Cities in the fight against over -tourism: Barcelona combines forces with Venice

Cities in the fight against over -tourism: Barcelona combines forces with Venice

Hallstatt, Österreich - Tourism is booming and moving millions of visitors to the most beautiful cities in Europe every year. But that has its dark side: in many destinations, mass tourism causes significant problems. Traditional tourist hotspots such as Venice, Barcelona and Amsterdam are particularly affected. This challenge is increasingly becoming a burden, not only for the environment, but also for the quality of life of the residents.

Vienna, with its 8.2 million guests from 2024, did relatively well in a European comparison. Compared to Barcelona, which attracts around 30 million tourists annually, the conditions here are more bearable. But here, too, the air becomes thinner because the city with its two million inhabitants has to master a balancing act.

The situation in popular cities

Venice is the prime example of the negative effects of overtourism. With 20 to 25 million visitors annually, the city has an immense population for only 50,000 inhabitants. The old town is heavily overloaded, and despite numerous measures to regulate tourism, such as the ban on large cruise ships, the load remains high. In Barcelona, too, there are regular protests by city dwellers who fight the rising real estate prices and the devaluation of their quality of life through tourism. So it happened that demonstrators used water pistols as a protest to draw attention to the situation.

Similar problems are plagued by Lisbon and Palma de Mallorca, where the locals mobilize the rising living costs through tourism. As reported again and again, historical quarters are overloaded and the housing market is tense up. Industry leaders discuss at conferences such as the Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona about possible solutions to contain the overtourism and rely on a holistic approach to promoting sustainable tourism.

a common approach to overtourism

In order to meet the challenges of mass tourism, some cities, including Barcelona, Venice, Lisbon and Palma, have come together to tackle the problem together. The forecasts indicate an increase in international tourist arrivals by 5% by 2025, which means that it is high time to become active. Suggestions to regulate short -term rents and to promote lesser -known travel destinations in Spain are developed to reduce the pressure on the trendy destinations.

Esther Villena from Amadeus emphasizes that the analysis and use of data is crucial in order to control the behavior of tourists sensibly. It is emphasized how important it is to inform travelers about the consequences of their behavior in order to raise awareness of the local communities and the environment. The goal is a combination of state regulation, industry cooperation and education - only in this way can sustainable tourism be promoted.

The situation remains tense, and Vienna should also be aware of the challenge of overtourism. Every step towards a more conscious and sustainable tourism strategy could be crucial for the future of urban quality of life and the environment. It remains to be hoped that the efforts of the cities will bear fruit and a solution to the problem of mass tourism will be found.

For further information on the effects of overtourism in different cities in Europe, you can report the reports of Kurier href = "https://www.travelandtourworld.de/news/artikel/barcelona-schlie%C3%9ft-sich-mit-venedig--lissabon-und-palma-zhm---um-dem-overtourism-ent towards Tour World consult.