Overtourism : issues, realities and solutions

As tourism has surged, there have been increased concerns expressed about overtourism – a phenomena of unsustainable tourism which negatively affects the livelihoods of local communities and the resources upon which tourism is based. As it is becoming increasingly clear that the environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism on destinations must be managed appropriately to secure their long-term viability, there is a critical need to understand governance and planning tools that can resolve current problems of overtourism without losing the benefits of tourism development. The concerns about overtourism expressed in both academic and popular literature include: too many tourists in one place, rowdy and other inappropriate behaviour by tourists, antagonism between residents and tourists, crowding, strains on infrastructure, loss of authenticity, loss of amenity and reduction in quality of life of residents and reduced enjoyment of experiences by tourists. Overtourism is the first book to examine in detail the origin and causes of overtourism and place the topic in a conceptual context with other forms of tourism including sustainable and mass tourism. It includes a number of case studies of overtourism in both urban and rural settings and discusses potential steps to reduce the impacts on both residents and the natural environment of affected areas. Table of Contents Foreword: Justin Francis, ResponsibleTravel.com Part I: Introduction Introduction (Rachel Dodds and Richard W. Butler) The enablers of overtourism (Rachel Dodds and Richard W. Butler) Part II: Theoretical positioning and implications Perspectives on the environment and overtourism (Geoff Wall) Authenticity and overtourism (Jillian Rickly) The role of social cedia in Creating and addressing overtourism (Ulrike Gretzel) Overtourism and the Tourism Area Life Cycle (Richard W. Butler) Part III: Case studies Boracay beach closure: the role of the government and the private sector (Reil Cruz and Giovanni Legaspi) Thailand: too popular for its own good (Janto Hess) Barcelona – crowding out the locals: a model for tourism management? (Harold Goodwin) Venice: capacity and tourism (Emma Nolan and Hugues Séraphin) Prague and the impact of low cost airlines (Miroslav Rončák) Lucerne and the impact of Asian group tours (Fabian Weber, Florian Eggli, Timo Ohnmacht and Jürg Stettler) The Hajj: crowding and congestion problems for pilgrims and hosts (Jahanzeeb Qurashi) Overtourism in rural settin ...