How Overtourism Is Destroying Cities | Between the Lines with Palki Sharma

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Are you dreaming of a European holiday

floating through Venice on a gondola

marveling at the architecture in Athens?

Basking in the sun on the beaches of

Barcelona if you are beware Europe and

the world is overrun with tourists and

it looks like cities have had enough.

They're replacing come to us incentives

with stay away restrictions tourism was

once the Golden Goose for these hotpots

but they're now tired of

it why because of over tourism you see

the pandemic was a bad time for travel

borders were shut flights were grounded

people were stuck at homes so when the

World opened up tourism boomed everyone

wanted to travel there was even a term

for it they called it Revenge travel but

2 years later countries are fed up

tourism numbers may be up but they moods

not so much over tourism has been a

problem for some time but now cities are

fighting back so what explains this

trend when does tourism become over

tourism and why should you

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care

hello and welcome to between the lines

I'm py Sharma and on this show we'll try

to read between the lines the stated and

the unstated the obvious and the hidden

to bring you the full

story imagine a Scenic location azour

Blue Waters pristine beaches Scenic

mountains you would want to visit right

well Instagram has made it easier it all

begins with a humble hashtag or a viral

dream meal a picturesk location is

discovered an influencer snaps a

breathtaking shot and that's it a On's

Hidden Gem becomes a must visit

destination all thanks to the magic of

social

media but when does this fast rising

tide become a tsunami what happens when

there are just too many tourists it's

called over tourism it's

self-explanatory too many visitors at a

particular destination in an era where

Globe trotting is as accessible as

ordering your morning coffee it is a

quiet catastrophe hidden beneath the

picturesque selfies and the thrill of

discovering new destinations according

to the world tourism organization by the

end of 2030 International tourists will

surpass 2 billion yet the sites and

places they want to see remain the same

their capacity Remains the Same they

won't magically grow in size which makes

this the perfect recipe for disaster

there's wear and tear on fragile sites

disruption for local people plus visit

visitors receive a less than ideal

experience picture this long traffic

jams endless skes rampant littering

overpriced food and no place to just

take a breath does it sound like your

ideal holiday I'm sure it

doesn't now the causes of over tourism

are many but there are three main Trends

the first is population the global

population has tripled since the 1950s

and more people are traveling reason

number two growing influence the world's

middle class is as as big as 4.2 billion

people that's a very large number a lot

of them can afford to travel and that's

what they're doing as we speak the third

is accessibility easier permissions

cheap regional carriers airbnbs and

social media all of this has fueled the

travel boom it brings in the money too

but countries are increasingly unhappy

about it over tourism is killing cities

so many governments are now imposing

restrictions first on the list is Venice

the poster child of over tourism the

city is so overwhelmed with with

tourists that canals have Bumper to

Bumper Rush our traffic Venice gets an

estimated 30 million visitors every year

its population is not even

300,000 so hosting 30 million is just

too much for the city the delicate

ventian ecosystem cannot handle it as a

result the floating city is losing its

Essence so Venice has decided to act it

will now charge tourists to enter the

city in a bit to curb overcrowding the

fee is €5 which which doesn't sound like

much when you think about it all

visitors over the age of 18 will have to

pay

it5 Venice hopes that this will deter

some day

Trippers it wants only the most

committed tourists to visit then there

is Greece it is limiting daily visitors

to the Acropolis the ancient

archaeological site attracts thousands

of people every day so much so that

there are bottlenecks outside Athens has

had enough it wants to cap daily

visitors at $2,000 now if you want to

visit you must book in advance Amsterdam

on the other hand is Banning cruise

ships it wants to control tourist influx

Italy's porino is introducing no waiting

zones basically they're saying no to

tourists brandishing selfie sticks some

parts of Spain are launching tourist

taxes but it's not just Europe that is

fed up places in Southeast Asia too are

done with tourists places like Bali it

has a new set of rules for them like

dress appropriately do not climb volcano

do not disrespect holy sides there's a

whole list and they're taking it very

seriously because over tourism is not

just about too many people it's also

about the lack of cultural sensitivity

Rowdy tourists have a knack for turning

sacred temples into impromptu yoga

studios and quaint neighborhoods into

drunken party zones for them it's not a

trip unless you've offended locals with

inappropriate behavior in India too the

situation is no different tourism in

India is a $194 billion Market it

contributes to 6.8% of the GDP it

employs more than 40 million people so

clearly it is big and important as a

sector but all of this comes at a cost

from Kashmir to kanyakumari tourist

spots are brimming with people and the

impact can be social economic as well as

environmental take the town of jimut for

example it was once a bustling tourist

spot a gateway to famous pilgrimage

sites but no one talked about the impact

this tourism had the loss and damage to

the Iman

ecosystem the vibration caused by the

vehicles the filth left behind by

Travelers and the erosion of the

sensitive Mountain ecosystem now the

small Himalayan town of jimat is sinking

its locals were forced to abandon their

homes and the land around is not safe to

live in goes to show what over tourism

can

do like I said before this is not just

about too many people the consequences

of over tourism go far beyond that

there's a threat to the environment to

the cultural heritage plus it Fosters

inequality when tourists flood into

impoverished areas they often drive up

prices making it unaffordable for local

residents this erodes the purchasing

power of locals fracturing the sense of

community in these

cities so what do we do to curb over

tourism do we just stop traveling well

travel is not wrong but we should start

with responsible travel we must choose

quality over quantity valuing the depth

of experience over the number of

destinations checked off lists also

choose sustainable tourism practices

like supporting local businesses and

respecting local

Customs it can make a significant

difference additionally governments and

local authorities have to act they must

prioritize the well-being of their

citizens over short-term Financial

gains currently over tourism is a global

crisis which means it needs Global

awareness and Global action it should be

a wakeup call for the world our planet's

Treasures are not inexhaustible and it's

time to protect what we hold

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dear

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oh

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