As governments and local authorities around the world battle overtourism, The Telegraph reports that residents from Athens to Barcelona, and from Amsterdam to Venice are taking matters into their own hands.
There’s no denying that tourists who scribble on ancient monuments, are rowdy, jump into fountains and engage in other forms of antisocial behaviour are more a burden than a blessing. Added to which there is the massive demand for short rentals which is shooting property prices sky high and making it impossible for locals to find places to live in their own towns and cities.
The crux of the problem is that tourists are not just a bother to residents - although who can blame Venetians for their campaigns against the monstrous cruise ships that enter their delicate canal system? - but how tourism is changing everyday lives. In Amsterdam a grassroots organization called “Stop de Gekte,” meaning stop the madness, patrols tourist areas and is pushing administrators to enact change. The issue, they say, is not just that tourists make destinations “busier than ever,” but that they are enabling “a constant amount of depravity.”
Pamela McCourt Francescone
Executive Editor
