Tourism is not always to blame

Times

3 days ago

Cities that want tourists to stay away, including Barcelona, should be careful what they wish for
EMILIO MORENATTI/AP
I t is the height of the summer holidays, and millions of tourists are now on their way to their favourite Spanish beaches or jostling through the narrow alleyways of Venice. In fact, rebounding vigorously from the slump during and after the Covid pandemic, tourism is at an all-time high: European countries hosted an estimated 756 million tourists last year, 46 million more than in 2023. The Greek island of Zakynthos drew 150 times more people than it has permanent ­residents. Little wonder that there has been a backlash: tourists are jeered and sprayed by water guns in Barcelona, Venice has introduced a daily tourist tax and cruise ships are increasingly ­unwelcome in the Canary Islands.
Spain, the second most visited country in Europe (and the top one for British tourists), is ­experiencing particular overcrowding and ­hostility. The mayor of Barcelona has unveiled a €15 million plan to alleviate the congestion around the Sagrada Familia basilica, visited last year by 4.7 million people. He wants to regulate the proliferation of tourist shops, promote commercial ­diversity and enforce limits on bars.
Apparently it is not working. Despite the 41 souvenir shops already crowding nearby streets, more are still being opened. Residents complain there is nowhere to buy bread and other staples. And young people find housing increasingly unaffordable, as landlords find it much more profitable to rent out properties to the thousands looking for Airbnb accommodation.
These complaints — on the distortion of the housing market, the noise, traffic, drunkenness and loutish behaviour of many tourists (especially the British and Germans in Ibiza and other clubbing hotspots) — are being voiced increasingly stridently across Europe. Paris numbered more than 400,000 visitors per square kilometre in 2024, 20 times the local resident population. Central Athens and Copenhagen were also swamped. Amsterdam is now openly hostile to those coming to gawp at the red light district (and has tried to move the prostitutes to a distant designated venue). And tranquil Switzerland finds its slopes overcrowded in winter and Alpine summers ruined by cars and walkers. Take the train instead, it urges.
The complaints are understandable. But tourism is not always to blame. A failure to build enough houses, poor traffic regulation, the refusal to see the environmental impact of huge cruise liners (especially in the Venice lagoon), profiteering by business monopolies — these all deflect blame and lay it on overtourism. The danger, however, is that overt hostility will be keenly felt by visitors, who may choose to take their holiday spending money elsewhere. Numbers will drop. The goose may not only stop laying golden eggs but will be cooked. Already some businesses in popular destinations are complaining that fewer people are coming after protests.
Tourism is extraordinarily big business, not ­only in Europe but further afield: Thailand, New Zealand, Bali and the Gambia rely on visitors. On the whole, tourism does broaden most minds, though the risk of local exploitation is significant. But proper regulation is essential if it is not to ­increase xenophobia and prejudice. Countries such as Greece, helped back from the brink of bankruptcy by tourism, now find some heritage sites in danger. Responsible governments must treat their heritage, visitors and earnings responsibly.