Documentary: Cheap flights and "corrupt" travel writers=overtourism
Looks like I'm guilty as charged, since most of my working life was devoted to telling travelers about cheap flights, and I started my work life as a travel writer and I am still a travel writer.
A new documentary released yesterday from U.K.-based tour operator Responsible Travel "Crowded Out: The Story of Overtourism" lists six reasons why too many tourists visit the same places at the same time:
- Cheap flights
- Travel writing
- Honeypot sites (top destinations such as Venice and Barcelona visited during peak travel periods)
- Cruise ships
- Holiday apartments (i.e., AirBnB, Homeaway, etc.)
- Demographics (i.e., population increases worldwide, but basically China)
One cause of overtourism that isn't mentioned in the video is weather, which is hard to control: some places are especially crowded in the summer months, when most of the world goes on holiday. If you visit Venice in the winter, especially if you move beyond the Piazza San Marco, you pretty much have the place to yourself.
And let's face it, Instagram is a problem too. I was walking in Greenwich Village last week and was surprised to see tourists gathering on a pretty street in front of a pretty house all taking turns taking the same pretty picture with their smart phones, presumably to garner more likes and more followers. I'd never seen so many people gathered on this block in the 20 years I've lived in the city.
Kill all the travel writers!
But here's what really stung me: "Far too many travel writers are...uncritical and corrupt" says Elizabeth Becker, formerly with the New York Times and author of "Overbooked," which takes the travel industry to task but reserves special condemnation for travel writers and their industry "enablers" (such as tourist boards). Corrupt? Isn't that going a bit far?
Speaking of those evil tourist boards, the documentary is very light on concrete solutions, other than, presumably, booking with Responsible Travel (which admittedly advocates for some very good causes); however London&Partners, London's tourist board, recently launched a new app that encourages and rewards travelers for going beyond crowded central London to explore places like Greenwich, as Skift writer Dan Peltier explains. And travel writers can be part of the solution by promoting less popular destinations, or popular ones in the off-off-season.
The documentary concludes on a depressing note, with interviewees saying things like "You're up against some very powerful interests that don't want change" and "no one is in control of the tourism industry" and "it's going to get worse before it gets better."
What are your solutions to overtourism, readers? Or isn't it a problem at all?
Freelance journalist & travel writer.
6yI was a travel writer for 20 years. When I was invited to travel in a group of travel writers by Tourist Boards, THEY worked out the itinerary themselves and it was usually to popular and already-crowded destinations. When I could afford individual travel (occasionally I succeeded in getting some Tourist Board or airways help financially but more often I paid my own way), I always headed for the less popular places; found unusual activities (e.g.walking on little known routes) and often I travelled off-season. I found stories easy to place. "Rome in winter" was published in several newspapers. So was "Vienna at Christmas". Another successful story was climbing Mt Fuji (most tourists only take home photos of the famous mountain). Many of the smaller Pacific Islands are barely known. The answer to over-crowding is for tourist boards and airlines to give some financial support to individual journalists with interesting individual itineraries, specifically NOT on the Regular Tourist Trail.
Content Writer, photographer, webmaster, and map specialist at Wandering Italy, Mapping Europe and Wandering Sardinia.
6yDespite the numerous, jacked-up photos making the little, pastel colored villages of Italy's Cinque Terre into a psychedelic nightmare, I can't believe that a reasonable person could say with a straight face that a guy with a website could write, "Golly folks, head NOW to the Cinque Terre because it's the most beautiful spot on earth and the anchovies are unbelievable" and folks would grab 8 grand from their savings and sit in an aluminum tube for 12 hours because they've been beguiled by a guy in his underwear banging on a dirty keyboard from his dining room table. Corrupt? Maybe. A powerful god that makes you do stuff you had no notion of doing? Not on your life.
Local Expert in the Colombia Coffee Region | Pereira | Manizales | Cartago
6yIt is a bit unfair to blame travel writers. As a single mom and a travel writer, I always try to do the right thing, while still earning enough to pay rent, and its tough. But to demonize them due to the actions of only a few, only hurts everyone and devalues their hard work. Im not in this because I think ill get rich. There are easier ways to earn money, but because I love to write and am fortunate enough to live in a beautiful city here in Colombia which is still largely unknown as a tourist destination.
Award-winning freelance travel writer / author/ multi-media creator. Founder of Tripwellgal.com
6yThere are those of us who as travel writers, videographers and social media acolytes search for the undiscovered places and also promote ethical, sustainable tourism. I'm a member of the Impact Travel Media Alliance and we are working on sustainability and transparency in tourism. There are others who are not so inclined but line up for free travel any way they can get it and call themselves travel writers/influencers. Sadly, many of those make the bucks and get the clicks. I will watch but this and hope it opens up eyes without demonizing those in a hard-working industry trying to do the right thing.
Travel Journalist and Blogger, Forbes Contributor, Member of SATW
6yThanks for sharing! Haven't seen the movie but my sense is that the answers to overtourism aren't as simple.