Scroll down for posts that have been tagged with “Carrying capacity & mass tourism & overtourism”.
According to the Biology Dictionary: “[C]arrying capacity relates the number of organisms which can survive to the resources within an ecosystem. Ecosystems cannot exceed their carrying capacity [for long].” Some travel & tourism stakeholders refer to a destination’s sustainable capacity to receive visitors as its ‘carrying capacity’.
Mass tourism is characterised by large concentrations of tourists at the same place at the same time. The travel & tourism industry facilitates mass tourism through organised group tours, package deals, shore visits by cruise ship passengers, and similar practices.
Overtourism is the perception, especially among residents, of too much tourism at a destination or simply too many visitors to a place. Environmental carrying capacities notwithstanding, overtourism is subjective. There need not be industrial-scale mass tourism for a host community to feel the effects of overtourism. Mass tourism is often the cause of overtourism in ‘normal’ neighbourhoods, but not in destinations or attractions that have been planned and purpose-built to receive large numbers of tourists, and whose resident populations welcome the economic opportunities mass tourism brings.
“The phenomenon of ‘overtourism’, about which there are always lots of complaints, is a symptom of an unhealthy dependence on tourism for jobs and economic activity. We know that, yet this dependence is why little gets done to solve the problem. It is politically and economically difficult to solve because the withdrawal symptoms are rough.” _ David Gillbanks in “As we sit out COVID-19, let’s think about a fair & fail-safe treatment or vaccine for overtourism”.
Tags are informal. The “Good Tourism” Blog tries not to get bogged down with terminology and definitions, so you may disagree with tags applied (or not applied) to a post. If so, please feel free to comment on any post you think has been incorrectly or insufficiently tagged. “GT” encourages good-faith debate and discussion.
Since becoming the first Italian town to charge an entry fee, tourist numbers to Civita di Bagnoregio have exploded from 40,000 annually four years ago to a forecast 850,000 this year. In 2017, the hill-top hamlet will “welcome” visitors at a ratio of 85,000 to one full-time resident. Signposted as “Civita, The Town That Is […]
Read More Civita di Bagnoregio, the tourism town on the edge of extinction
The UNWTO & WTM Ministers’ Summit will debate over-tourism, November 7, at WTM London 2017. While senior figures prepare their talking points, the Micronesian archipelago of Palau is making moves now to combat the phenomenon. According to Republic of Palau President Tommy E Remengasau, Jr, in his introductory message for the Palau Responsible Tourism Policy […]
Read More Palau tackles over-tourism with responsible tourism
Over-population may be a word more likely to spring to mind than over-tourism when one thinks of Bangladesh. However, as reported in the Dhaka Tribune, a Bangladesh Department of Environment (DoE) report says unplanned tourism leading to over-tourism, marine pollution, and illegal structures are posing serious threats to the biodiversity of Bangladesh’s only coral island. […]
Read More Over-tourism alarm bells for Bangladesh’s only coral island
Protests by residents and lobbying by hoteliers are forcing governments globally to toughen their stance on the accommodation sharing economy. Spain’s Balearic Islands has announced it will penalise landlords for illegally renting apartments to tourists with fines of up to 40,000 euros (~US$47,000). Renting apartments without a licence was banned in the Balearic Islands in […]
Read More Residents, authorities, hoteliers grapple with global sharing economy
Prominent Filipino writer and economist Dr Bernardo M Villegas is encouraged by the preliminary draft of the next Philippines tourism development plan because of its intent to develop low-density, community-based, and nature-based tourism and to promote the use of green technologies. However, in this “Good Tourism” Insight, Dr Villegas urges authorities to look to Spain […]
Read More Philippines tourism development & how to avoid more Boracays
UNESCO and the World Bank signed a new MoU about cities last week to “advance sustainable development by investing in culture, urban development, and resilience in an integrated manner”. As the consultants and spin doctors of the world lick their lips — and institutional bookshelves and cloud servers standby to supply storage for their expensive output — in Venice […]
Read More Meanwhile, a young couple promotes authentic experiences