Overtourism: Too much of a good thing?

We are bombarded, enticed, or both, as hotels, airlines, social media influencers, travel companies, and our picky friends, send and tempt us to travel. Often interrupted by crowds and long lines – frustrations that can come with going on vacation today, or staying at a resort.

“When we see neighborhoods start helping tourists more than residents, that’s when we start seeing problems,” said Paris-based writer Paige McClanahan. “And that’s when we start to see pushback, as if we’ve seen something anti-tourism protests in places like Barcelona.”

McClanahan, who has covered travel and tourism for decades, says tourism is a major economic force. “Globally, tourism is 10% of the global economy,” he said. “It’s about one in 10 jobs worldwide.”

In his book, “The New Tourist,” McClanahan traces how guidebooks, cheap flights, and social media are now fueling the rise of travel. In 1950, there were 25 million international visitors. Today there is more than 1.5 billion.

One place on many tourists’ checklists: The Louvre in Paris. It is the most visited museum in the world. “Obviously it’s a building site,” McClanahan said. “It’s a place that really brings out some of the pressures that we’ve been talking about.”

In June 2025, Louvre workers went on strike for not being able to stand the crowds.

“It seems that tourism has a future, when places to visit really wake up to the fact that tourism is something that needs to be regulated, it needs taxation, it needs city planning laws, it needs infrastructure,” said McClanahan. “At the same time, tourists, we travelers, also wake up to the impact of our presence in places.”

So, has social media been good or bad for travel? “Yes!” McClanahan replied. “Yes to both of them.”

Consider this: A cave in Iceland had to be closed after Justin Bieber’s music video drew too many visitors. An Italian farmer in the Dolomites defied the crowds by installing a winding road to charge up to reach Instagrammable spots.

And then there’s this fragile city…

A flood of tourists in Venice

Each year up to 30 million tourists come to Venice – that’s 600 times the local population. In 2024 the city was operational money for daytrippers of 5 to 10 Euros at peak times – another way to combat the crush of tourists.

Venice also tried to prevent large ships – but the visitors still come. Portofino, on the other coast of Italy, has added new rules to govern the behavior of those already there.

Police chief Chiarello Giuseppina got new jobs this past summer when Portofino banned drinking or sitting down in the main streets and squares. And the restrictions at the highest times: no shoes or no shirt. There is a fine of up to 500 Euro.

Have you heard any complaints from guests? “No, we have no complaints,” said Giuseppe. “Generally, people understand. We explain that, yes, we are on the beach, but we are in a very famous center, and it is right to respect and enjoy the city.”

Across Europe, countries are trying to regulate tourism. Spain started removing tens of thousands of illegal Airbnbsand introduce taxes that decrease over time to encourage longer stays.

Asked what tourist destinations and cities should do, McClanahan said, “It’s not a very serious topic, but one really interesting tool is the tourism tax, and we’re seeing that in Amsterdam. They’ve raised the tourist tax to 12.5%, which is the highest in Europe.”

Amsterdam: The Venice of the North

Amsterdam is known for its canals, and its crowds are growing. Home to less than a million residents, it has seen a record 23 million visitors by 2024. “At some point, the residents started to raise their voices,” said Anouschka Trauschke, who used to run what she called a “traditional travel company”. But he says he had an internal conflict: “He felt like an ambassador for the city. But on the other hand, he felt he was part of the problem.”

Trauschke organizes community sessions to discuss solutions to excess tourism, and started Tours That Matter, where tailors travel, often to less-crowded places, such as taking a ferry to North Amsterdam, where a former shipyard is on one of her tours.

But is it a drop in the bucket, considering the more than 20 million visitors to the city? “That’s what you’d think,” he said, “but with Tours That Matter, we’ve been a big part of the pioneering movement. And we’ve still got a big, big tour that’s just begging to be changed.”

Edwin Scholvinck is pushing for that change. For 33 years, he has lived in the city’s world-famous red light district, known for its windows and prostitutes. But he says his friends won’t visit anymore. Why? “Because there are too many tourists,” he said.

Recently, he has been able to find some peace at home. Guided tours are no longer allowed in the often noisy area, and bars must close early. He also joined a community campaign called Si Phila Lapha. “The idea is to show visitors to this place that it is not only an event, but there is also a place to stay,” he said.

We Live Here is one of many different efforts going on. Economist Jasper van Dijk says, “I think those efforts are great. It’s good, but not enough.”

Van Dijk is part of a group that is trying to sue the city of Amsterdam for not living up to the agreed deal of 20 million visitors. “The city has taken steps,” he said, “and I think we are also one of the best in Europe. But we are saying it is too late. We can do more than that.” He thinks a higher tourist tax will lower prices.

“Sunday Morning” had many questions for the City of Amsterdam, but could not get anyone to talk to us. The Mayor, the Deputy Mayor who is involved in tourism, and even the marketing agency that works with each city declined our request to be interviewed.

Ironically, ten years ago, the city was so successful with its marketing campaign, Amsterdam, that it later launched another campaign encouraging non-resident tourists to stay away. Paige McClanahan said, “In most cases you have to reach some kind of crisis before the city wakes up and realizes they need to invest like this.”

He says that solutions need to be taken care of by each community, but the rest of the responsibility lies with those of us who travel. “Whether tourism will have a positive impact on the world or a destructive force, a challenging force, is up to us to decide,” McClanahan said. “If we all come together and treat tourism with the respect and consideration and responsibility it deserves, we can use our power to transform tourism into a positive force for humanity.”

READ THE SECTION: “The New Tourist” by Paige McClanahan

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Story produced by Jon Carras and Sabina Castelfranco. Editor: Jason Schmidt.

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