Europe's beauty spots plot escape from the too-many-tourists trap

The fury rippled across Europe during a summer from hell in 2017. In Barcelona, they held up a tourist bus and slashed bike tyres. In Venice, they marched against the cruise ships and raised rents. In some Spanish cities, the writing was on the wall quite literally, as locals told travellers in the boldest fonts: “Tourists go home.”

So now, with the summer season just around the corner, tourism bosses across Europe are frantically trying to implement new measures that will keep locals happy and economies afloat.

“Someone said there is no overtourism, only undermanagement,” said the World Tourism Organisation secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, when asked how the industry could move forward.

“What we are facing is the clear need to step up the governance of tourist flows on the ground, especially if we look at growing tourist numbers in general and growing flows to urban destinations.”

The range of solutions floated at a tourism conference in Berlin on Wednesday included tightening up on Airbnb rentals, better management of tourism flow and widespread use of digital tools.

Spanish officials have already introduced an online ticketing system for the fortified Islamic palace of Alhambra, offering its 2.7 million annual visitors pre-booked slots to balance the crowds.

There are hopes in Italy’s Cinque Terre that a similar system could reduce the visitor masses pounding the venerable cliff paths every year. Although not obligatory, its capped entry cards include services such as rail connections and are linked with an app giving real-time information on the numbers of visitors in each pastel-hued village – a subtle nudge to avoid bottlenecks.

Source: theguardian