Is Overtourism Becoming Dangerous?

By
Lilly E
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Tourism has never been seen as a negative activity. People have been traveling around the world as a way to relax and experience new things and most countries want tourists to just keep coming.

But in the last few years, the popularity of tourism has been on a rise so much that its negative impacts started appearing. Around two years ago, the media have coined the term ‘overtourism’ to discuss this issue.

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As we sat and waited for the bus home last week, we watched about 7 or 8 tour groups being lead across this intersection between Magasin du Nord and the Royal Theater Gamle Scene near Kongens Nytorv. With Copenhagen at the top of lots of lists for travel this year, including Lonely Planet’s best of 2019, it has me a little nervous about there being too many peeps parading around town this summer. Already Nyhavn Canal is near capacity. Curious what the city is doing to ensure Copenhagen doesn’t become the latest destination to battle #overtourism. Do you know? I’m definitely interested in finding out. It made me think about how to be a good tourist here in Denmark. What should you do? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m working on a full article for the blog. Top of my list are things like considering a visit off-peak times, supporting local businesses, artists and eateries, following the rules of the road and seeing more of the country outside the capital. #cometocopenhagenshesaid but stay and take a #dayoutindenmark or more. 🇩🇰 Live in Copenhagen or Denmark? Would tips would you tell visitors to help them be more thoughtful travelers? Share below! Cheers from here.

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Overtourism happens in destinations with too many tourists. It can’t be objectively defined because it’s different for different places, but there are a few typical signs that an area is suffering from overtourism.

One of them is the locals not being able to afford rent anymore because the homes are turning into holiday rentals. Another is not being able to drive through a traffic jam because of too many tourists. When landmarks can’t even be seen because of the crowds, that’s definitely overtourism.

If you want to help fight this issue and also not deal with too many people on your travel, pick destinations that are not as popular. There are wonderful places in the world that haven’t made this year’s top 10 travel lists and they can often offer you even more and get you better value for your money.