OPINIONReThinking Tourism

Overtourism and 'unbalanced' tourism: What do these terms mean, and what can we do about them?

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Doug Lansky
Doug Lansky

Overtourism and unbalanced tourism are two very different perspectives on the same basic problem.

One is an snapshot of the current congestion, and the other is more of a bird's eye, managerial approach to diagnosing -- and solving -- the larger problem from a citywide standpoint.

If an airport is being enlarged to accommodate 100 million annual visitors, but hotels and short-term rentals can only handle 20 million people a year and the top three attractions can only handle 4 million, then things are out of balance. If a visitor is standing in a long line waiting to get into one of those attractions in peak season, you could call that situation overtourism. If you're the mayor of that city, it would be a good idea to ask what could be done to bring things into balance. When a theme park wants to grow, it doesn't just add an extra ride; it also make sure it adds more parking, toilets, restaurants and cleaning staff to accommodate the growth.

Without that kind of thinking, unbalance will occur, and pockets of "overtourism" will pop up around the city.

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