Interview. “This leads to a phenomenon of gentrification”: what are the effects of overtourism?

How do you define overtourism and when do you consider a destination to be affected?

"The term overtourism has been very fashionable for several years, but I prefer to talk about overcrowding . It is characterized by a very high concentration of tourists in a given space or time, leading to negative impacts on residents, the environment, heritage and the quality of the tourist visit."

What are the environmental consequences of overtourism?

"Excessive tourism goes hand in hand with waste production, CO2 emissions linked in particular to transport, soil erosion, and the destruction of vegetation when too many people trample on a natural site. It also leads to the concreting of certain sites, particularly to construct buildings, roads, and parking lots. It can also cause a problem of access to natural resources. For example, water. In Bali, water consumption by tourist populations is enormous, particularly because large swimming pools have to be filled. As a result, in some cities, access to water is sometimes cut off to locals during the day to prioritize the supply of water to tourist sites. This pushes residents to use their own water tanks."

“Out of season, many shops are closed.”

What are the effects on city centers?

"Local shops are giving way to restaurants, bars, and clothing and souvenir shops. This forces the local population to travel further to do their shopping. Since the activity of some of these businesses is concentrated over a few months, during the off-season, many shops are closed."

What effects does overtourism have on the local real estate market?

"It leads to a phenomenon of gentrification. Because houses are bought by people from outside who have more means than the local population, which inflates real estate prices. Year-round residents also have difficulty finding a rental because many properties are transformed into furnished tourist accommodation . To limit this phenomenon, some town halls buy homes to rent them to locals or put in place measures to regulate furnished tourist accommodation (quotas, seasonal limits, reduction of tax benefits, etc.). But the effects of these measures are not spectacular."

“Tourism contributes to the social development of local populations”

Some protests by residents denouncing overtourism have taken place, particularly in Barcelona and Mallorca. Are tensions likely to rise?

"Not sure, because opinions on mass tourism are not unanimous: the indigenous populations who live off tourism are not rebelling because it is very difficult to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. On the other hand, the other inhabitants only perceive the constraints linked to overcrowding . It remains for the mayors to master the art of compromise to succeed in defending these two populations."

There is more talk about the negative effects of tourist saturation on local populations, but there are also positive aspects...

"Yes, the economic development of territories helps reduce the flight of young locals to the cities. Tourism also contributes to the social development of local populations, particularly through the promotion of their tangible and intangible cultural heritage. It also contributes to the emancipation of women who, in many traditional societies, are the linchpins of tourism development. It also encourages the implementation of environmental and species preservation policies, which become tourist resources for many local populations (preservation of rice fields in Jatiluwih in Bali or of big cats in East Africa, protection of birds in natural parks in West Africa, etc.)."