Overtourism

Introduction

Though overtourism has only recently entered the mainstream tourism discourses, the concept of overtourism is not new to the economic environment. Such discourses were more prominent in the field of parks and recreation, as well as tourism policy and planning, particularly with reference to carrying capacity, limit of acceptable change (LAC) and visitor experience and resource protection (VERP) which in turn support the measurement of quantity of visitors that a protected area could sustainably accommodate. Both LAC and VERP focus on measuring the interactions among three components: 1) resources (soil, vegetation, water, wildlife); 2) visitor experience (crowding, conflict, etc.); and 3) management (visitor education, rules, and regulations), with an emphasis on “management by objectives” or establishing a set of objectives and indicators which inform how each park is managed (Harrison, 2008). While carrying capacity, limits of acceptable change, and along with experience of visitors and protection of resource are used by scientists and authorities in assessing overtourism issues in protected and other ecologically fragile areas, they are also often used more loosely and descriptively when referring to tourism management in other types of destinations. Today overtourism is not only a hotly discussed topic, it also encompasses a range of issues and therefore serves as a platform for exploring critical topics associated with tourism management. It is a multifaceted problem impacting various types of destinations, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. What is certain is that at the base of solutions to overtourism are policies and practices that are aligned with the principles of responsible travel and visitor education