Overtourism, Six Ways Locals Around The World Are Beating Back The Crowds

PARIS — Every year, 1.4 billion tourists move around the globe and arrive at their destination. Such a large number is not without positive benefits for the economy: according to the UN, tourism accounts for 10% of the world GDP, a boost to both multinational travel companies and small local businesses in the destination localities.

Yet, there are also clearly down sides. On the climate front, UN environment program estimates that in a “business as usual” scenario, one where the current levels of global emissions do not change over time, by 2050 tourism will cause a 154% increase in global energy consumption, 131% in greenhouse gas emissions, 152% in water consumption and 251% in solid waste disposal.

But there is also another dark side to all this travel: Out-of-control tourism is increasingly affecting the well-being and livelihood of those inhabiting the dream destinations, and beyond.

Overtourism — defined by the UN tourism agency (UNWTO) as “the impact of tourism on a destination… that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way” — is a phenomenon concerning renowned destinations all over the world. After some rough years for the travel sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of tourists worldwide is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and expected to keep growing far beyond.

Authorities are struggling to strike the right balance between welcoming tourists and keeping cities livable for locals, and they employ different strategies: some are determined to curb tourism, like Venice, where a €5 fee for tourists has been introduced, or Fujikawaguchiko — a small Japanese town where a huge barrier was built to block a stunning view of Mount Fuji. Others are tempted by the benefits of mass arrivals, like Kenya, where Visa requirements have been scrapped for all visitors, regardless of their country of origin — even if overtourism is becoming a major problem in some areas of the country, like in the Maasai Mara national reserve.

But beyond official actions of local governments, citizens and civic groups are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. Earlier this week, one such citizen action made international headlines when a group of Barcelona resident activists used water guns against patrons in touristic locations.

Here are some of the ways that citizens are fighting back on their own to confront mass tourism, from Toronto and Florence, Athens to Medellin:

Lebowski goes to Florence

Florence's historical center has long been a tourist draw, but the Airbnb revolution has turned it into an overtourism crisis. Of the 11,000 listings that Airbnb offers in the city, more than 8,000 of them are in the historical center, where the rental price per square meter went from 15.3 €/m² to 23 €/m² in just three years.

But the tensions between residents and property owners pre-date the U.S.-based app's rise, including when the municipality of Florence authorized a speculative fund in 2012 to build luxury apartments in a park in the San Frediano neighborhood. When locals took to the streets to oppose the decision, they were led by the Centro Storico Lebowski, a football team from San Frediano playing in the Italian sixth division.

To this day, there's no luxury apartments in the park, but instead a soccer school and a space for young people created by the team after it occupied the square in opposition to the city's decision.

Centro Storico Lebowski, which shares a name with the 1998 movie by the Coen brother, has been entirely owned by its supporters since 2010, and it actively opposes the ongoing commodification of football and the power dynamics that characterize the sport at the highest levels. In its mission statement, the club says it stands against overtourism and gentrification in Florence, as it actively tries to preserve the identity of its neighborhood.

Dubrovnik's "last bastion"

Every year, McKinsey & Company publishes “The state of tourism and hospitality” report, which includes a ranking of the most overcrowded destinations worldwide. In 2023, the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, which has just over 40,000 inhabitants and had 4.5 million overnight stays in 2023, ranked first. McKinsey also attributes to the city the highest risk of dependency of local economy on tourism, overloaded structures, environmental impact and density in concentration.

The website Dubrovnik Local Guides, created by professional tour guides in the city, writes that “in Dubrovnik’s Old town there’s only 1,557 residents and every day this number is surpassed by the number of day visitors. Traffic is congested, ropes separating the people going in and out are placed on Pile gate and it takes a lot of time and nerves to make one’s way through the crowd.”

To contrast the rising number of problems created by overtourism, dwellers of the Gruž distruct have decided to set up a cultural center in a former graphite factory, establishing what Adventure.com defines as “the last bastion of an ‘authentic’ urban Dubrovnik increasingly squeezed… by the homogenizing forces of mass tourism.” In the center, locals can find recording studios, a museum, a yoga and fitness studio, a print shop and more, while the old town is overtaken by masses of tourists coming from all over the world in the background.

Spanish protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists: ‘Go home’

Water pistols in Barcelona

Nearly 20,000 Airbnbs are listed in Barcelona, but that won't be the case for long. The city recently announced that it won't renew licenses for all short-term rentals in the Catalan capital. That means that by 2029 no property will be available for short-term rentals. The state of tourism and hospitality report assigns to the city the highest level of risk for density in concentration: in other words, there's simply too many people in Barcelona. A dynamic that will not be sustainable in the long run, says Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni, as the city is facing major water shortages and a housing crisis that saw rental prices increase by 68% in the last 10 years.

Locals can feel the overtourism problem in the city in multiple ways, and anti-tourism protests are becoming more and more common. But to some, peaceful marches in the streets are no longer enough. On Sunday, holding signs reading "tourists go home!" and "Barcelona is not for sale," protesters resorted to different means: water pistols. Videos of residents pointing the pistols and shooting water at tourists eating and drinking at restaurants in Barcelona's city center quickly went viral, and are part of a broader mobilization aimed at shielding the city from the impacts of overtourism.

Buying real estate in Toronto

Back in March, Bloomberg defined Toronto as the "epicenter" of Canada's housing crisis. The average asking rent for all property in Canada went from $1,700 in June 2021 to $2,185 three years later, according to Rentals.ca's national rent report. As a consequence, the number of people in need of shelter in Toronto has skyrocketed: in 2023 "the number of rental units considered affordable to families with the lowest incomes was statistically zero," unlike the number of places listed on Airbnb: 20,843, half of which are unlicensed.

The state of tourism and hospitality report assigned to Toronto the highest risk level for environmental impact and visitor's experience, but also the second-highest for overloaded infrastructure.

But in the city's popular Kensington Market neighborhood, locals have found a way to fight back. When in 2018 a building in the district was purchased to make a weed-themed Airbnb out of it, locals opposed the plan, forcing the owners to put the building back for sale. The building was bought in 2021 by the Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT), which has assured its long-term affordability ever since, starting a project that makes an effort to purchase all up-for-sale buildings in the neighborhood.

KMCLT collects money through community bonds: locals in Kensington Market can purchase these bonds for a return, while KMCLT uses the money to purchase property, ensuring their long-term affordability for tenants. Community Land Trusts are increasingly seen in North America as a possible solution to fight gentrification, with similar initiatives undertaken in Boston, Vancouver and more.

Gentrifiers out of Medellin!

The vibrant Colombian destination of Medellin has largely left behind a past made of drug trafficking and cartel wars, and has welcomed a city made of tourism and digital nomads coming from all over the world. But when the number of arrivals began to accelerate too quickly, it led to gentrification, which impacts the livelihood of local communities, as the new and more affluent residents produce an overall increase in prices that drives locals out of the market for housing, food and more.

The local newspaper El Colombiano writes that as a consequence of this phenomenon, new housing has become unaffordable for locals in some areas of the city. The newspaper has analyzed the price of new housing in some of the city’s neighborhoods, like El Poblado, where the price of new housing has increased by 50% with respect to 2020. As a consequence of overtourism, the sex work and drug market is also booming, a phenomenon that has also led to cases of violence and abuse against Colombian women. Meanwhile, locals have started voicing their concerns, as flyers reading “Gentrifier go home!” and other slogans criticizing the process have multiplied on the walls of the city.

Anti-metro in Athens

In Exarcheia, a neighborhood in the center of Athens with a longstanding urban and alternative scene, locals have been fighting with the authorities to oppose plans to open a new metro station. The plan is part of a wider transformation of the area, aimed at ending what right-wing Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called “lawlessness and delinquency” in the neighborhood.

Politico wrote in November last year that inhabitants have long been evicted and squats have been emptied, a process that is still ongoing. Locals are concerned of the negative effects that overtourism could produce on the jealously protected underground culture of Exarcheia, as the neighborhood already counts close to 1,000 listings on Airbnb, a staggering increase with respect to the situation less than a decade ago.