Was This the Summer European Tourism Reached a Breaking Point?

 

Was This the Summer European Tourism Reached a Breaking Point?

 

Overwhelmed destinations made high-season visitors the targets of a major tourism backlash. Heat waves and fires only added to the pressure.

 

Ceylan Yeğinsu

By Ceylan Yeğinsu

Sept. 2, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/02/travel/europe-tourism-backlash.html

 

Protesters staging hunger strikes against tourism developments. Local officials threatening to cut off water to illegal vacation rentals. Residents spraying tourists with water pistols.

 

With Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, upon us, European hot spots like Barcelona, Athens and the Greek island of Santorini have reached a breaking point, making tourists the targets of a major backlash. While final visitor numbers for this summer aren’t in, they are expected to surpass 2019 levels; in the second quarter alone, international arrivals exceeded 2019 by six percent, according to the European Travel Commission.

 

Climate change has also put tremendous pressure on popular destinations. July was the planet’s 14th consecutive month of record heat, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Spain and Greece experienced some of their hottest days on record, with temperatures over 114 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

While tourism is a critical economic driver for many European destinations, some residents argue that more tourism revenue needs to be invested in communities and infrastructure.

 

“We have been invaded by tourists; the situation is out of control,” said Camila Guzman, 32, a resident of Palma, on the Spanish island of Majorca. Ms. Guzman participated in the July protests that drew more than 50,000 people. Prices have been pushed up so much, she said, that “we cannot afford to live here anymore.”

 

Elsewhere, locals have rallied against disrespectful tourist behavior and new hotel and villa construction. Some places are imposing visitor caps. For example, Île-de-Bréhat, a French island off the coast of Brittany with just 400 residents, recently imposed a limit of 4,700 visitors per day.

 

The pandemic, too, exacerbated local grievances after residents got a taste of life without tourists. When travel restrictions were lifted, the crowds came back in droves.

 

“This summer is the perfect storm, with a combination of issues, including excessive numbers, bad behavior and climate change,” said Richard Butler, professor emeritus in hospitality and tourism management at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and the author of several books on overtourism.

 

At the end of a frenzied summer, we look at some of the breaking points.

 

Athens

The influx of tourists this summer put Athens under tremendous strain as it grappled with excessive heat, as well as water shortages. Wildfires, which broke out across Greece, have engulfed the forests in the Attica region, even spreading to the suburbs of Athens.

 

As temperatures soared above 107 in July, the authorities shut down the Acropolis during the hottest hours. Last year, the ancient site introduced a ticketing system to manage visitor numbers, with a cap of 20,000 per day.

 

Protests against overtourism flared in Athens in July, with “No tourists” graffiti emblazoned on buildings and residents calling for measures against vacation rentals, which they say are taking over entire neighborhoods.

 

Santorini, famous for its whitewashed buildings and sunsets, was one of the most overtouristed destinations in Europe last year, drawing nearly 3.5 million visitors to an island of 15,500. Cruise ships — 800 vessels brought in 1.3 million visitors — were a major source of foot traffic, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.

 

More recently, residents were outraged when Panagiotis Kavallaris, president of the island’s municipal community, posted on social media, urging locals to limit their movements to accommodate more than 11,000 cruise passengers who were expected to arrive on July 24. The post was later deleted, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported, and the mayor, Nikolaos Zorzos, said the island would reinstate a cap of 8,000 passengers per day, down from what would have been 17,000 starting in 2025.

 

Elsewhere in Greece, at least six foreign tourists, including the BBC television journalist Michael Mosley, were believed to have died from heat exhaustion. The dry conditions and pressure put on water supplies by tourism developments also led to water shortages across the country, causing islands like Sifnos and Crete to declare a state of emergency.

 

Spain

In the first six months of this year, the number of tourists visiting Spain increased by 13.3 percent and exceeded 42.5 million, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

 

Many cities are taking action. For example, Seville is cracking down on vacation rentals, after a court ruling cleared the mayor’s office to conduct a review and cut off the water supply to illegal vacation rentals. And in Barcelona, the Neighborhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth organization called for an overhaul of the city’s tourism model, including restricting the number of cruise ships and regulating short-term rentals. The city government said it would eliminate such rentals by the end of 2028 and announced a tourism tax increase that will go into effect in October.

 

In many places, residents staged protests and collected signatures to pressure government officials to take action.

 

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Demonstrations have been held in Majorca, Málaga, the Canary Islands and Barcelona. In April, activists in Tenerife staged a hunger strike to protest two major tourism developments.

 

“Residents are living in makeshift shacks because they can’t afford their homes while millions of euros are being invested into megatourism projects,” said Javier Toro, a 23-year-old Tenerife resident who participated in the protests.

 

Venice

In April, Venice, a city of 50,000 that received 20 million travelers last year, introduced a 5 euro entrance fee (about $5.60) aimed at dissuading daytrippers from visiting at peak times.

 

The pilot program, which ended in July, was declared a success by the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, who said it generated €2.43 million, but critics said the fee did little to curb numbers. Local officials said that funds from the fee would help plan for next year.

 

Many residents said the city should focus on more pressing issues like regulating short-term rentals and improving local services.

 

“The 5 euro fee is a joke for tourists; they will spend more money on a beer,” said Lorenzo Cataldi, a tour guide. He also criticized the city’s new 25-person cap on tour groups, saying it did little to prevent overcrowding: It just meant groups were split between two guides but still stayed close together.

 

Lisbon

The narrow streets of Portugal’s capital became so congested with tuk-tuks and tourists that some residents said they were reluctant to leave their homes this summer.

 

“It’s like walking outside of a football stadium after a match — complete chaos and I don’t recognize my neighbors anymore,” said Ann Cal, 68, a resident of the Alfama neighborhood, which she said has been overrun with vacation rentals. “Some days I do not want to leave my apartment.”

 

A housing group in Lisbon has started a campaign to hold a referendum that would ban vacation rentals in residential buildings. The group said it has collected enough signatures to present the project to the local council.

 

Last month, the Lisbon City Council announced that it would limit the number of licenses and parking spaces issued to tuk-tuk drivers to help ease congestion.

 

Amsterdam

Amsterdam, one of the most heavily touristed cities in the world, drew a record 23 million visitors last year. After the pandemic, it introduced a series of stringent measures, including a 20 million cap on annual visitors.

 

Over the past year, tourism taxes have been raised; the number of cruise ships, which are now barred from docking in the city center, has been limited; new hotel construction has been outlawed; and vacation rentals have been restricted.

 

The city is also cracking down on bad behavior with a “Stay away” campaign, primarily aimed at unruly British male tourists between 18 and 35, who have developed a reputation for drinking too much and harassing residents.

 

The online campaign targets potential offenders with videos showing the consequences of antisocial behavior, including arrests and fines. The city has also banned the use of marijuana on the street and is taking steps to discourage alcohol sales in the red-light district.

 

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Ceylan Yeğinsu is a travel reporter for The Times who frequently writes about the cruise industry and Europe, where she is based. More about Ceylan Yeğinsu