Excessive, excessive, or overturism is characterized by the excessive negative impact of tourism on host communities and/or the natural environment.
In many countries, sometimes completely unexpected from the point of view of mass tourism, the authorities are struggling with excessive tourism. One of these countries is Iceland. There, the authorities decided to improve the accommodation fee, which was abolished during the pandemic, and returned in January 2024. In addition, a mechanism is currently being developed to increase the amount of fees for access to popular attractions. According to the Government, it should be adjusted depending on demand. That is, on peak dates and even during peak hours, it will increase. The dynamic pricing strategy is supposed to reduce the load on the most visited places.
But Barcelona has become the undisputed leader in the fight against excessive tourism in the world this summer. News on this topic is coming from the capital of Catalonia in a continuous stream. At first, the Barcelona authorities decided to impose a ban on renting apartments to tourists. The new rule will provide affordable housing for young people and people with average incomes. This is due to rising housing prices due to mass tourism. About 7 million tourists stay in the city every year, which leads to a shortage of housing for local residents. The mayor of Barcelona plans to bring 10,000 holiday apartments to the rental or sale market in order to provide more opportunities for permanent residence. The ban will come into force in 2028.
Then, in the same Barcelona, they decided to sell tickets to Park Guell exclusively online (from July 1). The decision was made by the city council of the Catalan capital. According to the city authorities, this format of ticket sales will help regulate tourist flows to the park created by Antonio Gaudi. It is currently the second most visited work by Gaudi in Barcelona, after the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. In 2020, the authorities reduced the maximum annual capacity of the park from 9 million visitors to 4.5 million. So, last year, 4.4 million people visited Guell Park.
And another news from Barcelona: from October 2024, the tourist tax will be increased by 20%. There are several different tourist fees in the city, which are summed up. After the increase, the total amount of taxes will be from 4 to 7.50 euros per day, depending on the type of accommodation. The population of Barcelona is about 1.6 million people, and the tourist flow is about 32 million per year, many of whom arrive on cruise ships.
And finally, on July 6, the residents of Barcelona staged a flash mob with the shooting of tourists with water pistols. It is not known by what signs they were looking for “newcomers” among the customers of open–air restaurants, but the mood was spoiled. Angry at the dominance of tourists, the protesters also chanted at the entrance to the hotels.
In the same Spain, but already in Majorca, 200 local activists held a rally against excessive tourism on the picturesque beach of Calo de Moro. Some of the demonstrators wore T–shirts with prints like “All tourists are bastards” and held placards with the words “Beware of locals, they are angry”, “If you don’t have bread, eat travelers” and the like.
In Marbella (Spain again), they plan to increase the fine for urinating in the sea from 300 to 750 euros. The rules will apply to 25 beaches of the municipality of Malaga. It is not specified how the police will identify violators.
Greece will limit the number of cruise ships from 2025 on its most popular islands: Santorini and Mykonos. The reason is already traditionally popular: excessive tourism. In 2023 Greece received 33 million tourists, which is 18% more than a year earlier, and in the first quarter of 2024, the number of visitors increased by almost 25%.
Seoul restricts access to one of the most popular attractions – the village of Bukchon Hanok, famous for its picturesque and well-preserved traditional Korean houses called “hanok”. From October 2024, restrictions on visits will be introduced in the village. The authorities decided to impose a curfew for tourists from 17:00 to 10:00 daily. These measures were taken in response to numerous complaints from local residents about noise, garbage and privacy violations.
But there is also the opposite news. In China, they decided to cancel online reservations for visiting attractions in Beijing and Shanghai, but not all of them. Recall that in the Middle Kingdom, you can’t just visit many attractions. For example, the Forbidden City in Beijing needs to be booked almost a week in advance. The reason: controlling the number of visitors for sites with strict requirements for the preservation of nature and culture. But now the PRC is actively pursuing a policy to stimulate foreign tourism, which is why the Beijing authorities announced the cancellation of booking requirements in all picturesque places of the city, with the exception of key sites such as the Forbidden City and the National Museum, as well as some other sites that remain selectively open. Shanghai has announced that more than 3,000 cultural and tourist sites in the city, including A-level tourist attractions, art galleries, museums and libraries, have lifted reservation requirements, with the exception of a few popular locations.
Tourist tax
The State Duma has adopted a law on the adjustment of the tax system. Among other things, a tourist tax will be introduced in Russia in 2025. The marginal rate of this tax will increase in stages: from 1% in 2025. (but not less than 100 rubles) up to 5% by 2029. The right to introduce or not to introduce it, as well as to determine the rates taking into account various factors, is given to the regions (subjects of the Russian Federation and municipalities). Now the resort fee is charged in the Crimea, Altai, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, St. Petersburg and the federal territory of Sirius. The authorities claim that the introduction of a tourist tax will not lead to a significant increase in the cost of recreation and will contribute to improving the quality of tourist facilities.
Emergency
A plane with tourists crashed in Tatarstan. There were four people on board: the pilot himself and a family from Voronezh – a child and parents. Only the father of the family survived. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, tourists were given an aerial tour of the beauty of the Kama Estuary by the Fly with Us company. But at some point, the light-engine aircraft dived sharply, hit the ground and caught fire. The man jumped out of the cockpit before the collision and only therefore remained alive, although he received multiple fractures. Technical malfunction and pilot error are considered among the main causes of the crash.
A passenger was injured at the Adler train station and sued Russian Railways for 100 thousand rubles. compensation for moral damage. The woman was on a moving escalator, where a crowd of people formed at the same moment. Someone lost their balance and began to fall, including on the plaintiff. Alas, the station staff did not react in time and did not stop the escalator. As a result, the woman had to go to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a closed injury of the left ankle joint. Then the tourist went to court and won the case. However, the decision has not yet entered into force.
Towards the Olympics
In Paris, four major unions representing the interests of airport workers in the city (Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly) have called for a strike ahead of the Olympic Games. It is planned that the strike will begin on July 17, 9 days before the opening ceremony of the Games. Trade unions oppose the decision of the management to issue Olympic bonuses only to some employees, demanding additional payments for work during the Olympics for all employees without exception. It is expected that up to 350 thousand people a day will pass through these airports during the Games. Thousands of athletes will start arriving in Paris on July 18, the opening day of the Olympic Village, and a temporary terminal will open in Charles de Gaulle for athletes’ oversized luggage such as kayaks, bicycles or pole vaulting poles.
Although President Macron and Paris Mayor Hidalgo refused to swim in the Seine cleared for 1.4 billion euros, French Sports Minister Amelie Udea-Castera still took a dip in the river to confirm her readiness for the Olympics. But there is a caveat: the minister was dressed in a wetsuit, glasses and a hat, which caused the laughter of the townspeople.
Visa News
Visa centers are updating the forms: new questionnaires have appeared in the EC of Italy, Hungary, Sweden and Bulgaria. Tourists are advised to check the relevance before submitting documents. “The innovation added inconvenience to the applicants: many of them filled out questionnaires in advance and found out that they were not suitable already when submitting a package of documents to the visa application center,” ATOR writes. At the same time, each country changed the questionnaire in its own way: Bulgaria increased the volume of the questionnaire from three pages to five, and Hungary and Italy added a third gender – “other”.
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Источник: argumenti.ru
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