Opinion: Tourists can be annoying. Like on the train in Berlin over the weekend, close to midnight. There’s a large, unexpectedly cacophonous crowd milling about on the platform, the guys yelling insults, the girls shrieking flirtatiously.
“Are you on the pub crawl too?” a fine young fellow, with rosy cheeks and an American accent, bellows at a middle-aged woman. He, giggling; she, scowling.
The woman gives him a withering stare, either not understanding or not deeming him worthy of a response. He looks away. His companions laugh. Was the young fellow embarrassed? Or had he been rudely ejected out of his party-tourist bubble into briefly contemplating the reality of life in the city he was visiting?
We’ll never know. But he should probably be thankful that his fellow passenger didn’t get out a water pistol and soak him. That happened in Barcelona a few weeks ago during a demonstration in which several thousand people were protesting the impact tourism is having on their home town. Some demonstrators began shooting people they identified as “foreigners” with water pistols. Others carried signs saying “Barcelona is not for sale” and “tourists go home”.
This European summer, a wave of anti-tourism protests have roiled the continent’s most popular holiday destinations in Spain, Italy, and Greece. A number of different organisations are responsible, some interested in environmental protection and others advocating social justice. All of them complain that tourism is becoming unsustainable, even though it makes up a significant part of local income.
The main problem appears to be overtourism – too many people arriving at a destination at once, especially as post-pandemic travel keeps breaking records.
For example, in late July, the mayor of the Greek island of Santorini told locals to stay indoors for their own safety because close to 20,000 people would be disembarking cruise ships in one day. On the Italian island of Capri, new tourist arrivals were banned because of a problem with water supply. Other impacts include added pollution and noise, pressure on public services, overcrowded landmarks and higher housing prices.
The latter makes people particularly mad. Locals can no longer afford to live in their own city because apartments are being rented out only temporarily, at higher prices, via sites like Airbnb. One furious Greek friend said he planned to superglue the lock boxes you see outside so many Athens buildings these days. They’re there so Airbnb guests can access keys without bothering their host.
This summer’s protesters are not opposed to tourism, as such. They just want a more strategic approach so that, for example, local authorities can study how many guests a Greek island can cater to, then limit numbers accordingly. Some measures have already been taken. Venice now charges a fee to day trippers, the French have banned lockboxes, Austrians and Italians have discouraged selfies in scenic places and the Spanish have imposed a curfew and beer ban on their hard-partying visitors. More cities are also restricting or banning Airbnb.
Of course, this won’t be enough, because tourists themselves must behave more responsibly. And after all, even anti-tourism protesters will end up as tourists somewhere.
In that sense, New Zealand’s 2018 industry initiative, the Tiaki Promise, which asks visitors to take good care of the country and respect its culture, might be an inspiration. Travel industry experts say there’s not much evidence that pledges – something Finland, Iceland, Hawai’i, Palau and Bali also have – make much difference.
But at least it’s a start. Now we just have to get those drunk kids to pledge not to harass women on trains.
Cathrin Schaer is a freelance journalist living in Berlin.
