An easy cure for overtourism

Don’t follow the herd, go somewhere else

Talk of ‘overtourism’ has been omnipresent in the world of travel in the last year, as more and more destinations approach breaking point due to the huge number of visitors they attract. Again and again overcrowded tourism hotspots have been stripped of their charm, cultural diversity and vibrancy, while considerable environmental and economic negative impacts have been created.

Too many luxury hotels and villas with private pools drain water supplies, traffic jams build up to intolerable levels, prices rise far out of reach of locals and housing problems are exacerbated as more and more properties are rented out as holiday homes. Local authorities struggle to cope with basic services such as clearing rubbish: Amsterdam residents last summer dubbed the city a garbage dump, saying that tourist-generated rubbish triggered streets being overrun by rats and seagulls.

A Europe-wide YouGov poll in September found that 45% of Spanish respondents said they had a negative view of the holiday l…