overtouristic

Overtouristic is an adjective used to describe destinations that experience an excessive volume of visitors, to the point where the benefits of tourism are offset by costs to residents, culture, environment, or infrastructure. The term is closely related to overtourism, a phenomenon characterized by crowded sites, rising prices, and degraded quality of life.

Factors include the growth of international travel, social media visibility, affordable airfare, and concentrated peak seasons; gateway cities concentrate flows; lack of capacity planning or governance; and economic incentives.

Impacts include environmental degradation, traffic and crowding, water and energy use increases, litter and habitat disturbance; displacement of residents, erosion of cultural heritage, commercialization; safety concerns; and economic volatility when tourism demand shifts. Tourism can provide jobs and investment, but these benefits may be uneven and create long-term dependencies.

Responses include carrying capacity assessments, visitor management, quotas or timed-entry policies, price measures, zoning for land use, investments in infrastructure and public transport, efforts to diversify experiences, and community involvement to align tourism with local needs.

Examples and debates suggest destinations such as Venice and Barcelona have faced overtourism, along with other historic towns and coastal areas. Critics argue that the term can be vague and stigmatize travelers, while proponents emphasize data-driven planning and inclusive governance to balance growth with preservation.