Few Places That Hate Tourists – Tourismphobia

Tourists Go Home !!

This is a job where information is collected about the problem of tourism impact in some places. In some cities rational precautions are taken: But in others (very few) an alarming syndrome develops. The turismo-phobia.  The turism-phobia. Here is the information that could gather, more personal experiences having personally visited four of those places.

Barcelona – Spain

Ada Colau shortly after taking office as mayor in 2015: “We do not want the city to become a cheap souvenir shop”. He put Venice as an example. The freezing of licenses for all the new hotels and apartments for holiday rentals, the fines for AirBnb, the projects for new tourist taxes and the studies to limit the number of visitors are the reasons that this blog uses to include in this list. 

• The Guardian : Barcelona cracks down on tourist numbers with accommodation law
• BBC:  ‘Tourists go home’: Leftists resist Spain’s influx

The increase in the price of rents, caused by the interest of many owners to convert their properties into holiday homes, (in some cases without licenses) is forcing many residents to leave their homes and move to other areas with less tourist pressure cone the nearby Badalona.

• ABC: Ada Colau Stop licenses bars and business-tourism in Ciutat-Vella
• La Vanguardia: Tourism-phobia: A group of disguised people attacks a hotel in Barcelona -Spain

Barcelona with a population of 1.5 million inhabitants received more than 8 million tourists in its hotels in 2017. In August 2016, the Colau government sent a controversial letter to the residents of Barcelona asking them to denounce the illegal tourist flats and the city now has a group of inspectors who are dedicated to verify that those who rent out their homes to tourists have licenses in order.

• Forbes: Looking Back On 2017: #TouristGoHome
• The Guardian : Mass tourism can kill a city – just ask Barcelona’s residents

We hate tourists: Vandalism Acts 

Barcelona is the city that most hate tourists. Not only are there street protests, there are also acts of vandalism. Specifically we are talking about the serious act of vandalism against a tourist bus, in which the tires were damaged and graffiti was made. All this with tourists on board. The bus was interrupted by surprise in the middle of the street.  The group of activists who made this attack is called Arran and also made other acts in Palma de Mallorca.

Arran, the youth wing of the radical CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) party, has claimed responsibility for these act and anti-tourism campaign.

1. The Guardian: Barcelona anti-tourism activists vandalise bikes and bus
2. The Guardian : Barcelona cracks down on tourist numbers with accommodation law
3. The Times : Barcelona protesters tell tourists to go home
4. Arran : Organization

Tourism-phobia of Barcelona has its own hashtag on twitter  #touristgohome

We came to the conclusion that the city of Barcelona is the one that most hate tourists.

Magaluf : Palma de Mallorca

Magaluf in Palma de Mallorca is a destination where residents are considered the destination of drunken tourism. Beaches and streets full of drunken tourists and in some cases, naked.

Palma de mayorca was also the target of the Arran activists. Alli destroyed in 2017 some of the yartes that were in the port

• Diario de mallorca :  show-turista-borracho-desnudo-magaluf.
• The Sun : Page launched to shame randy tourists
• Independient : tourist-attacked-spain-anarchists-british-palma-de-mallorca-arran-restaurants

Venice – Italy

Possibly one of the first cities not to be friendly with tourists. It is especially noticeable if you want to visit churches away from traditional circuits. In some with casteles that only let enter the people who profess the cult. And in the larger ones, the spaces reserved for worship are much smaller than those for tourists. They complain and a lot. It is noted that it is a city occupied by mass tourism. 

The inhabitants of Venice flee from the urban center due to the increase in the price of housing and the invasion of hotels and apartments dedicated to tourism. In the mid-twentieth century Venice had 175,000 residents. Today in   Venice there are about 54,000 people. It receives 20 million visitors per year. The wear generated by this tourist boom is such that Unesco threatened in 2016 to withdraw the distinction of a World Heritage City (1987) and include it in the list of “heritage in danger”.

• New York Times : Venice, Invaded by Tourists, Risks Becoming “Disneyland on the Sea”
• The Guardian : First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe
• The Independient : Eigth place that hate tourist the most

The City of Venice is also studying a system to alert tourists when they have reached the top of visitors and thus prevent them from coming. In addition, it has created the Geoportale website, where residents denounce anonymously the unregistered tourist flats.

Directed by Andreas Pichler, the “Syndrome of Venice” (2012) is a documentary that tells the story of the predatory tourism suffered by the Italian city and that devours, for years, the very survival of the tourism sector.  Venice is other of the Places That Hate Tourists

In 2017 the newspaper New York Times  title a note saying :  Venice, Invaded by Tourists, Risks Becoming “Disneyland on the Sea”

• BBC:  Venice #Venexodus protesters oppose tourist numbers
• Express UK: VENICE BACKLASH: Locals angry as tourists take over Unesco city forcing residents out
• Forbes: Blacklisting Venice To Save It From Too Many Tourists And Too Few Venetians

 

Tourism-phobia of Venice has its own hashtag on twitter  #venexodus

We conclude that the city of Venice hate tourists, although not to the extent of direct actions against tourism.

We do not hate tourists. We just protect ourselves

These are places where you are taking steps to prevent Venice ( or Barcelona) syndrome 

Thailand

Thailand, one of the main destinations for backpacker tourism. It seems incredible that this country with cultural roots that show kindness to foreigners appears on this list. We included it because in May 2016 the Thai government decided to close several islands to tourism. Some of them are Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nui and Koh Khai Nai. These are common destinations of backpackers, and the local government understands that they produce a high degree of environmental deterioration.It is a system of selection and protection that was implemented in the style of Bhutan. There for sightseeing you have to pay U$S 250 per day per person. The transfer, lodging and guides are included. Bhutan is not on this list, since he never rejected tourists, but began to open up to tourism in the decade of the 70s with this method.

Since it became the setting for the movie “The Beach”, this tropical paradise has been under a lot of pressure because of the wave of tourists it receives every year. According to the Tourism Office of Thailand, both Koh Phi Phi and the surrounding islands receive more than 1.4 million tourists a year. The anchors of boats and divers have destroyed coral reefs, and the marine environment has been affected by the pollution of motor boats and the discharge of sewage into the sea.

Amsterdam- Netherlands

Amsterdam is another city that is harassed by tourism. The Newspaper The Independent takes the speech of Frans van der Avert, executive director of Marketing of Amsterdam, at the recent World Tourism Forum held in Lucerne: “Cities are dying for tourism, no one will live longer in historic centers. We will not spend more on the commercialization of Amsterdam, we do not want to have more people, we want to increase the quality of visitors, we want people who are interested in the city not as a backdrop for a party: We see many visitors without respect for the character of the city.

• The Guardian : Amsterdam to increase tourist tax to reclaim city for residents
• The Telegraph : Amsterdam bans new tourist shops to combat ‘Disneyfication’ of city

With 850,000 inhabitants, Amsterdam  receives 17 million tourists a year. The city has focused on regulating accommodation to avoid crowds. In the center, hotels can not be built since 2015 and the time that a tourist apartment can be rented is limited to a maximum of 60 days. “We are the first city to reach an agreement with Airbnb, if a host passes the days allowed, they will erase the profile”, explains a spokesman of the Consistory.

In addition, they have reduced from 60 to 20 the number of tourists that each guide can attend at the same time. “Limiting the people who arrive is difficult, but with this measure we try not to have many visitors in the same place at the same time,” says Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam, Kajsa Ollongren. The City Council has also approved that in five years the cruises will disembark on the outskirts of Amsterdam and not on the canals of the center.

Bruges – Belgium

BRUGES GIVES PRIORITY TO RESIDENTS

Bruges (Belgium), with 100,000 inhabitants and 8 million visitors in 2016, has become an example of tourism management. “We live in this sector and we try to make the people who live here understand and like the visitors”, explains the mayor, Renaat Landuyt. “Any measure first is for the benefit of those who live in the historic center of Bruges, if we make the center a good place to live, visitors will also appreciate it.”

• Skift.com:  6 Charts on How Bruges Residents Grudgingly See Overtourism’s Value

In the city it is not allowed to make parties in the streets, nor the entrance of tourist buses to the center. “We are also working on regulating and limiting the free tours and the maximum number of electric scooters and taxi-bicycles so there are no crowds,” adds Landuyt.

Cinque Terre  – Italy

It is one of the most famous postcards of Italy: five picturesque fishing villages cataloged as World Heritage, linked by narrow and bucolic paths. Enough beauty to attract 2.5 million tourists a year. According to The Independent, its managers plan to put a maximum number of tourists of 1.5 million annually. Once surpassed, access to tourists will be closed.

 

• Smithsonian.com : Italy to Limit Tourists to Cinque Terre
• See in the Cinque Terre Official Web: Limits and restrictions for visiting the Park of the Cinque Terre in 2017-2018 (limited number)

Santorini – Greece 

The most popular Greek island has said enough. There is no place for a cruise or a tourist more.  In the summer of 2016, 10,000 cruise passengers arrived daily. The authorities want to limit that number to 8,000 as of this year.

Permanent traffic jams on highways where cars intermingle with motorcycles, trucks and even mules; problems in the supply of drinking water or electricity, as well as in the management of waste are some of the symptoms of the saturation that this island has suffered for years. Santorini has not been able to cope with the exponential growth in the number of permanent inhabitants – from 6,200 in 1971 to 25,000 today – and the arrival of some two million tourists a year.

• The Express : Santorini at BREAKING point as island struggles under influx of tourists

To the natural problems that derive from the overdose of tourism, as the astronomical rise of prices in general and of rent in particular, the population suffers many other difficulties. There are not enough school places, doctors are missing and the new hospital can not even meet the needs of the inhabitants.

Bruges, Amsterdam, Cinque Terre and Santorini are places that tourists hate? The answer is no. They are only taking precautions not to get to the point of Venice, or Barcelona.

Iceland

What is the problem with Iceland?: Since June 2015, the number of visitors to Iceland increased by 78 percent compared to the previous year. But there is more. By the end of the year 2017, it was reported that that year they had received no less than up to eight tourists for each resident.

The country’s infrastructure, which comfortably serves a population of 350,000, has entered into a kind of collapse. The main attractions located in the national parks (Gullfoss and Thingvellir waterfalls) are suffering the same phenomenon.

That is why they are reevaluating their tourism strategy. While they are satisfied at the moment, they do not want the problem to enter a terminal phase. As in the case of Venice.

Regulations have been introduced for rent by Airbnb, where you can only rent your rooms up to 90 days a year. An infrastructure plan has also been addressed to meet the demand.

They also recommend enrolling in a tourist group called Hidden Iceland, which promises to take you to where the hordes of tourists do not exist. There are equally impressive places like the blue lagoon, but less known.

While they are not against tourism, the Icelanders are already taking precautions to not become a new Venice.

 

 

References and work material for Curation

1. BBC: ‘Tourists go home’: Leftists resist Spain’s influx
2. ABC: Ada Colau Stop licenses bars and business-tourism in Ciutat-Vella
3. Forbes: Looking Back On 2017: #TouristGoHome
4. La Vanguardia: Tourism-phobia: A group of disguised people attacks a hotel in Barcelona -Spain
5. The Independient: Why Barcelona locals hate really hate tourist
6. The Guardian : Mass tourism can kill a city – just ask Barcelona’s residents
7. The Guardian: Barcelona anti-tourism activists vandalise bikes and bus
8. The Guardian : Barcelona cracks down on tourist numbers with accommodation law
9. The Times : Barcelona protesters tell tourists to go home
10. Arran :Wikipedia – Organization
11. New York Times : Venice, Invaded by Tourists, Risks Becoming “Disneyland on the Sea”
12. The Guardian : First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe
13. The Independient : Eigth place that hate tourist the most
14. BBC:  Venice #Venexodus protesters oppose tourist numbers
15. Express UK: VENICE BACKLASH: Locals angry as tourists take over Unesco city forcing residents out
16. Forbes: Blacklisting Venice To Save It From Too Many Tourists And Too Few Venetians
17. Cinque Terre Official Site:  Limits and restrictions for visiting the Park of the Cinque Terre in 2017-2018 (limited number)
18. The Guardian : Amsterdam to increase tourist tax to reclaim city for residents
19. The Telegraph : Amsterdam bans new tourist shops to combat ‘Disneyfication’ of city
20. Skift.com:  6 Charts on How Bruges Residents Grudgingly See Overtourism’s Value
21. Smithsonian.com : Italy to Limit Tourists to Cinque Terre
22. The Express : Santorini at BREAKING point as island struggles under influx of tourists

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