Downward angle icon An icon in the shape of a downward angle. Destinations around the world are finding unique ways to keep tourists away. Courtesy of newsfromtoolate/Instagram, KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images Popular destinations are actively keeping tourists away to combat overtourism. Local governments are imposing curfews on tourists and blocking off popular Instagram spots. Locals are protesting mass tourism and creating street art with messages to keep tourists away.
From Italy to Amsterdam to Barcelona, the world’s most popular tourist destinations are overcrowded with tourists, and as a result, locals regularly struggle with overcrowding, traffic jams and high costs of living.
Travel sustainability experts have previously told Business Insider that overtourism is bad for destinations: While people love to visit historic cities in Europe and popular national parks across the US, these places aren’t built to handle millions of travelers during peak seasons.
The situation is getting worse, with popular tourist destinations actively trying to discourage tourists rather than attract them.
Tourist destinations are using a variety of tactics to curb tourism, from charging fees and limiting visitor numbers to implementing reservation systems and banning large cruise ships.
But local governments and residents in some hotspots are adopting more unique strategies to keep tourists away.
In some tourist destinations, residents are taking matters into their own hands through protests.
An anti-tourism demonstration in Barcelona earlier this month. Bruna Casas/Reuters
Barcelona attracted 15.6 million tourists last year, according to the Barcelona Tourism Board, but earlier this month a group of Barcelona residents and activists took to the streets to protest overtourism, marching with signs urging tourists to go home, taping off hotels and restaurants and spraying tourists with water pistols in public places.
A similar protest took place in October 2023 in the Austrian village of Hallstatt, which many believe inspired the Disney film “Frozen.” BI previously reported that locals held up signs while blocking a tunnel on the town’s main road. The town has just 700 residents but sees up to 10,000 tourists a day during peak season, the BBC reported.
Local street artists are bringing the message of overtourism into the public sphere.
Artwork by TooLate in Nice, France. Courtesy of newsfromtoolate/Instagram
Some protesters in Barcelona have also turned to street art and graffiti to scare tourists away, The Huffington Post reported on July 11. From stickers on lampposts to spray paint on building facades, messages like “It’s tourist hunting season” have been littered across public spaces.
And they’re not the only ones.
In Nice, France, an anonymous artist who goes by the name TooLate has been creating unique sculptures to keep tourists away from public spaces, he told Business Insider in an Instagram message.
For example, in 2023, TooLate created a giant mousetrap made of ice cream cones to attract tourists’ attention and installed it on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, which can be seen on the artist’s Instagram.
The aim of the artwork is to “raise awareness among passers-by and challenge the authorities,” Tourayt told BI, adding: “Overtourism along the Mediterranean coast is a real disaster for the environment, causing pollution, overconsumption of water, lack of housing for locals, the list goes on.”
Popular European beach resorts are fining tourists for bad behaviour.
People visiting Arenal Beach in Mallorca. Clara Margais/Photo Alliance via Getty Images
On the Spanish island of Mallorca, locals are unhappy with the millions of tourists who visit every year, especially when it comes to what to wear off the beach.
Some tourists have been wandering around town in just their swimsuits, leading city authorities to impose fines of up to 500 euros (about $650) on anyone found topless on the street, the Daily Mail reported in May.
In June 2023, The Standard reported that in Portugal, the National Maritime Authority had banned speakers from popular beaches after locals were annoyed by tourists playing loud music on the beach.
According to the outlet, beachgoers who are disruptive are urged to contact local authorities, and individual violators will be fined between 200 and 4,000 euros (roughly $220-4,350), while groups will be fined between 2,000 and 36,000 euros (roughly $2,180-39,200) (you read that right).
Italy has banned sitting and eating in some public spaces.
Tourists sit and have a snack in Venice. Luca Zanon/Awakening/Getty Images
Italian governments have taken measures to ease tourist crowds. In 2017, Rome banned eating and drinking near public fountains. Two years later, the city began issuing fines of up to 400 euros (about $440) for sitting, eating or drinking on the Spanish Steps.
In Florence, dining outdoors near a shop will be subject to a 500 euro (about $545) fine. BI previously reported.
The country is also taking measures against selfies.
No-selfie zones in Italy. Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images
For years, tourist destinations have urged visitors to refrain from stopping to take photos, with popular Instagram spots often clogged with tourists holding up traffic as they wait to take selfies.
Last summer, the Italian city of Portofino began fining people up to 275 euros (about $300) for stopping to take selfies in designated “no-waiting zones” at crowded tourist attractions, the BBC reported.
Some countries have built walls to block out Instagram-worthy views.
The Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko has erected fences in front of popular viewing spots of Mount Fuji. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images
After a selfie taken in front of a convenience store with a stunning view of Mount Fuji in the background went viral on social media, the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko erected a fence to block the view and deter tourists, BI reported in April.
This isn’t the first time a local government has taken such drastic measures. In Austria’s “frozen village” of Hallstatt, a temporary wall was erected last summer to block a popular tourist photo spot and ultimately restrict visitors’ access. It was unclear as of Friday whether the wall was still in place.
Tourist destinations are also experimenting with night-time curfews for tourists.
A quiet street in Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul. William Tang/Design Pix Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
In South Korea, Seoul imposed a night-time curfew on non-residents of Bukchon Hanok Village, a popular tourist spot that is home to 6,000 locals and thousands of tourists daily, CNN reported on July 11.
From October, tourists will be curfewed from 5pm to 10am.
In Spain, the town of Binibeca Vell on the island of Menorca has a population of just 1,000, but according to Euronews, it has to deal with the 800,000 tourists that visit the island each year flocking to the streets, breaking into homes and dumping trash in public areas.
The town government has not enacted a curfew, but the local homeowners association, which represents 195 homes, began asking tourists in May to stay away from the area between 8 p.m. and 11 a.m.
From local activism to government regulation, these unique strategies demonstrate how mass tourism is dramatically overpowering the world’s top destinations.
