Here’s proof that in the tourism world, you can have too much of a good thing.

Many countries around the world rely on tourism to stay afloat, and South Africa would be in a right mess without that foreign money pouring in at our hot spots.

That being said, some destinations are now buckling under the strain of a tourist influx, as well as fighting an identity crisis.

Before we look at six areas that are taking active measures to curb overtourism, here’s a word of warning from CNN:

The situation could be poised to get worse. The World Tourism and Travel Council says that of 1.4 billion international tourist trips in 2018, more than 36%, or half a billion, involved a visit to one of the planet’s 300 most popular cities, a trend that’s set to continue upwards.

Familiar overtouristed destinations could soon be joined by others, with the WTTC identifying cities such as Delhi, Cairo, Manila, Bangkok and Moscow as unprepared for the surge in travelers expected in the next decade.

Bangkok can only handle so many yoga retreats and seminars, friends.

Let’s start with the first of the six areas taking a stand – Machu Picchu, Peru:

Visitor numbers to Peru’s most famous attraction rocketed in 2018, with 1,578.030 people heading to the ruins of 15th century Incan citadel, a jump of 12% on the previous year.

With an average of 4,300 tourists crowding its narrow walkways every day, officials took bold action, introducing a strict new ticketing system in January 2019. Tickets are now time limited, with slots lasting four hours and no re-entry allowed.

The aim is to spread the number of visitors, encouraging tourists to come in less popular afternoon slots.

There is also the problem of the new airport planned in nearby Chinchero, which some locals say will ruin the area forever.

Amsterdam, Netherlands:

 The Dutch capital has taken bold steps to ease the chronic tourist overcrowding of its narrow streets.

With visitor numbers forecast to rise from 18 million in 2018 to 42 million by 2030, the city’s tourist board has simply decided to stop advertising…

From January 2020, tours of its infamous red light district will be banned. “We do not consider it appropriate for tourists to leer at sex workers,”city alderman Udo Kock said in March 2019. Meanwhile, new signs placed next to tulip fields are aimed at discouraging visitors from trampling the symbolic flowers.

Even some of the more previously remote locations in the Netherlands are taking action, closing down popular attractions.

Venice, Italy:

The city has introduced a new levy on day trippers, which starts at three euros. By 2020, this fee will range from three to 10 euros, depending on the time of year and the amount of visitors in the area…

Iris Lorendana, who runs the La Venessiana blog, says locals have started to take the problem into their own hands.

We won’t go into great detail, because we recently covered the Venice problem here.

Croatia

Like Venice, Dubrovnik [pictured right up the top] deals with thousands of visitors arriving at its ancient walls via cruise liners. The city has seen its popularity surge after locations across its Old Town were used in “Game of Thrones”.

Official Croatian Tourist Board figures revealed that a massive 1.27 million people visited Dubrovnik in 2018, an eight per cent jump on 2017.

“Dubrovnik is successfully conducting a project called ‘respect the city’, with the aim of sustainable and responsible tourism development,” says Romana Vlašić, director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.

“One of the measures is limiting the number of cruise ship passengers to 4,000 at the same time.”

Vlašić adds that the city’s tourist board is promoting Dubrovnik as a “city for all seasons”, with the aim of spreading visitor numbers throughout the year.

Perhaps that will work, but South Africans are still going to head there in June and July to escape the cold around these parts.

Moving on, here’s Iceland:

Iceland’s tourist numbers slipped slightly in January 2019, with visitors totaling 139,055, a drop of 8,514 compared with the same month in 2018.

However, with annual numbers jumping from 500,000 in 2010 to 2.3 million in 2018, there’s no denying the country, and particularly famous locations close to the capital, Reykjavik, have had to deal with huge crowds in recent years.

Rather than discouraging visitors, however, Iceland is looking to diversify its tourism offering, according to Francis.

“Recognizing the strain being placed on Reykjavik and a small number of other sites, they have tried to promote areas further afield to ease the pressure on the ‘Golden Circle,'” he says, referring to a popular day tour of geological attractions…

In a more drastic move, officials looking after canyon of Fjaðrárgljúfur recently announced the beauty spot would be shut for all but five weeks of the year, after it was used in a Justin Bieber music video. Damage caused by a surge in visitors was blamed for the move.

You can only imagine the selfie shitshow that was happening around Fjaðrárgljúfur. Maybe they should make a rule that you have to be able to pronounce it before you can visit.

Finally, maybe Colin Farrell is to blame for the problems of Bruges, Belgium: 

Renowned for its Belfry and picturesque houses, the UNESCO-protected city of Bruges has long been a stop off for those exploring Europe’s most arresting locations.

However, its mayor, Dirk De fauw, is looking to protect the city from a boom in tourist numbers, with visitors to the center outnumbering locals by three to one.

“We have to control the influx more if we don’t want it to become a complete Disneyland here,” De fauw told local media in May 2019.

His proposals include limiting the number of cruise liners that can dock at nearby Zeebrugge to two at any one time, down from the five it has room for.

Also featured in the CNN piece are Bali, the Taj Mahal, Santorini, Edinburgh, Rome, Barcelona and Queenstown, New Zealand.

There are worse problems to have, but nobody wants their home to turn into a ‘complete Disneyland’.

[source:cnn]