Overtourism is a real issue, and social media might be partially to blame.
Instagram is not realness , and that applies to travel - related content as well .
While social media is certainly a powerful pecker for discover oft - overlooked smear and less - touristy areas , it can also have either an opposite or a boomerang effect . Already iconic and intensely - see landmarks become even more crowded , and lesser - screw muffin suddenly begin seem on every alternate traveller ’s checklist . In either instance , the final stage outcome is pretty much the same : immense crowds and a slew of selfsame Insta - pics .
That is not to say that one should n’t take their own photos when visiting a particularly beautiful popular spot . Take for example the point of view featured inthe Santorini photoabove — it is , without dubiety , a gorgeous vantage point , and its exclusive existence calls for a photo to in effect treasureyour Greek vacationmemories .
Tourists in Santorini, Greece|Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images
However , with everybody ( truly so ! ) throw the same thought and sentiment , the upshot is that of overtourism — which , in my humble opinion , can potentially break the vibe . Aside from taking photos of them , sunsets are to be enjoyed and savour , and the presence of too many citizenry can disrupt the present moment , leading you to bucket along and make space for others , maximize your minutes spent there to take the good photograph , and to ultimately end up with only a few photos of a sunset that , in realness , you did n’t get to experience .
Overtourism is a real issue , and with Europe - tie travel in full prime this summertime , countless bucket - list destinations and iconic landmarks are suffering its consequences . This year , all sorts of traveling metrics — from air travel data , hotel engagement , and the bluff number of tourists — reportedly rose back to a comparable level to those of summer 2019 right on before the pandemic smasher and brought the intact industry to a halt . According todata analyzed by the hospitality software caller OTA Insight , the volume of hunting for Venice and Barcelona increased by more than 1500 % from the root of January 2021 to May 2022 . hunting for Paris climbed 1200 % . Similarly , hotel searches in the same time full point soared , rising eight- and nine - fold for Paris and Barcelona , severally .
While this , on one manus , is a celebratory win for the locomotion industry , it also fetch countries back to discussing possible measures to inhibit overtourism in densely visited areas and metropolis . Conversations around the topic were already happening pre - pandemic , and citieslike Croatia ’s Dubrovnikwere already trying to implement Modern rules in 2017 , when the city installed cameras to count and specify the act of people come in the Old Town . More lately , the Austrian metropolis of Hallstattbuilt ( and shortly after took down ) a fenceto prevent tourists from overcrowding a very Instagrammable viewpoint in the respect of nearby house physician .
But curbing overtourism is n’t only aboutpeopleper se . Rather , it ’s about what the bearing of so many people means for public sites . According to expert , in fact , overtourism often results in damages to environment and turning point , and can potentially affect animals as well , as it can in effect scare away some coinage of local fauna . Plus , its rebound are oftentimes felt by resident of the area who , due to the addition in demand , are often go forth to face up soar rents and monetary value .
In 2017 , theWorld Travel & Tourism Council partnered with McKinsey & Companyto study the phenomenon of overtourism , and how it affect the areas in which the issue is most chronic . The prescribed report , in sum , agreed with other leading expert in the field , and stated that the phenomenon bring about five main challenge that sites and city have to face , admit alienated local house physician , degraded tourist experience , overloaded infrastructure , harm to nature , and threats to culture and inheritance .
In a way , the sunset photo in Oia encapsulate the payoff at its core . Sure , it is just a photo — but a photograph that address to overcrowded area with few and very lax ( if none ) accession regulation , potential littering , and a maybe degraded experience , where the only constituent sunset experience one gets is the one through the camera lens of their phone . And at that point , perhaps the picture is n’t deserving the crowded , delimitation non - sustainable , and potentially culturally - detrimental hike .
