We are full! Europe's fight against over-tourism April 26, 2024
- Ana Cunha-Busch
- Apr 25, 2024
- 2 min read
By AFP - Agence France Presse
We are full! Europe's fight against over-tourism
European tourist strongholds such as Amsterdam and Venice, which introduced new measures on Thursday, are on a crusade to cope with soaring visitor numbers.
- Venice -
In Venice, one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, 3.2 million visitors stayed overnight in the historic city center in 2022 - many times the population of just 50,000.
From Thursday, admission for day-trippers will be subject to a charge. Day visitors will have to buy a ticket for five euros (€5.3), which will be checked by inspectors who will carry out spot checks at key points of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2021, a ban was imposed on large cruise ships in the Venice lagoon due to concerns about the environmental impact of the huge vessels on the city.
Venice has also introduced a tax on overnight guests.
- Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has long been trying to improve its reputation as a city of wild stag parties, drugs, and sex, which is partly attributed to the influx of around 20 million visitors a year.
In 2023, the city launched an online campaign to discourage young British men from traveling to Amsterdam to get drunk or high, urging them in typical Dutch fashion to "stay away" or risk arrest.
Amsterdam also announced a ban on new hotels last week and said it would halve the number of river cruise ships in the city within five years.
The city also decided last year to ban cannabis smoking in the streets of the red-light district.
- Dubrovnik -
Croatia's medieval fortress city of Dubrovnik is one of the most crowded cities in Europe. The streams of tourists sometimes make it impossible to enter the historic old town.
Since scenes from the series "Game of Thrones" were filmed on the city walls in 2011, the jewel on the Adriatic has seen a huge increase in visitor numbers.
In 2023, the city of 41,000 welcomed 1.2 million tourists, below the record of 1.4 million in 2019.
In 2019, local authorities limited the number of cruise ship arrivals to two per day with no more than 4,000 passengers at a time.
An app that uses machine learning and weather forecasts was also introduced to predict when the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be at its busiest.
- Barcelona -
Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean coast and is the capital of the Catalonia region. The city is home to famous architectural masterpieces by Gaudi and one of the best soccer clubs in Spain.
Ada Colau, the left-wing former housing rights activist mayor of the city from 2015 to June 2023, cracked down on illegal Airbnb rentals, which were accused of forcing locals out of the real estate market.
The city also restricted the access of tour groups to the historic La Boqueria market, especially during peak shopping hours.
Throughout the city center, organized groups are limited to 20 people, and tour guides are not allowed to use loudspeakers.
The number of tourists registered in hotels, homes, and hostels fell by 6.9 percent in 2023 compared to 2019, according to the city council.
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