OVERTURISM: MAIN CAUSES, IMPACTS, AND SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Keywords:
Overcrowding, Sustainable tourism, management of destinations, tourism impacts, capacity, visitor control, residents.Abstract
Overtourism is now or will soon be a serious challenge for tourism destination (mainly in urban areas, close to beaches, and cultural attractions) to some extent. Overtourism might arise when: people and the pressures of tourism exceed the capacity of the destination or where the quality of life of community and traveler are negatively affected. In order to seek causes and impacts of the over-swelled tourism and reveal measures for sustainable development of tourism, there are several sustainable tourism or destination management approach can be found from the practice. In general, this article discovers that, key drivers of overtourism are buoyant long-haul low cost air transportation, proliferation of short-term rentals, metastasizing of destination via social media, seasonality and deficient tourism management practices, while outcomes include 'traffic chaos, growing deterioration of local environment, high load on public infrastructure, soaring housing prices, dislocation of local residents, diminishing authentic destination culture, constrain in tourism experience. And, the article has also noted some management strategies to be used in sustainability -traffic flow regulation, spatial and seasonal dispersion, restriction on short-term rentals, strategic planning, community development, environmental conservation and big data driven sustainability management system. In synthesis, only the combination of improvement in economic performance and simultaneously promotion of social and environmental good can be achieved, instead of just multiplying the number of visitors.
Downloads
References
1. Capocchi, A., Vallone, C., Pierotti, M., & Amaduzzi, A. (2019). Overtourism: A literature review to assess implications and future perspectives. Sustainability, 11(12), 3303. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123303
2. Cheer, J. M., Milano, C., & Novelli, M. (2019). Tourism and community resilience in the Anthropocene: Accentuating temporal overtourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(4), 554–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1578363
3. Cheung, K. S., & Li, L.-H. (2019). Understanding visitor–resident relations in overtourism: Developing resilience for sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(8), 1197–1216. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2019.1606815
4. Dodds, R., & Butler, R. (2019). The phenomena of overtourism: A review. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 5(4), 519–528. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-06-2019-0090
5. Goodwin, H. (2017). The challenge of overtourism. Responsible Tourism Partnership.
6. Guttentag, D. (2015). Airbnb: Disruptive innovation and the rise of an informal tourism accommodation sector. Current Issues in Tourism, 18(12), 1192–1217. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.827159
7. Koens, K., Postma, A., & Papp, B. (2018). Is overtourism overused? Understanding the impact of tourism in a city context. Sustainability, 10(12), Article 4384. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124384
8. McCool, S. F., & Lime, D. W. (2001). Tourism carrying capacity: Tempting fantasy or useful reality? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9(5), 372–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669580108667409
9. Mihalic, T. (2020). Conceptualising overtourism: A sustainability approach. Annals of Tourism Research, 84, Article 103025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103025
10. Milano, C., Novelli, M., & Cheer, J. M. (2019). Overtourism and tourismphobia: A journey through four decades of tourism development, planning and local concerns. Tourism Planning & Development, 16(4), 353–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2019.1599604
11. Peeters, P., Gössling, S., Klijs, J., Milano, C., Novelli, M., Dijkmans, C., Eijgelaar, E., Hartman, S., Heslinga, J., Isaac, R., Mitas, O., Moretti, S., Nawijn, J., Papp, B., & Postma, A. (2018). Research for TRAN Committee – Overtourism: Impact and possible policy responses. European Parliament, Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies.
12. Seraphin, H., Sheeran, P., & Pilato, M. (2018). Over-tourism and the fall of Venice as a destination. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 9, 374–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.01.011
13. Wachsmuth, D., & Weisler, A. (2018). Airbnb and the rent gap: Gentrification through the sharing economy. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 50(6), 1147–1170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X18778038
14. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). (2018). ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and managing urban tourism growth beyond perceptions. UNWTO. https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284420070
15. World Tourism Organization, Centre of Expertise Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, & NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. (2019). ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and managing urban tourism growth beyond perceptions: Volume 2 – Case studies. UNWTO. https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284420629
