cambridge Dictionary defines the term ‘Over-tourism’ as “the situation when too many people visit a place on holiday, so that the place is spoiled and life is made difficult for the people who live there”.
What causes “Over-tourism”?
Bucket list travel options of tourists are most often influenced by culture and travel websites, social media, films, television shows, travelogues or word of mouth suggestions from people who take pride in recommending others, a particular tourist spot they had visited before.
Most of us often succumb to the tendency of searching for ‘the top-10s’ concerning various life concepts which also include ‘ten must visit travel destinations before you die’.
To quote a classic example, ‘Maya Bay’ a mesmerising cove in Thailand’s Andaman Sea fell prey to ‘over-tourism’ largely through cinematic influence caused by the 2000 released Hollywood film “The Beach” starring Leonardo Di Caprio.
The film’s content deals with a backpacker tribe who form their own utopia on an unknown beautiful island.
Most parts of this movie were shot on the ‘Maya Bay’. As the movie started to develop a cult following, tourism numbers to the island took an unbelievable leap so much so that it started to create ecological concerns of unimaginable proportions.
The authorities were forced to shut down the island in 2018 for rejuvenation. Maya Bay started welcoming tourists back only in 2022 again, also owing to the COVID pandemic.
COVID-19 and a Catch-22 Tourism situation
COVID-19 impacted mass tourism for an year and half which led to either no tourism or forced alternative tourism, thereby offering some respite to world’s most thronged heritage sites and travel destinations.
On the flip side, economies of those cities and countries thriving on tourism took a brutal beating. With international tourism recovering to a vengeful 63% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the ‘over-tourism’ factor is nudging back to square one.
Can “bucket list destination” preferences change?
Travel enthusiasts across generations have grown up on a staple diet of world geography which had let them familiarize and fantasize about the fact that when opportunities present, they would fulfill their dream of visiting celebrated destinations like one or more of the ‘seven wonders of the world’ for instance.
The core tourist desire and demand to horde these destinations can never be totally curbed. No matter what, an Eiffel Tower or a Taj Mahal will always witness mass visits and adulation.
Also a middle class tourist’s motto of ticking off bucket list destinations is further facilitated in today’s times with soaring salary incomes and tailor made travel packages.
Living close to a bucket list destination – The Amsterdam ‘Over-tourism’ combat model
Being a current resident of the Netherlands, time and again I get to read some alarming local media articles on how the Municipality of Amsterdam city is greatly struggling to cope with the over flowing international tourist syndrome.
Based on the city’s bulked up visitor scenarios, the Municipality every now and then comes up with combative curbs to limit the growth of tourism and prevent nuisance.
By regulating bachelor parties and pub crawls, limiting river cruises, converting hotels into homes and offices, fixing standard time limits for pubs and bars which are a part of the city centre, the local Municipality makes exemplary efforts to restore the core tourism essence of the city.
Based on a public initiative called “Amsterdam has a choice”, the City Council in 2021 has approved a recent policy on tourism titled “Tourism in Balance in Amsterdam” which sets a maximum number of overnight stays and day visits by tourist with a maximum of 20 million visitors per year.
The executive of the municipality is obliged to adopt counter measures if the number of visitors reach 18 million during an year.
Global Tourist and the Accountability Factor
Notwithstanding curbs and plans put in place by world tourism agencies involved in the preservation of bucket list destinations, every middling tourist or a local who has experienced the over-tourism exhaustion should hold themselves accountable.
The perpetual tourist in me thought hard before bringing out a few researched solutions for healthy tourism at heralded sites – (a) smarter ways of regulating site hours-allowing tourist entry in batches with fixed arrival-departure time slots, (b) balancing the eco system at exotic destinations, (c) striking a healthy balance between locals and tourists, (d) keeping at bay, pricy private company takeovers of exotic destinations or beaches, (e) promoting alternative tourism by developing unexplored paradises in countries, (f) try and come up with ‘super-saver offseason packages’ to lessen the burden on peak months, (g) limiting usage of selfie-sticks at indoor places of religious interests for tourists and (h) dwell on the traveller psyche that by avoiding repeat visits to iconic travel attractions during peak seasons, they would let other first time visitors breathe easy and enjoy their dream vacation .
— NNN-BERNAMA
(This article is based on the writer’s opinion and observations)
