Managing overcrowding in tourism destinations

Published on January 17, 2018

We wanted to find the real issues behind the emotive 'overcrowding' , where and how the problems were manifest and what was being done to try and mitigate the problems or prevent them in the first place.

The findings in the report build on an analysis of tourism data as well as research on specific destinations and dozens of interviews with tour operators, tourism authorities, hospitality providers, airlines, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics, and think tanks. The report includes a diagnostic tool for 68 cities around the world to try and provide an 'early warning' of what kind of overcrowding risks may be most at play. One of the biggest problems (and criticisms received) is on the data for this. In the main, it doesn't exist - particularly comparative data and we have had to compromise as a starting point. This lack of data is an enormous challenge for the future planning of tourism in destinations. We need data in this area that is comparable and rich. Data on who is visiting the overcrowded sites/areas, data on domestic tourism etc.