5:59 v originále: As tourists flock to destinations, how to be ethical about holidays?

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have gone on vacation this summer. 2024 could be, according to some data, the worst year ever for overtourism. Where is the situation most alarming? How can destinations balance the economic benefits of tourism with the need to protect local resources and culture? And how should we think about our vacation in a way that doesn’t cause harm to others? A conversation with Harold Goodwin, Emeritus Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The UN experts predict that in 2024 global tourism will return to - and likely surpass - the numbers from before the pandemic, which dealt a severe blow to international tourism. Travel is now back and many communities see the downside of overtourism and protest against it. Spanish Barcelona, Italian Venice, or the island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea are just a few examples of places in Europe where crowds of tourists are headed this year.

„It's a result of economic development around the world,“ says Harold Goodwin, an expert on the phenomenon of mass tourism and an emeritus professor at Manchester Metropolitan University. In an interview for the podcast 5:59, he explains possible negative impacts of excessive tourism and ways to balance them out. Worsening housing availability for locals is one of the typical negative impacts of overtourism.

Listen to the full interview with Harold Goodwyn for the 5:59 podcast in the English version:

„The problem was that too many places became dependent on tourism through the first two decades of the 21st century. And the reality is that damage has been done in a lot of places,“ says Harold Goodwin.

This May, shortly before the start of the tourist season, around ten thousand people took to the streets in Mallorca. With signs like „SOS local residents,“ they pointed out how the cost of living is skyrocketing, especially property prices. A few weeks before the Mallorcans, residents of the Canary Islands were protesting for the same reason. Recently Barcelona residents sprayed tourists with water and slogans „tourists go home“.

The British professor, who has long been an advocate of the concept of so-called responsible tourism, points to the situation in one of Barcelona’s neighborhoods, where tourists have gradually „taken over“ a beach formerly used by local residents for recreation. The result is the emergence of conflicts between the two groups.

Mass tourism also puts pressure on natural resources. For example, in Spanish Valencia, according to Goodwin, authorities are now dealing with the impact of tourism on water consumption, as they expect there won't be enough water for the city in the future.

Another set of problems is directly related to the behavior of visitors. The expert mentions, for instance, noisy parties that disturb the sleep of local families. In fact, many city councils in popular destinations are dealing with how to respond to the lively nightlife of tourists.

So what can be done about the negative impacts of excessive tourism? According to Harold Goodwin, all the problems associated with overtourism have a local character and are specific to a particular place. „We talk about ‚overtourism‘, but that’s a generic term for a set of problems. And if they're to be managed, they all have to be managed locally,“ he adds.

What strategies can local communities adopt to manage the surge in travel demand post-COVID to minimize environmental and social impacts? How can local economies diversify to reduce dependence on tourism and all the associated risks? And what measures can be taken to ensure that tourists engage in respectful, sustainable behaviors towards local cultures, local environments? For more insights listen to the full 5:59 podcast at the top of this article.