World hits its Overtourism Tipping Point

Venice has responded to overtourism by implementing a 5€ fee for day trippers visiting the city, addressing the widespread issue exacerbated by the global pandemic.

1: Dimension- Impact of Overtourism

• Overtourism arises when destinations face an overwhelming influx of tourists, leading to adverse effects on the environment, infrastructure, and local communities.
• India is ranked 10th among 185 countries in terms of travel & tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2019.  However, it also brings social, economic, and environmental consequences.
• Challenges include disenchanted locals, degraded tourist experiences, strained infrastructure, and cultural threats.
• Social impact: It can cause difficulties for the locals as mentioned above overtourism affects their quality of life.
• Economic issue: Overcrowding results in congested public spaces, increased real estate prices, reduced residents' purchasing power.
• Environmental issue: Depletion of local natural resources and species as well as pollution and waste problems. Tourism contributes to more than 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with transportation accounting for 90 percent of this.

Addressing Overtourism

• Tourism de-growthhas long been posited as a remedy to overtourism.
• De-marketing destinations has been applied with varying degrees of success.
• Introducing entry fees and gates to over-tourist places like Venice is another deterrent.