Surging travel in Europe spikes concerns over tourism's drawbacks

MADRID -- Suitcases rattle against cobblestones. Selfie-snappers jostle for the aforesaid shot. Ice pick shops are everywhere. Europe has been called the world’s museum, but its grounds numbers of visitors person besides made it crushed zero for concerns astir overtourism.

Last year, 747 cardinal planetary travelers visited the continent, acold outnumbering immoderate different portion successful the world, according to the U.N.'s World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed much than 70% of them.

As the increasing tide of travelers strains housing, h2o and the astir Instagrammable hotspots successful the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism person proliferated.

Here's a look astatine the contented successful immoderate of Europe's astir visited destinations.

Among factors driving the grounds numbers are inexpensive flights, societal media, the easiness of question readying utilizing artificial quality and what U.N. tourism officials telephone a beardown economical outlook for galore affluent countries that nonstop tourists contempt immoderate geopolitical and economical tensions.

Citizens of countries similar the U.S., Japan, China and the U.K. make the astir planetary trips, particularly to fashionable destinations, specified arsenic Barcelona successful Spain and Venice successful Italy. They swarm these places seasonally, creating uneven request for lodging and resources specified arsenic water.

Despite fashionable backlash against the crowds, immoderate tourism officials judge they tin beryllium managed with the close infrastructure successful place.

Italy's Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè said she thinks tourism flows astatine crowded sites specified Florence's Uffizi Galleries that location immoderate of the world's astir celebrated artworks could beryllium amended managed with AI, with tourists capable to bargain their tickets erstwhile they publication their travel, adjacent months successful advance, to forestall surges.

She pushed backmost against the thought that Italy — which similar each of its Southern European neighbors, welcomed much planetary visitors successful 2024 than its full colonisation — has a occupation with excessively galore tourists, adding that astir visits are wrong conscionable 4% of the country's territory.

“It’s a improvement that tin perfectly beryllium managed,” Santanchè told The Associated Press successful an interrogation successful her bureau connected Friday. "Tourism indispensable beryllium an opportunity, not a menace — adjacent for section communities. That’s wherefore we are focusing connected organizing flows.”

Countries connected the Mediterranean are astatine the forefront. Olympics-host France, the biggest planetary destination, past twelvemonth received 100 cardinal planetary visitors, portion second-place Spain received astir 94 cardinal — astir treble its ain population.

Protests person erupted crossed Spain implicit the past 2 years. In Barcelona, the h2o gun has go a awesome of the city's anti-tourism question aft marching protests person spritzed unsuspecting tourists portion carrying signs saying: “One much tourist, 1 little resident!”

The unit connected infrastructure has been peculiarly acute connected Spain's Canary and Balearic Islands, which person a combined colonisation of little than 5 cardinal people. Each archipelago saw upwards of 15 cardinal visitors past year.

Elsewhere successful Europe, tourism overcrowding has vexed Italy's astir fashionable sites including Venice, Rome, Capri and Verona, wherever Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” was set. On the fashionable Amalfi Coast, ride-hailing app Uber offers backstage chopper and vessel rides successful the summertime to bushed the crowds.

Greece, which saw astir 4 times arsenic galore tourists arsenic its ain colonisation past year, has struggled with the strain connected water, lodging and vigor successful the summertime months, particularly connected fashionable islands specified arsenic Santorini, Mykonos and others.

In Spain, anti-tourism activists, academics, and the government accidental that overtourism is driving up lodging costs successful metropolis centers and different fashionable locations owed to the proliferation of short-term rentals that cater to visitors.

Others bemoan changes to the precise quality of metropolis neighborhoods that drew tourists successful the archetypal place.

In Barcelona and elsewhere, activists and academics person said that neighborhoods fashionable with tourists person seen section shops replaced with souvenir vendors, planetary chains and trendy eateries.

On immoderate of Greece's most-visited islands, tourism has overlapped with h2o scarcity arsenic drought grips the Mediterranean state of 10.4 million.

In France, the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, shut down this week erstwhile its unit went connected onslaught informing that the installation was crumbling beneath the value of overtourism, stranding thousands of ticketed visitors lined up nether the baking sun.

Angelos Varvarousis, a Barcelona- and Athens-based world and municipality planner who studies the industry, said overtourism risks imposing a “monoculture” connected galore of Europe's hotspots.

“It is combined with the gradual nonaccomplishment and displacement of different societal and economical activities,” Varvarousis said.

Spain's authorities wants to tackle what officials telephone the country's biggest governance challenge: its lodging crunch.

Last month, Spain's authorities ordered Airbnb to take down astir 66,000 properties it said had violated section rules — portion Barcelona announced a program past twelvemonth to phase retired each of the 10,000 apartments licensed successful the metropolis arsenic short-term rentals by 2028. Officials said the measurement was to safeguard the lodging proviso for full-time residents.

Elsewhere, authorities person tried to modulate tourer flows by cracking down connected overnight stays oregon imposing fees for those visiting via cruises.

In Greece, starting July 1, a cruise taxation volition beryllium levied connected land visitors astatine 20 euros ($23) for fashionable destinations similar Mykonos and 5 euros ($5.70) for less-visited islands similar Samos.

The authorities has besides encouraged visitors to question quieter locations.

To alleviate h2o problems, h2o tankers from mainland Greece person helped parched islands, and the islands person besides utilized desalination technology, which separates salts from water h2o to marque it drinkable, to boost their drinking water.

Other measures person included staggered visiting hours astatine the Acropolis.

Meanwhile, Venice brought backmost an introduction fee this twelvemonth that was piloted past twelvemonth connected day-trippers who volition person to wage betwixt 5 and 10 euros (roughly $6 to $12) to participate the metropolis during the highest season.

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AP journalists Laurie Kellman successful London, Derek Gatopoulos successful Athens and David Biller successful Rome contributed.