Overt objections of overtourism – such as anti-tourist protests in some parts of Europe – and stealthy push-backs – like signs in English or Chinese to turn away tourists from eateries, but welcome locals in native small print – are increasingly showing up on the news and social media. Netizens clash in the comments section over who’s to blame for a poor destination experience, suspected racial profiling of bad behaving tourists, and dual pricing standards for locals and foreigners.
Even though overtourism is mostly seasonal and occurring only in certain locations, negative public perception can jeopardise an entire country’s welcome for a longer time.
Natalie Kidd, managing director, Asia at Intrepid Travel contributed an insightful opinion piece to TTGAsia.com on what Asia could learn from Europe’s overtourism crisis. In it, she called for a restructure of tourism that uplifts and protects local communities while establishing a respectful connection between people.
Our Bhutan destination feature in this issue (A shining beacon, pages 20 and 21) highlights a tourism structure that prioritises economic and social development for the country, where benefits of tourism are broadly distributed across local communities while preserving the nation’s cultural identity. Like attracts like – Bhutan’s unique destination reputation attracts travellers who appreciate high-value, low-impact tourism development.
With arrivals to the Greater Mekong Subregion set to surge in the coming years, tourism leaders in the region are now determining visitor management systems to protect their environment and communities (Reshaping tourism flow, page 9). Case studies on successful methods are shared, such as the use of digital tools to monitor and redirect tourist flows.
Indeed, this is where AI magic can come in to anticipate travel peaks and trends, monitor online reviews to spot issues in host community and traveller sentiments, and push recommendations to lesser-known areas.
