In less than two years, the concept of overtourism has come to prominence as one of the most discussed issues with regards to tourism in popular media and, increasingly, academia. In spite of its popularity, the term is still not clearly delineated and remains open to multiple interpretations. The current paper aims to provide more clarity with regard to what overtourism entails by placing the concept in a historical context and presenting results from a qualitative investigation among 80 stakeholders in 13 European cities. Results highlight that overtourism describes an issue that is multidimensional and complex. Not only are the issues caused by tourism and nontourism stakeholders, but they should also be viewed in the context of wider societal and city developments. The article concludes by arguing that while the debate on overtourism has drawn attention again to the old problem of managing negative tourism impacts, it is not well conceptualized. Seven overtourism myths are identified that may inhibit a well-rounded understanding of the concept. To further a contextualized understanding of overtourism, the paper calls for researchers from other disciplines to engage with the topic to come to new insights.
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This paper aims to undertake an ideal-typical analysis of the implications of overtourism on employment at the level of the destination.
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Politics of overtourism Technocracy vs Political will A 6th D’s or a paradigm shift? Deseasonalization, Decentralization, Diversification, Deluxe Tourism, Decongestion, Degrowth. A paradigm shift for a new set of indicators for meassuring successful tourism practices. Setting research agenda and new disputes on tourism externalities in times of crises.
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This study addresses the complex phenomenon of overtourism in the EU. By focusing on a set of case studies, the study reports on overtourism indicators, discusses management approaches implemented within different destinations and assesses policy responses. It concludes that a common set of indicators cannot be defined because of the complex causes and effects of overtourism. Avoiding overtourism requires custom-made policies in cooperation between destinations' stakeholders and policymakers
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This paper introduces the Smart City Hospitality Framework, which could serve as the foundation for a destination-design-driven approach to urban tourism governance and dealing with overtourism issues. This conceptual framework is purposely designed to stimulate collaborative (informed) reflections on overtourism and urban tourism development that could support system analyses, problem structuring and development of transition agendas and pathways within the context of turning urban tourism into a transition arena that contributes to setting in motion a sustainability transition at city level. It merges the dimensions of sustainable development (environmentally responsible and equitable economic development) and city hospitality (the extent to which the city acts as a good ‘host’ to all its ‘guests’, including residents and businesses). Resilience resides at its centre to highlight the temporal aspects of these dimensions, and their interdependencies. To show how this framework can serve as the foundation for destination design efforts in practice, a short description of (experiences with) serious game-playing sessions that employ its logic in six European cities is provided.
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Overtourism is a much-debated topic in academic literature and among policy makers. The discussions have led to insights into the different aspects of overtourism, but the focus has largely remained on finding solutions for the direct, and often short-term, effects of (over)tourism faced by cities "in general", rather than identifying and solving the underlying causes and tensions. To take this needed step, it is essential to be aware that the causes, tensions and impacts related to (over)tourism, the interaction between the city's stakeholders as well as the issues outside tourism that a city is facing are all context specific. A way to identify the underlying causes and tensions in a specific city is to utilize the Smart City Hospitality Framework. The framework, which merges the concepts of sustainable development and city hospitality, provides a diversity of lenses to frame specific tensions that fit within a local context and, as a result, support a contextualized analysis of impacts and intervention strategies of city tourism. In this chapter we utilize the framework to analyse the role of tourism in three European cities (Gothenburg, Darmstadt and Warsaw), each with a different relation to tourism. A deliberate choice was made here to not focus on major tourism cities that are commonly associated with overtourism, to highlight how tensions related to overtourism are also appearing in cities where "in general" there still seems to be room for an increase in tourism numbers. The cases make clear that, also in these cities, the problematic relationship between tourism and the liveability of cities for local stakeholders, as well as the lack of equality with regard to the distribution of benefits and disadvantages, (start to) harm the sustainability of urban tourism development. The cases also highlight the disillusionment of people with the extent to which their voice is heard and taken seriously. In the discussion we identify a number of avenues for further research and experimentation.
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In a matter of weeks last year, discussions regarding tourism in cities changed from how to deal with overtourism to how to deal with ‘no tourism’. Shortly thereafter, a great number of posts on LinkedIn, websites, and blogs highlighted how the tourism crisis that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic could help reinvent tourism, into something more equal, inclusive, and sustainable. And so, online – at leastin mypersonalonlinebubble – there seemedtobe a real momentum for proper, transformative changes in (urban) tourism. How can we rebuild urban tourism in a sustainable and resilient way?
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As a strategy to better manage the social-exclusionary impacts of overtourism, urban decision-makers in Amsterdam are looking at the physical spreading of events to better manage crowds, mobility and anti-social behaviour. Perceptions of safety, security and exclusion can vary significantly across the city and communities, threatening its status as a leading gay destination in Europe. These may impact proposals being made to Amsterdam Pride Week that look to spread visitors as much as possible over the city and its surroundings. By venturing beyond the ‘safe’ inner city, can the event still act as an agent for social change, or will its presence displace unwelcome conflicts in periurban neighbourhoods?
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