Essay «Overtourism»

A lot of people travel nowadays. It is not surprising because distances between countries are
becoming shorter due to the development of transport. Despite the positive aspects of tourism, the
world community has faced a new problem - it is overtourism. Overtourism occurs when there are
too many visitors at a particular destination. Too many is defined in each destination by local
residents. When rent prices push out local tenants to make way for holiday rentals that is
overtourism. When narrow roads become jammed with tourist vehicles that is overtourism. The
claim is that overtourism is harming the landscape, damaging beaches, putting infrastructure under
enormous strain, and pricing residents out of the property market. The travel industry, like many
others, focuses almost exclusively on growth, with little or no concern for the impacts. Overtourism
is not just a big city issue, it has been documented in wilderness areas and national parks.
There are a lot of causes of overtourism. The most global one is the availability of cheap
flights, which have saturated Europe in particular in recent years. These artificially low fares are
only possible thanks to tax and VAT not being charged on aviation fuel, a “subsidy” which saves
billions. Cruise ships, too, are allowed to burn a particularly cheap and polluting type of fuel, which
also allows them to keep costs low. And giant cruise ships are another contributing factor when it
comes to overtourism. Thousands of passengers spill out into port cities each day, returning to the
ship in time for dinner. Passengers often spend very little in the destinations, yet ensure that historic
streets, monuments, cafes and shops are rammed with people, creating an unpleasant experience for
residents as well as for visitors who may be staying on land and spending money locally.
I think that people create the problem of overtourim by themselves. People come to foreign
countries and forget about their behavior. Tourists do things that they don't allow themselves to do
at home, it's so sad.
In order to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on the place of travel,
the tourist must be responsible for his trip. Two things to think about are the place, and think about
the time. Spain, Italy, Iceland and Croatia have all been in the news as victims of overtourism, but
in each case, this is extremely localized. Barcelona is rammed, but Spain is a surprisingly large
country, and many of its cities are not at all crowded with tourists. Moreover, tourists can visit the
villages and mountains for a real glimpse of the country away from the mainstream hordes. This
way of travelling helps you to have a much more realistic insight into daily life in Spain. What is
more, in many small pueblos you’ll be eagerly welcomed as one of the few tourists to arrive. There
are many places around the globe that need, and want, more tourists. Besides, if you want to enjoy
the main attractions of any country, you can travel there out of season. This is more pleasant for
you, less stressful for residents, puts less pressure on things like public transport, and may even save
you quite a bit of money, too. When you travel, try to spend money for the good of the country as
possible. Pay national park entrance fees to ensure your visit supports conservation; stay in locally
owned guesthouses; eat at local restaurants and take tours with local guides. Tourism can still be
very much a force for good, and ensuring that local residents, habitats and wildlife benefit from
your presence is an important part of that. So every tourist should respect the country he is visiting
and its locals. Tourists shouldn’t buy cultural artifacts or product made from wild animals. Tourists
should try not to pollute our environment, try to accept different cultures and support traditional
lifestyle. If each person will be respect the place that he visit, then tourism will be bring a lot of
positive impressions to the tourist and local residents.
As tourists we can ensure our own behavior is as beneficial as possible, but to really effect
change across the industry, and around the world, things need to happen at a much higher level.
Governments and local authorities need to look at ways to control tourist numbers. They can raise
prices, issue permits to certain attractions, ban cruise ships over a certain size. Governments should
create special programs to support local residents and to protect cultural monuments.
To sum up, millions of people all over the world are fond of travelling. They travel to see
other countries and continents, to discover different ways of life, to meet different people and to
practice foreign languages. It goes without saying that travelling broadens the mind. Today tourism
is the world’s second largest industry. Tourism makes a huge contribution to the economy of any
country. If people follow simple rules, and the government introduces some prohibitions, then
tourism will bring only a pleasant experience for both sides.