Over tourism – a problem of too many tourists or one of not enough management of tourism (strategy/policy issues) or of tourists (infrastructure/operational issues)?  Are some UK destinations  now in serious danger of  accidentally smothering the golden goose or alternatively of missing the equally golden opportunity to spread the social and economic benefits more widely or over longer periods?  Is this a major reputational issue and therefore one capable of causing damage well beyond the places and times at which peaks of over tourism actually occur?

The questions around over tourism are complex.  As it seems likely that the problem will grow and spread to other destinations, they are questions that British Destinations now wish to start confronting.  We are doing so in order to help prompt further debate  around policy and strategic direction, infrastructure and operational matters at national through to local level.  We also wish to see far more discussions around the critical (?) role of destination management in dealing  with what logically appears to be a local management issue but one with significant national consequences attached.

Although not directly related to the sharing economy, the sharing accommodation sector is frequently cited as one of  the factors helping to drive, over tourism, especially in popular urban destinations.  Rather than creating yet another main menu tab, articles that relate to over tourism will now be posted here located in the drop-down menu under the sharing economy tab:

24 Jun 2019 – Overtourism: 20 cities that could be the next to suffer – will they cope with rise in visitors, or struggle? 

19 Jun 2019 – How to be a better tourist

4 Jun  2019 – Too Many People Want to Travel

11 Sep 2018 – Why tourist boards are telling you to ditch the ‘bucket list’ and change the way you travel

30 Apr 2019 – New Zealand’s Tourist Tax Will Be Used to Combat Overtourism

5 Sep 2018 – Are we killing tourist destinations for an Instagram photo?

5 Sep 2018 – Sensible idea or snobbery: is Florence right to ban eating in the streets?

19 Aug 2018 – The Guardian view on over-tourism: an unhealthy appetite for travel

16 Aug 2018 – Wish you weren’t here: how the tourist boom – and selfies – are threatening Britain’s beauty spots

13 Aug 2018 –  Cornwall tourist overcrowding ‘will not deter visitors’

13 Aug 2018 – Cornwall beaches struggling under tourist influx thanks to heatwave and Poldark

1 May 2018 – Venice tourist crackdown SPREADS across Italy – Anger as Capri and Garda near ‘EXPLODING’

1 Feb 2018 – Edinburgh in over-tourism warning as visitor levy looms

31 Jan 2018 – UK Government Doesn’t Think It Has an Overtourism Problem

25 Jan 2018 – Edinburgh is the latest city claiming to suffer from ‘over tourism’

12 Dec 2017 – The most overcrowded tourist destinations

7 Nov 2017 –  Why over-promoting Scotland’s tourism hotspots is choking the life out of the industry

1 Nov 2017 – Scottish Highlands feel the strain as tourism surge causes disruption

12 Sep 2017 – Italy vs. the tourists