Overtourism and overimmigration are the same?

October 15, 2025

A Gemini-generated image from the prompt: "Create an abstract image representing overtourism and overimmigration". "GT" added "Over it".
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‘Over­tour­ism’ and ‘over­im­mig­ra­tion’ are sub­ject­ive terms that mean essen­tially the same thing. 

Dis­cuss.

Thanks to Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe, Nic­olaus Sulistyo, and John Mor­ris Wil­li­ams for tak­ing the time to con­sider the ques­tion. Their responses appear in the order received. 

And thanks to Kev­in Phun for think­ing about the authen­ti­city of intent when pur­su­ing sus­tain­ab­il­ity cer­ti­fic­a­tion. It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight BiteX.

Have a thought to share? Respond in the com­ments at any time. Or write a Bite of your own. 

In Bali, overtourism is worse 

Nicolaus Sulistyo, media and communications officer, IDEP Foundation, Indonesia

The claim that ‘over­tour­ism’ and ‘over­im­mig­ra­tion’ are essen­tially the same might sound con­vin­cing. Some may even see them as over­lap­ping phe­nom­ena. Both, after all, speak of the anxi­ety that arises when lim­ited resources are stretched too thin.

Nicolaus Sulistyo
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Nic­olaus Sulistyo

Earli­er this year, Bank Indone­sia repor­ted that the tour­ism sec­tor con­trib­utes around 44% to Bali’s eco­nomy. This fig­ure under­scores how cent­ral tour­ism is for the island. 

Yet, on the oth­er side, more than a thou­sand vil­las with private swim­ming pools depend upon ground­wa­ter extrac­tion, accel­er­at­ing the deple­tion of aquifers. Major rivers such as Ayung and Paker­is­an have also seen qual­ity decline due to pol­lu­tion.

Tour­ists in Bali are unlikely to notice this. Water always flows in hotel rooms and vil­las, and their pools remain full. The crisis is invis­ible, kept far from vis­it­ors’ reach. 

Mean­while, loc­als face dry wells and unequal water dis­tri­bu­tion in sev­er­al areas. This is the face of over­tour­ism, where the wheels of the industry are driv­en by eco­nom­ic growth, while the social and cul­tur­al dimen­sions — argu­ably its real fuel — are left behind.

Over­im­mig­ra­tion, how­ever, tells a dif­fer­ent story. Migra­tion can take many forms: people mov­ing across coun­tries, new­comers blend­ing into loc­al cul­ture and iden­tity, or those seek­ing work and edu­ca­tion opportunities. 

In Bali, many of these new­comers aspire to secure per­man­ent hous­ing. What starts as a tem­por­ary vis­it can shift into a desire to settle. In this sense, over­im­mig­ra­tion can be read as a “slow acci­dent”, wait­ing for its “inev­it­able moment”. 

Thus, equat­ing the two terms is an over­sim­pli­fic­a­tion. Both involve com­pet­i­tion over resources, but in Bali, over­tour­ism is what vis­ibly accel­er­ates envir­on­ment­al degrad­a­tion and chal­lenges the island’s sus­tain­able future.

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In Wales, we must respect the local community

John Morris Williams, Group General Manager, Sanakeo Boutique Hotel & Flora by Sanakeo, Laos

Over­tour­ism occurs where a des­tin­a­tion is so over­run with people that it is dif­fi­cult for any­one, vis­it­or or loc­al alike, to appre­ci­ate the beauty of the place. 

John Morris Williams
Read more by John Mor­ris Wil­li­ams 

This is what I call ‘retarded tour­ism’, where tour­ism depart­ments fail to value what they have; pre­fer­ring instead to count heads in beds. 

There should be a daily lim­it for access to cer­tain areas so that people who want to explore, exper­i­ence, and pay their respects can do so. 

These places should not be treated like cash cows. Their loc­al cul­ture, her­it­age, and envir­on­ment must be pre­served for the long term, not sac­ri­ficed to quarterly metrics!

Most agree with this.

How­ever, the notion of over­im­mig­ra­tion is easy to unfairly dis­par­age and dismiss. 

As in over­tour­ism, the “over” in over­im­mig­ra­tion means “too much”. It’s not that migrants aren’t wel­come, it’s that their num­bers and/or their atti­tudes may be inappropriate. 

In Cym­ru [Wales], both Plaid Cym­ru and Labour seem keen to wel­come “illeg­als” who don’t speak Welsh and have no idea about nor respect for our cul­ture, her­it­age, and history. 

In Cym­ru, and the UK more broadly, until our own people feel in full con­trol of their des­tiny; until the appro­pri­ate hous­ing and infra­struc­ture is in place; and until trust is restored in loc­al polit­ics, we can­not pos­sibly be con­sidered a sanc­tu­ary nation. 

In any place, the arrival of people who don’t fit in — be they tour­ists or migrants — is dif­fi­cult enough to deal with. This is only exacer­bated by pre-exist­ing social and eco­nom­ic problems.

In the UK, we have vet­er­ans on the streets, old-age pen­sion­ers strug­gling to make ends meet, and young people raised with little sense of pur­pose; little pride in their cul­ture, her­it­age, and history. 

As we like to say in earn­est talks about tour­ism, we must respect the loc­al community. 

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It’s all about overtourism in Khao Sok

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, Head of Marketing & Sales, VHG Hospitality Asia, Thailand

Tucked away in Sur­at Thani, Thai­l­and, Khao Sok Nation­al Park is often described as a hid­den gem; though it’s hardly hid­den any­more. Tower­ing lime­stone cliffs rise above the rain­forest, Cheow Lan Lake shim­mers in shift­ing shades of green, and the jungle hums with life that has exis­ted for mil­lions of years. It’s no won­der trav­el­lers keep coming.

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, YAANA Ventures
Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe

But pop­ular­ity has its price. Talk to loc­als and you’ll hear two stor­ies: one about jobs, homestays, and the oppor­tun­it­ies that tour­ism has cre­ated, and anoth­er about packed boats on the lake, over­flow­ing bins, and jungle trails worn thin. For many, the worry is simple; the park could lose the quiet magic that makes it special.

This is what people mean when they talk about over­tour­ism. It isn’t just about num­bers; it’s about the tip­ping point when a place feels stretched. Venice reached that point years ago. So did parts of Bar­celona. Khao Sok isn’t there yet, but the signs are appearing.

Still, there are ways for­ward. Com­munity-led tour­ism dis­trib­utes vis­it­ors more evenly and gives res­id­ents a stake in main­tain­ing the park’s health. Lim­its on float­ing bun­ga­lows and stricter rules for trekking are already in place. And trav­el­lers them­selves can choose to tread light­er: stay­ing longer instead of rush­ing through, sup­port­ing guides who care about con­ser­va­tion, or simply vis­it­ing out­side peak season.

Khao Sok’s story is really about bal­ance. Growth and pro­tec­tion don’t have to be oppos­ites if choices are made care­fully. If man­aged well, the park can remain both a source of live­li­hood for the people who live there and a haven for those who seek a rain­forest escape.

VHG-affil­i­ated Anurak Com­munity Lodge, loc­ated at the edge of Khao Sok Nation­al Park, is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Partner.

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“GT” Insight BiteX (‘X’ is up to you)

The “Good Tour­ism” Blog offers a great oppor­tun­ity to any travel & tour­ism stake­hold­er who wishes to express them­self in writ­ing for the bene­fit of “GT’s” open-minded readers. 

To fea­ture in the next “GT” Insight Bites com­pil­a­tion, send no more than 300 words (300 words or few­er (</=300 words)) on any tour­ism-related idea or con­cern you may have. 

Don’t use AI. if you lack con­fid­ence in writ­ing in plain Eng­lish, “GT’s” pub­lish­er will per­son­ally help with copy edit­ing. “GT” doesn’t judge. “GT” publishes.

Send your “GT” Insight Bite and pic­ture to [email protected].

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The authenticity of intent when pursuing sustainability certification

Kevin Phun, founder, Centre for Responsible Tourism Singapore; lead independent expert Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Green Destinations

There is some­thing beau­ti­ful about a genu­ine com­mit­ment to sus­tain­ab­il­ity dur­ing the pur­suit of certification.

Kevin Phun
Kev­in Phun

Increas­ingly, cer­ti­fic­a­tion is pre­ferred, if not required, by cli­ents and stake­hold­ers such as gov­ern­ments and pro­cure­ment agen­cies. This makes its pur­suit all the more pertinent.

The intent behind seek­ing cer­ti­fic­a­tion determ­ines the approach. Some will pur­sue it with a tick-box atti­tude, aim­ing to fin­ish as quickly as pos­sible. Oth­ers see it as a learn­ing pro­cess (com­pleted in good time, of course). 

We advoc­ate for the lat­ter; cer­ti­fic­a­tion should be an oppor­tun­ity to learn how to adopt best prac­tices and adapt to new situations.

There is much wis­dom with­in a stand­ard, the doc­u­ment on which an aud­it­or bases their checks. Its cri­ter­ia provide guid­ance for the organ­isa­tion, and the pro­cess should involve find­ing innov­at­ive ways to meet them. Tack­ling sus­tain­ab­il­ity oblig­a­tions in mul­tiple ways enhances effi­ciency and can lead to cost savings.

Nat­ur­ally, an inten­tion behind cer­ti­fic­a­tion is to show­case it. This is not simply about impress­ing people; it is a way to com­mu­nic­ate your jour­ney of con­trib­ut­ing to soci­ety and the envir­on­ment, invit­ing oth­ers to see what you do and explore partnerships.

While it is expedi­ent to dis­play a cer­ti­fi­er­’s stamp of approv­al, remem­ber that guests are more inter­ested in their own hol­i­day than your vir­tues. They are more likely to appre­ci­ate your sus­tain­ab­il­ity ini­ti­at­ives if those ini­ti­at­ives enhance their stay, or if they can see how your prac­tices pos­it­ively affect their experience.

The Centre for Respons­ible Tour­ism Singa­pore is a val­ued “GT” Partner.

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What do you think? 

In a com­ment below share your own thoughts about the sim­il­ar­it­ies and dif­fer­ence between over­tour­ism and over­im­mig­ra­tion. 

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Or write a “GT” Insight or “GT” Insight Bite of your own. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive about travel & tour­ism, because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

This is an open invit­a­tion to travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers from any back­ground to share their thoughts in plain Eng­lish with a glob­al industry audience.

“GT” doesn’t judge. “GT” pub­lishes. “GT” is where free thought travels.

If you think the tour­ism media land­scape is bet­ter with “GT” in it, then please … 

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Previous “GT” Insight Bites

Featured image (top of post)

A Gem­ini-gen­er­ated image from the prompt: “Cre­ate an abstract image rep­res­ent­ing over­tour­ism and over­im­mig­ra­tion”. “GT” added “Over it”.

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