‘Go Back Home,’ Natives Cry as Overtourism Takes Over the World

As travellers strap their backpacks, fill their suitcases, and get their passports stamped, the hopes of being the ultimate voyager come crashing to the ground. Why, you ask? Well, their dream destinations have shut the front doors and told them that the country does not want them. But how can that happen? Aren’t countries supposed to boost tourism and rejoice in revenue? Maybe, in theory, but today, things have changed as we hear the ultimate agony of “Atithi, tum kab jaoge?” raised by overtourism.

The Good Side of Tourism

Once upon a time, tourism was the world's crowning jewel. As the bourgeoning middle class of the world collectively upgraded their lifestyle, a surge in tourism began. Add to this the fact that the world has become more accessible than it has ever been—cheaper airfares, online accommodation booking services and whatnot. The result? Tourists everywhere! Of course, we had the hiccup of the pandemic, but being locked inside our homes only made us want to get out and see the world even more.

As a result, according to UN Tourism, more than 285 million tourists travelled internationally just in the January-March quarter of 2024, 20% higher than the quarter in 2023. France was noted as the world’s top tourist destination in 2023 with around 100 million arrivals. Such figures come as the epitome of the modern global world when we remember that there were only 25 million international tourists in 1950.

The tourism industry is recovering well from the aftermath of the pandemic, numbers suggest. UN says that the world has already reached 97% of pre-pandemic travel levels, with everyone already out of their homes. China, USA, and Germany have taken the lead in outbound tourism with Chinese travellers spending around $196.5 billion on outbound trips in 2023.

Indians, too, aren’t so far behind. A report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) states that the outward foreign exchange remittance for Indians travelling abroad was around ₹12,500 crore ($1.42 billion) per month (on average) in 2023-24. The figure has seen a tremendous jump from pre-COVID times when it was just $400 million in 2018-19.

Countries like Japan are witnessing a high number of tourist arrivals, with the international visitor mark crossing 3 million in May. At home, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a footfall of over 74 lakh tourists until May this year. That sounds like great news for an industry that was struggling to make ends meet in 2020!

All in all, tourism seems to be a beneficial deal for everyone—the tourist gets to witness a new land and all it has to offer, and the land generates revenue to keep itself running. We also cannot forget how tourism has served as an economic lifesaver (before and even after the pandemic) for many countries like Maldives, Seychelles, Bahamas, Fiji, Croatia, Cabo Verde, Malta, Greece, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and many more. Even the most visited continent in the world, Europe, saw inbound tourism of over 700 million tourists generating around €645 billion in 2023. Tourists are happy, countries are happy, so it all should be chalked up to a happy ending, right? Well, not so fast.

The Bad Side of Tourism

Who doesn’t enjoy the occasional doorbell rung by a beloved guest? But imagine the same guests coming every day in large hordes! That’s what happened to a lot of the countries that were initially happy with tourists. Netherlands, a country of 17 million people, expects 42 million visitors annually by 2030, a number it is not equipped to manage.

Giethoorn, the Dutch village of picturesque windmills housing 2,795 people (as of 2020), is being swamped by 1 million visitors every year, and the locals are not happy about it. “We believe that the huge numbers of visitors eventually can destroy the soul of our authentic Dutch village as overtourism influences the ability of residents to enjoy daily life,” states Dirk Walker, a resident of Giethoorn, on the village’s official website.

Even the ever-so-famous Venice, a city of roughly 50,000 residents, saw around 20 million travellers visiting it in 2023—a place that not only seems to be sinking but shrinking as well, all thanks to overtourism. At home, places in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand are filled to the brim with tourists, most of whom are there to beat the heat. Photos and videos from the Char Dham Yatra spots, Dehradun’s Robber’s Cave, Mussoorie’s Kempty Falls, Himachal’s Shimla, Manali etc., can be found everywhere online to prove the point.

Clearly, the ‘our gates are open’ policy has backfired, leaving all these places with no option but to take action. The examples are endless—Spain’s Barcelona, to deal with the surge of tourists, has been asking tourists to pay a tax since 2012, and the city council recently voted to raise its amount from €3.25 per person to €4 from October. Bali, too, has a tourist tax and even a Tourist Task Force to ensure its implementation. Venice charges a €5 tourist tax to its visitors (even generating $1 million in revenue through it in just 11 days). Scotland has okayed a tourist tax, Como is pondering over a tourist tax, and Amsterdam, too, has a tourist tax and even banned the construction of new hotels to curb tourism.

Japan, fed up of tourists, blocked the views of Mount Fuji and is charging them more. Seeing its locals being squeezed out of their homes, Amsterdam removed the iconic ‘IAmsterdam’ letters from outside of the Rijksmuseum. Budelli Island, once known for its pink hue, has banned walking on the beach due to tourist footfall. On the other hand, some have put caps on the number of tourists they are willing to deal with in a day—Acropolis will only allow the entry of 20,000 tourists daily; Machu Picchu has a cap of 4,500 visitors per day; Dubrovnik was in talks with UNESCO for limiting its intake to 8,000 visitors a day etc. The list is never-ending.

Tourism is great for keeping a place afloat, but when the same tourism causes the lives of locals to be disrupted, there is only so much they can tolerate. Places like Barcelona, Malaga, the Canary Islands, Mallorca, Ibiza, Hawaii, Binibeca, Venice etc., have seen protests and demonstrations against overtourism in the recent past, with locals threatening tourists to go back to their homes. So, why visit a place when it doesn’t even want you there?

The Ugly Side of Overtourism

As a result of this surge in over-eager travellers, the streets are clogged up, housing supplies have diminished, water is polluted, souvenir stalls replace grocery stores, and monuments have turned into no-go zones. In short, the lives of residents have become tough, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that they are choosing to leave their hometowns and move out. As Venice sees a major surge in tourists, it is, in reality, losing residents, dropping from nearly 175,000 in 1991 to 55,000 in 2017.

Increasing tourism has impacted not just the families living there, but the land they are living on, too. Boracay in the Philippines, which was known to have dazzling white sand and crystal-clear water, now has water bodies filled with green algae. Illegal fishing, pollution, and unmonitored snorkelling have destroyed 70-90% of its coral cover. Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the famous temple in Tom Raider, has spurred the growth of nearby urban areas so much that the result is a shortage of groundwater that could trigger a sudden collapse of the monument at any time.

The 19 islands of the Galápagos, the very ones that inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution, once hosted approximately 9,000 species. Today, the UN has listed the destination as an endangered heritage site, courtesy—a high soar in tourism since 2007. A similar sorry fate was written for Machu Picchu, which saw its visitors’ number grow from 400,000 to 1.5 million in the last 20 years. The same visitors climbed and crawled all over the ancient Incan ruins, littering and eroding pathways, so much so that UNESCO had to step in to enlist the destination as one of the heritage sites in danger.

While Thailand declared 3 of its islands as strictly prohibited to tourists because of 80% reefs being degraded, Bhutan has restricted the number of tourists allowed and charged them more than ₹15,000 a day for visas and fees. So many places, tired of tourists running in with little to no regard for their sacred land, respectful culture, and needed infrastructure, have stepped up their game in controlling tourists as the latter do not look like they will realise their mistake soon enough.

Does this mean that ‘tourists go back’ is on its way to becoming the anthem of numerous countries? Or should the travellers explore the world of virtual tourism? Should countries be stringent with their tourism policies? Or maybe the travellers need to be a bit more careful not to disrupt the natural habitat of their destination? The answer, perhaps, lies in a bit of yes to all of the above.