To address overtourism globally, a "quality over quantity" tourism strategy can be implemented, focusing on high-spending travelers to reduce crowds and promote sustainability.

"Sustainable tourism development should consider the negative impacts of overtourism, such as social, environmental, and economic consequences, as seen in the example of Barcelona where locals are frustrated with excessive tourist overcrowding."

The tourism sector is responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions.

Taiwan's proposals for outdoor resources should focus on sustainable tourism practices that support local communities, such as choosing locally owned accommodations and promoting locally sourced produce.

Hong Kong's tourism industry is plagued by issues such as lack of product innovation, price wars, and low service quality, which can be attributed to the operation mode of travel agencies and the handling of relationships between tour guides.

Overtourism can cause social and economic problems in destinations, including high rental prices and displacement of local residents.

Overtourism in European cities like Barcelona can lead to social consequences such as unaffordable living for locals and community dissatisfaction, potentially resulting in protests.

Overtourism can cause environmental degradation, strain on local infrastructure, and disruption of community life, as seen in the example of Venice, Italy, where large cruise ships were banned to preserve the city's integrity, but thousands of passengers continue to flock to the city's narrow lanes.

Mount Fuji in Japan is one of the places experiencing overtourism problems, as it is listed as one of the top places to avoid visiting in 2024.

Overtourism is a visible issue at the University of Hong Kong campus, prompting the school to implement reservation measures.

Areas like Fuji Mountain face problems due to overtourism, and visiting quieter spots can help spread out the weight and benefits of tourism.

To address overtourism globally, a "quality over quantity" tourism strategy can be implemented, focusing on high-spending travelers to reduce crowds and promote sustainability.

Title:

Content: Global News
The world today - spraying with water guns..
Are tourist expulsions spreading in Europe?
You are now following the news of spraying with water guns.
Are tourist expulsions spreading in Europe?
From the World News section and now we leave you with the full details
SAHAD MOHAMMED - Abu Dhabi on Friday 19 July 2024 04: 25 PM - Spain's tourism unrest has reached its peak in the past few days, with some locals in Barcelona spraying tourists with water guns and canned drinks, asking them to go back to where they came from.
Angry residents, numbering about 3,000, blocked the entrances to hotels and cafes in the Barceloneta neighborhood in a symbolic attempt to express their indignation at the excessive tourist overcrowding in their city.
This is not the first time tourism has been highlighted as a problem in Spain, where the country, which attracted 85 million visitors in 2023, has seen a series of protests against excessive tourism in the country, especially in the city of Barcelona with a population of 1.6 million, which received more than 7.8 million visitors in 2023, leaving many locals unable to afford to live there due to high rental prices.
Fear of Protests in Europe
Spain ’ s overcrowding problem, and the decision to confront it by locals, has highlighted the potential for anti-tourist protests to spread to the rest of Europe ’ s heavily tourist-ridden cities, as UNESCO ’ s Sustainable Tourism Project chief Peter Debrin warned.
The protests will certainly spread if European officials fail to address the negative impact of mass tourism on the lives of the local population, DeBrin says, noting that the situation in Spain has become very volatile, as the coming of civil society and its attempt to bring about change is critical, after all elected officials must respond to what the residents of their cities want.
He cited the 2021 ban on large cruise ships in Venice, Italy, which was passed after protests by residents, as cruise ships no longer pass through the Grand Canal, but are now docked away from Venice, helping to preserve the city ’ s structural and environmental integrity.
But despite the decision to ban large cruise ships in Venice, passengers continue to flock to its narrow lanes in the thousands, with Venice expected to attract about 540,000 cruise passengers this year, an increase of 9 percent compared to 2023, according to the North Adriatic Ports Authority.
In a bid to reduce crowds, Venice has imposed a 5 euro ($5.45) tourist tax on peak days this year, a measure that has so far failed to rein in tourist numbers, Euronews reported.
Quality rather than quantity tourism
Like Venice, Barcelona residents have long struggled with the global popularity of their city: every year, fewer locals say tourism benefits the city, while more people feel it is harmful, according to a survey conducted by the Barcelona City Council in 2023.
UNESCO ’ s Sustainable Tourism Project Chief Officer Peter Debrin believes that Barcelona, which handles too many travelers, could join cities and countries that rely on a “quality over quantity ” tourism strategy – prioritizing high-spending travelers, rather than budget ones – a strategy that gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, when safety and employment concerns pushed destinations around the world to take in fewer affordable travelers. Instead of a lot of budget travelers.
Debrin said Barcelona ’ s reliance on a “quality rather than quantity ” tourism strategy helps correct another problem plaguing the city: tourists who behave badly, noting that for Barcelona residents, it ’ s not just about visitor numbers, but also how people behave, with Spaniards complaining for years about tourists drinking too much, throwing garbage and cigarettes on the streets.
Debrin called on tourists to be more aware in their travel decisions, suggesting focusing on beautiful cities with fascinating tourist and cultural attractions, which are in need of more tourists.
Civil Society Demands
Civil society groups are calling on Barcelona officials to implement a number of policies aimed at “declining tourism growth, ” such as increased tourism taxes, restrictions on cruise ships, and restrictions on short-term rental housing, just like the steps being explored in Amsterdam to crack down on buses, boutiques, new hotels and short-term rentals. In 2023, it asks some visitors, especially young British tourists, to“ stay away ” if they are travelling to the city for drugs or partying.
The most popular Spanish cities with tourists
The General Coordinator of the Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Mediterranean States (ASCAME) Anwar Zebawi, said in an interview to the site "Economy dot Gulf", that some tourist destinations in Spain already suffer from the problem of overcrowding, and these destinations are Barcelona, Malaga, Madrid and Valencia, as these four cities attract tourists more than their capacity, and the problem is that the largest number of these tourists, come in specific months of the year. Sixty percent of all tourists who visit Barcelona each year do so during the months between July and September, creating severe congestion, while the other 40 percent is spread over the rest of the year.
Amplify for protests
Zibawi stressed that what everyone should realize, is that there is a kind of amplification of the recent protests in Barcelona,   the city has not witnessed "major" demonstrations against tourists, as the problem of the local population is never with tourists, and the people who have been sprayed with water, very few and may not exceed the fingers of one hand, pointing out that what happened was directed against those who rent houses as hotel houses. Real estate, largely, deprived the local population, especially young people, of the possibility of obtaining apartments at an appropriate rental price.
Causes of tourist overcrowding in Barcelona
Zibawi explains that one of the reasons that contribute to excessive tourist congestion in Barcelona,   is to allow tourists to stay in tourist houses and chaos in this area, the city contains about 10 thousand houses that have a license to do these works, while there are about 30 thousand hotels operating without a license and in a way contrary to the law, the offer of houses for rent at competitive prices, in addition to cheap flights available in Europe make the cost of travel to Barcelona tourist destinations. This has exacerbated the phenomenon of excessive tourism.
European cities where protests could spread
According to Zibawi, the European cities that can witness objections from the local population because of their suffering from excessive tourism, are Rome, Venice, some Italian islands, Crete in Greece, and some other Greek islands, while Amsterdam in the Netherlands, suffer from the problem of excessive tourism only, in some weeks of the year, especially at the end of the year. year.
Paris found a solution.
Zibawi pointed out that Paris had a major problem with the subject of overcrowding of tourists, and therefore prevented the work of hotel houses and raised the prices of hotels, where she saw that these steps contribute to making the cost of travel high, which prevents the tourist who does not have enough money to come, and this limits the phenomenon of overcrowding, pointing out that if the principle of quality tourism instead of quantity in Barcelona, this may solve the problem of overcrowding and contribute to the distribution of tourists in other areas. Spain.
Solutions that can be resorted to
For his part, Amer Daboussi, executive partner of Eagle Travel Travel, said in an interview with Eqtisad.al-Khaleej that cities suffering from tourist congestion can face this phenomenon by adopting a policy of "quality rather than quantity", where this policy focuses on imposing high standards of hospitality to attract rich or well-resourced tourists, and get rid of the large numbers of tourists from the middle category. h its reception, which reduces the negative effects on the local community.
Dabbousi believes that cities can also resort to the solutions of imposing tourism taxes on foreign visitors, raising hotel prices, restricting the work of hotel house rental applications by imposing financial fees on these apartments and using the revenues collected to improve infrastructure in tourist areas, in addition to the need for affected countries to market new tourist destinations within them, which contributes to attracting visitors to areas outside the main tourist centers.
Excessive damage from tourism
Cities facing the challenges of overcrowding, such as Bangkok in Thailand, Paris in France and New York in the United States, as well as some Greek and Spanish cities, must take measures to manage tourism sustainably and distribute tourism pressure in a way that preserves the quality of life of local residents and respects local culture. Eat and drink, making life more expensive for local residents.
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Are tourist expulsions spreading in Europe?
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"Sustainable tourism development should consider the negative impacts of overtourism, such as social, environmental, and economic consequences, as seen in the example of Barcelona where locals are frustrated with excessive tourist overcrowding."

The tourism sector is responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions.

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Content: Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Editor-in-Chief
Wael Lotfy
Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editors
I'm sorry.
Mohamad Elbaz
Editor-in-Chief
Wael Lotfy
The Guardian: Tourism contributes significantly to the climate crisis
It is a terrible paradox of the climate crisis that some of the most beautiful – and popular – places in the world are also the most vulnerable, especially as most of them have poor infrastructure, which means that with rising temperatures, increasing weather extremes, drying up water sources and the death of natural habitats, these places face another devastating loss, especially tourists.
Tourism contributes significantly to the climate crisis – around 8% of global emissions – and hordes of visitors cause many problems, including excessive development and degradation of natural areas.
The revenue generated by tourists can bring enormous economic benefits to these destinations, and many do not own other forms of industry or otherwise rely on extractive industries such as mining or logging.
She added that tourism can also spread awareness of environmental problems, such as bleaching coral reefs or endangered animal species, and provide funding for conservation efforts.
This complex relationship was highlighted during the coronavirus outbreak, when tourism stopped, carbon emissions dropped, wildlife flourished, and leatherback turtles in Thailand laid the largest number of eggs in two decades, but all this has come at a cost, with the global tourism industry taking a heavy toll, triggering an emergency in developing countries, families struggling to find food, illegal logging in some places has increased, and overfishing has increased.
As the rebuilding of tourism begins, it has become impossible to ignore that the future of the industry is inextricably linked to the climate crisis.
Instead of becoming a major cause of the climate crisis, tourism can be used to raise awareness, increase tourism resources and improve infrastructure.

Taiwan's proposals for outdoor resources should focus on sustainable tourism practices that support local communities, such as choosing locally owned accommodations and promoting locally sourced produce.

Title:

Content: Travel expert explains how to find ‘room to breathe’ in overcrowded destinations

Some of Europe's most popular destinations have struggled to cope with surging numbers of tourists this summer. Express.co.uk spoke to an expert to find out how British tourists can avoid the crowds.

“There’s more to these places than the box office tourist sites" (Image: Getty)

Whether or , some top destinations have struggled with overcrowding this summer.

As travel restrictions fade into the past, more tourists than ever seem to be heading out to explore. Unfortunately, this means some destinations have become overcrowded.

Express.co.uk spoke to Sarah Faith, senior values writer at Responsible Travel, to find out how British tourists can escape the crowds.

Sarah told Express.co.uk : “Travelling outside of peak times is one of the best ways to avoid the crowds in popular destinations. But you could also get off the beaten track a bit.

“There’s more to these places than the box office tourist sites. Find out what the locals love, explore the surrounding villages or spend time browsing local farmer, artisan and flea markets.”

Tourists have complained of crowds in Rome (Image: Getty)

Although tourists often feel pressure to tick off a destination’s top sites, they could have a more rewarding experience heading to quieter spots.

Sarah added: “You’ll have more room to breathe, and have a more authentic experience too. Plus, you’ll help spread out the weight and benefits of tourism more. A win for everyone.”

However, when it comes to getting off the beaten track, Sarah says there are a few factors tourists should consider before booking a holiday.

She told Express.co.uk: “There are plenty of quieter destinations that offer exceptional culture and landscapes.

"You can make sure your holiday supports local people by choosing locally owned guesthouses" (Image: Getty)

“It’s important though that we don’t just transfer the problems of overtourism to another place. You can make sure your holiday supports local people by choosing locally owned guesthouses rather than Airbnbs run by out of town professional hosts, eating in restaurants that serve locally sourced produce and hiring a local guide to show you around.”

While Airbnbs can be a convenient option, locals in some top destinations have complained the properties price them out of the housing market .

Sarah said: “Places like Barcelona, Venice and Dubrovnik are great to visit, but they’re people’s homes too.

“When tourism takes over, it prices local people out of the housing market, closes local amenities and erodes the local culture and social identity that made us want to visit in the first place.

“Locals might be the first to lose out from overtourism but left unchecked, it kills off the tourist experience too. It’s in everyone’s interest to tackle the problem.”

France recently launched a campaign to encourage tourists to visit some of the country’s hidden gems. Leading attractions such as .

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Hong Kong's tourism industry is plagued by issues such as lack of product innovation, price wars, and low service quality, which can be attributed to the operation mode of travel agencies and the handling of relationships between tour guides.

Title:

Content: Tourists and groups are routed tourist cities can not withstand repeated "toss"
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Source: New Beijing News
Author: Yang Jinsong
A number of incidents involving the loss of the rights and interests of tourists have aroused widespread concern among the Chinese public.
In the Beihai Sea, tourists ate four cauliflower 1,500 yuan (RMB, the same below, about 300 Singapore dollars) in silver beach; in Guilin, tourists did not give room cards because of shopping standards, and recently, in Heilongjiang snow village, there are media reports, tourists in addition to the verbal stimulation of tour guides, the original free scenic spots are also listed by travel agencies on the charge of the item.
In the relatively concentrated period of time, across the north and south, violations of the rights and interests of tourists occurred one after another, not only hit the hearts of people eager to travel after the epidemic, but also significantly affected the local image and the recovery process of the tourism industry.
In particular, the snowy countryside, after many rectification, has now exploded such incidents that damage the rights and interests of tourists, and the damage to local tourism brands can not be underestimated.
The recovery of the tourism market, its tourism obstinate disease can not also follow the "return to the river".
At present, it is the key window for rebuilding the imagination and experience of tourism, reshaping the tourism market and industry, and it is also an important stage for the "backlog" of tourism consumption demand to start to release.
Improving the tourism experience requires all-round "strict control"
In fact, over the past three years, many changes have taken place, but the high quality requirements of tourists for tourism products and services have not changed.
Only by fully understanding and meeting the high requirements of tourists, can we form a good "first impression" after opening up, giving tourists more confidence, but also giving the tourism industry more development of the bottom and space to move.
Snow countryside and other events, is not simply to take a single measure can be completely resolved, to better curb the harm of tourists' rights and interests of the incident, should start from many aspects, with comprehensive measures to deal with.
The first basic work is the comprehensive and complete "strict control" of the whole process.
After these recent incidents that harm the rights and interests of tourists, relevant departments in various places have promptly investigated and punished illegal acts.
The management responded positively, sending a good signal and also responding to public expectations.
At the same time, the successive occurrence of these incidents also shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement in "strict control".
In particular, some places are the focus of attention, which is more likely to trigger people's associations.
For example, the scene of tourist activities is diverse, there are scenic spots, there are hotels, there are restaurants, there are stations, airports, and there are shops and theaters.
It can be said that as a foreign lifestyle, tourists inevitably involve all aspects of the destination.
Among them, no matter which aspect of the short board, it is likely to affect the experience of tourists.
This means that in addition to the tourism management department, many departments such as industry and commerce, transportation, and public security are also required to participate in it and work together for a better living space shared by residents and tourists.
Especially at a time when the proportion of individual travelers and free travel is increasing.
For the tourism sector, although it is responsible for guarding the soil, its powers are limited and it is often powerless.
There is a need for closer coordination, information-sharing and joint action among management.
In the process of supervision, it is also necessary to fight ahead of time and do a good job of prevention.
Especially before the peak season, clarify and eliminate the risk points of problems, formulate a perfect plan to quickly deal with the negative impact, and realize the allocation of sufficient resources.
The guide service evaluation should be determined by the tourists.
The operation mode of the travel agency and the handling of the relationship between the tour guide of the travel agency are also closely related to the experience of the tourists.
If the travel agency lacks product innovation ability, the product homogeneity is serious, and mainly relies on the price war to attract tourists.
At that low price, some tour guides have to earn income through tourist shopping and self-funded projects.
In order to achieve the expected revenue target, the high level of service quality is naturally impossible to talk about, and even some more extreme cases will appear.
Of course, both the Tourism Law and the Action Plan for Strengthening the Construction and Management of Tour Guides (2021-2023), issued in 2021, are committed to improving the service quality of travel agencies and improving the ecology of the tour guide industry.
It is necessary to break the "mutual injury" game between travel agencies, tour guides and tourists, on the one hand, implement the existing laws and policies, and take back the time delayed by the epidemic, and on the other hand, create a tourism evaluation system based on tourists' evaluation.
Do a good job in optimizing the employment environment, protecting legitimate rights and interests, improving the incentive mechanism and enhancing professional identity, so that tourism practitioners can truly get rid of the dependence on low-price competition and return commission as the main channel of profit.
To better protect the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and tour guides, it is also necessary to further eliminate information asymmetry, promote credit supervision, and strive to build a good tourism industry, so as to promote tourism to compete at a high level and at a high level.
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Overtourism can cause social and economic problems in destinations, including high rental prices and displacement of local residents.

Overtourism in European cities like Barcelona can lead to social consequences such as unaffordable living for locals and community dissatisfaction, potentially resulting in protests.

Overtourism can cause environmental degradation, strain on local infrastructure, and disruption of community life, as seen in the example of Venice, Italy, where large cruise ships were banned to preserve the city's integrity, but thousands of passengers continue to flock to the city's narrow lanes.

Mount Fuji in Japan is one of the places experiencing overtourism problems, as it is listed as one of the top places to avoid visiting in 2024.

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Japan 's Mount Fuji Exposed in 2024 "9 Top Places to Avoid Visiting"
Mount Fuji, Japan. (Photo, Euronews)
2023 / 12 / 10 15: 45
Li Xinjie / Editor-in-Chief
[Real-Time News / Comprehensive Report] As 2024 approaches, many people are already excited to prepare for various plans to travel abroad.
However, the well-known American travel magazine Fodor ’ s Travel (Fodor ’ s Travel) announced next year ’ s “9 Best Places to Visit in the World ”, calling on tourists to carefully consider avoiding these famous but much-needed hot spots, and mentioning that these areas are affected by environmental pollution and tourism hazards.
Among them, Mount Fuji in Japan, which Taiwanese love, is also on the list.
According to a comprehensive foreign media report, among the nine “No List ” listed by Fodor Travel on its official website in 2024, four of them are in Asia and the rest are in Europe and the United States.
According to the official website, the original intention of the evaluation is not to deliberately suppress partial generalization, but to "respect" as the starting point of the declaration, this time to open the list of avoid visits, but also focus on tourists to nine tourist attractions and dependent local communities, resulting in "excessive tourism", "excessive waste generation", "affect water resources" these three major impacts.
At the same time, Fodor Tourism also pointed out that these nine tourist hotspots are deeply affected by the "Instagram effect", because the beauty of these places is circulating around the world, causing tourism.
Finally, Fodor Tourism also calls on tourists around the world to let go of these areas when planning their 2024 travel plans, but also to be careful to protect the local environment and culture, and to respect the people and places everywhere.
Mount Fuji, Japan
The number of climbers at the site has skyrocketed in recent years, but local authorities and people have pointed out that many do not fully understand the risks involved in climbing Mount Fuji, resulting in overcrowding at the top of the sacred mountain and putting themselves at risk.
In addition, many climbers are unwilling to pay 1,000 yen (about NT $200) for safety and environmental maintenance, and even leave a lot of garbage and urine filled bottles, which can only be cleaned by volunteers, causing headaches.
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
The local waters attract a large number of international tourists to vacation, including snorkeling, water sports and fishing activities, which also lead to the local garbage load, the waters are full of garbage and diesel, and the local government ’ s poor implementation of pollution policies, it is very easy to be avoided by operators, so that the natural ecology of the area is facing unbearable pollution.
Koh Samui, Thailand
The island has been plagued by fresh water shortages for nearly a year, and the influx of tourists has consumed up to 70% of the region ’ s precious water resources, seriously exacerbating the island ’ s freshwater shortage.
Ganges, India
The river, regarded as the source of life for the people of India, has faced problems such as reduced flow, garbage pollution, and endangered freshwater dolphins in recent years, which have been exacerbated by the emerging luxury cruise industry.
Athens, Greece
The lack of a tourism hazard management plan by the local government does not mean that the world heritage is in danger of being destroyed, but also that the traditional way of life of the local people is being destroyed by a large number of tourists.
The Acropolis has already implemented a daily visitor limit, which has been reduced from 23,000 to 20,000 per day, and the Parthenon Temple to 17,000.
Italy (Venice)
Venice has long been affected by subsidence, flooding, and the damage caused by the increasing number of tourists, adding to the stress of this ancient and fragile city, and adversely affecting the local environment and residents.
Although the local government has taken several specific measures to try to reduce tourists, including charging a tourist tax of 5 euros (about NT $171) for all visitors over 14 years old who come to the city for a “day trip ” between the end of April and mid-July next year, it is still considered unlikely to improve the problem.
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, California
This “natural oasis ” in Los Angeles County, due to the number of tourists and lack of environmental awareness, not only is the monument graffiti by tourists, but even littering everywhere, causing the local environment to suffer a lot of damage.
Lake Superior (United States – Canada border)
Lake Superior, on the border between the United States and Canada, is the largest freshwater lake on the planet, and its ecology is now exposed to a variety of hazards due to human visits, including species invasion, rapid algal blooms, and fish consumption warnings.
Chile's Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert, on the Pacific coast, is a spectacular natural beauty of deserts, geysers, lagoons, salt mines, cliffs and peaks, but the local environment is polluted by "fast fashion" and unfortunately becomes a landfill.
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Overtourism is a visible issue at the University of Hong Kong campus, prompting the school to implement reservation measures.

Title:

Content: Point of view
Lin Chi-yin
Lin Chi-yin: "Traveling Everywhere" and "Over-Travel"
Earlier, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Hsia Baolong, advocated the concept of “travel everywhere ” to fully explore Hong Kong ’ s tourism resources.
To speed up the implementation of the concept, the authorities are planning to set up a "special class" to bring together people inside and outside the Government for in-depth discussions.
In recent days, officials and legislators have expressed their views on the development of "red tourism", exploring new spots in the community, beautifying the streets, and presenting some scenes in the movies.
Simply put, it may be the story behind the attraction, or the accumulated word of mouth on social media, and every tree and grass anywhere can become a tourist attraction.
Of course, the author hopes that the "class" can launch various new ideas; and since the task of the class is to implement the concept of "travel everywhere", then how to implement the concept is the best for Hong Kong, the industry, the community and the public, the class can not ignore.
The University of Hong Kong campus has been forced by tourists, and the school has implemented reservation measures this month.
HKU itself has a complete management structure, and the university can still implement crowd control according to the situation. However, if some scenic spots that go deep into the community or even close to residential buildings are really "red hot", it may not be easy to implement crowd control.
“Everywhere travel ” is a concept, the key to implementation lies in the ability of the authorities to foresee problems. If you rely only on“ see and see ”, it is very likely that good things will turn into bad things.
“Aggressive ” Travel
In 2018, the word “overtourism ” was chosen as the Oxford English Dictionary ’ s word of the year, referring to the negative effects of overloading the area, declining quality of life and environmental damage caused by the influx of tourists to tourist attractions.
For example, Venice, Italy, which has long been affected by “overtourism ”, is not a“ once in a lifetime ” – the local population is only 50,000, and the number of daily tourists has exceeded the local population; during peak season, the number of daily visitors has even doubled.
I have friends who visited the place more than a decade ago, and they all agreed to say that people are crowded and will not go again.
In addition to Venice, some European cities or small islands with a tourism-led economy (such as the Canarias in Spain) also face the problem of job opportunities, high prices, and a homogenization of shops. Multinational companies invest heavily in hotels and holiday cottages, which also lead to higher rents, which locals can ’ t afford.
Even if tourism brings a lot of jobs to the region, it does not mean that the average person can earn a living wage.
People in these places understand the importance of tourism to the local economy, but they do not want the tourism industry to be unlimited, resulting in the resources of the whole place are only for the service of tourists.
"Tourism Hazards" and How to Deal with them
In Japanese society after the epidemic, a similar term, "tourism nuisance", has also appeared to describe problems such as traffic, noise, nuisance, and garbage pollution caused by too many tourists.
This phenomenon, in addition to the popularity of exchange rates, affordable air tickets, and people's desire to travel after the epidemic, social media will also have the effect of focusing on specific hot spots.
In the era of image-led, everyone can follow the picture, some places that were not originally planned as tourist attractions have begun to face sudden overcrowding.
Hong Kong people who love to visit Japan will not be unfamiliar with two “attractions ”: the Daokou near Enojima Electric Railway ’ s Kamakura University Station, and a Lawson convenience store in Kawaguchi-cho.
The former is the "holy place" of the popular manga "When Men are in the bottle". In recent years, the crossing has been congested with traffic due to frequent visits by tourists to "punch", local people can not get on the electric train, and some tourists are dangerous for taking good photos. Lawson is also a "punch" attraction, and the picture is a convenience store with a beautiful view of Mount Fuji. of tourists are constantly crossing the road and parking without permission, causing local residents to feel troubled.
Too many tourists can also lead to a decline in the quality of service, even in Japan, which values the spirit of “work people ”.
When I visited Japan last year, I saw some shops find ways to deal with “tourism hazards ” on their own, such as not allowing diners to take photos in the store, so that after the photos are uploaded to social media, it will cause more people to come and see them; limiting the number of diners to the number of people that the staff can serve, even if the seats are not full.
However, some tourists always find it difficult to understand the intentions behind these arrangements, and I have heard some tourists complain: "Obviously there is still a place, why not let us sit?"
When these conflicts can no longer be handled by businesses and residents themselves, how to strike a balance between “tourism ” and“ public nuisance ” will gradually become a policy issue.
The most extreme way to deal with it is to “eliminate ” popular attractions – coincidentally, the authorities of Kawaguchiko recently erected a 20-meter-long and 2.5-meter-high“ black curtain ” in front of Lawson to drive away tourists who came to take photos.
The reason why the authorities have to take extreme measures is that management alone can not prevent tourists from rushing out of the road, which is actually to "play the spot".
In addition, there are more and more tourist cities and hotspots charging tourists "admission fees" or "admission fees", but this method can not play a large role.
In Venice, for example, the city has been charging a 5 euro entry fee (about HK $42) to “overnight ” travelers since last month.
However, these fees simply cannot curb the huge demand for tourists, and the revenue is mainly used as a financial source to cope with "excessive travel", which can only cure the symptoms, not the root cause.
The Real Meaning of “Travel Everywhere ”
At this point, some people may point out that the above problems will only become problems if we succeed in attracting tourists to Hong Kong; what we have to focus on is how to get more people to come to Hong Kong.
However, how much tourism can bring to a city depends on the management and policies of the city, not on the remedial measures that can be taken.
Although the share of tourism industry in Hong Kong's economy is far less than that of the "tourist city" mentioned above, Hong Kong can't wait to see that other places are looking for countermeasures for the "tourism nuisance", and even start to turn to attack, redefine the tourism industry from the planning level and actively promote tourist education.
In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for example, the government announced last month that it would ban new hotels and limit the number of cruise ships to return the city to a livable and tourism-friendly city. In Kamakura, Japan, people are no longer concentrated at certain points by decentralizing transportation (such as the launch of electric tricycle rental business) and proactively promoting multiple circumnavigation routes (such as the travel routes at 13 locations of Kamakura Shogunate).
The main disadvantage of post-event remediation is that the difficulty and cost of solving the problem are greatly increased, which will also affect the experience of tourists. More than 10 years ago, the North District of Hong Kong also experienced a pharmacy every few steps, and the situation of residents in the North District driving out water consignors on their own, which hurt the feelings of the people of the two places.
In particular, there are many policy issues that can be foreseen in advance, and we do not have to go through them personally before we know what the problem is (for example, the legal problems faced by cleaners under the garbage levy will not be known until the moment of trial).
Since there is a great deal of experience and policy measures in various places to refer to, the “Special Class ” must also strike a balance between tourism and city operations when formulating tourist routes and supporting packages, otherwise the attraction will only lead to losses. After the city of Kamakura solved the problem of overcrowding of tourists, the tourism industry representative of Kanagawa Prefecture (that is, the seat of Kamakura City) pointed out:“ Attraction is not tourism. ” The amount of time it takes to win is certainly not appropriate.
“Travel Everywhere ” is not just about adding tourist attractions, but promoting quality tourism in a more nuanced and proactive way to avoid problems.
The author is a public policy consultant.
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[Lin Chi-yin]
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