Overtourism – occurrences and effects

Abstract

A phenomenon that has been felt for a long time, but which has recently become widely known, captured the attention of the science and of the media with the new term “overtourism”, leading current studies to a timely conceptualization. The present study tends to conceptualizes the overtourism phenomenon particularly through the analysis of existing literature, both academic and from media, with particular attention to its multidisciplinarity. The findings suggest that the manifestation of overtourism is determined by excessive promotion of same branded destinations, the low cost of transport, the cruises with pre-arranged and fixed stops, and the short-term rental accommodation system. The overtourism affects the quality of life of local communities, it contributes significantly to the alteration of the cultural heritage and to the loss of the destination’s identity, it affects also the natural environment by waste and by the resources taken, and finally it can contributes to the decline of famous tourist destinations.