Forbes published a very provocative article summarizing the negative effects of overtourism and European governments’ measures and regulations fighting it.

Overtourism has become a more serious problem than what many tourism professionals think.

Pent-up demand due to the pandemic and three years of travel restrictions, growing middle class and disposable income will only exacerbate the problem in the years to come.

During the last 25 years, over 2.5 billion people were elevated from poverty to middle class status. Over the next 20 years another 2 billion people are expected to do so. Why is it important? Middle class means disposable income. Disposable income means travel.

Travel has become a fundamental part of the basic human needs. After you take care of your physiological needs: food, shelter, clothing, sleep, etc., next comes health, family and…travel. This is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 101.

The question is when and where would people travel? Here both governments and the tourism industry could play a vital role in flattening the overtourism spikes and redirecting tourist flows to the offseason and to less-popular regions.

Overtourism could be eased significantly by a comprehensive private-government strategy and organization, better price management and technology: mandatory advance reservations for attractions allowing control of traffic; introducing pricing structure flattening demand toward shoulder and low seasons; local government measures to limit car/bus traffic/parking near downtown areas or near attractions, spiking hotel occupancy taxes in high season, etc. Technology innovations and AI could play a major role in lessening the effects of overtourism!

As a former director of a government tourist office (GTO) in New York, I have seen most Government Tourist Offices (GTOs) and DMOs shut down offices or vegetate with ever decreasing marketing budgets. This does not allow many destinations to proactively redirect demand and tourist traffic - via marketing efforts or in partnership with tour operators and OTAs - to the shoulder and low seasons, and to less-popular regions of the destination. Quite often the result is overtourism.

Smaller and Kessler known destinations have a chance to divert some of the tourism overflows. The issue is that luring tourists means investments in tourism infrastructure, talent, technology, and marketing. These four prerequisites are exactly what smaller destinations cannot afford.

The tourism industry and hospitality are called upon to service and accommodate this ever growing army of newly minted travelers.

Unlike 50% of today’s industries that are in a downward spiral and are dying, travel in general will be flourishing for many centuries and millennia to come.

Max Starkov
Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant & Strategist

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