VENICE, Italy (AP) — Tourists are waiting more than two hours to visit the Acropolis of Athens. Taxi lines at Rome’s main train stations are just as long. And so many tourists are concentrated around St. Mark’s Square in Venice that even on weekdays people crossing the bridge are backed away.
After three years of pandemic restrictions, some of Europe’s most popular destinations are opening this summer, from Barcelona and Rome, Athens and Venice to scenic islands like Santorini in Greece, Capri in Italy and Mallorca in Spain. Tourist numbers are expected to exceed 2019 records in some destinations.
European tourists helped the industry recover last year, but this summer’s boom has been largely driven by Americans, helped by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. Many people arrive motivated by “revenge tourism.” They are so eager to explore again that they are not daunted by the higher costs of flights and hotels.
Lauren Gonzalez, 25, landed in Rome this week with four friends from high school and college after a three-year vacation in the United States, and spent 16 days exploring the Italian capital Florence and the seaside. They don’t care about high prices or crowds.
“I managed to save some money and I know this is a worthwhile trip,” said Gonzalez, who works at a marketing agency. “We’re all in our mid-20s. It’s a change (moment) in our lives. … This is special. Crowds don’t hold us back. We live in Florida and… We all went to Disney World in the heat. We are all fine.
Tourists visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Friday, June 30, 2023. Tourist arrivals in some of Europe’s most popular destinations have surpassed 2019 records, with tourists flocking to the Colosseum, Louvre, Acropolis and other major tourist attractions. While European tourists helped the industry recover last year, this summer’s economic boom has been largely led by Americans, supported by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Americans seem similarly unfazed by recent riots in Paris and other French cities. Flight bookings decreased slightly, but mainly for domestic travel.
“Some of our friends were like, ‘It’s a little strange right now,’ but we thought summer was a really good time to go out, so we just had to take precautions,” Joanne said.・Titus (38) said: Maryland said as he strolled down the iconic Champs-Elysées shopping thoroughfare.
A resurgence in mass tourism is a boon for hotels and restaurants that have struggled under COVID-19 restrictions. However, the downside is that commitments to rethink tourism to make it more sustainable have largely been ignored.
“The pandemic should have taught us a lesson,” said Alessandra Priante, regional director for Europe at the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
Rather, the idea is “to get the cash back,” she said. It’s all about the bottom line and the here and now. ”
“We’ll have to see what happens in two or three years because the current prices are unsustainable,” he said.
Tourists impaled behind a fence visit the Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Tourist numbers have surpassed 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations, with tourists flocking to the Colosseum, Louvre, Acropolis and other major tourist attractions. . While European tourists helped the industry recover last year, this summer’s economic boom has been largely led by Americans, supported by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The mayor of Florence has announced plans for new short-term apartments in the historic center, which is protected as a UNESCO heritage site, as mayors of other Italian arts cities call for a national law to govern the sector. They are trying to stop the proliferation of rentals.
Elsewhere, anti-mass tourism movements that were active before the pandemic have not returned, but battle lines are still being drawn. Graffiti is misdirecting tourists in Barcelona away from Gaudi-designed Park Guell instead of towards it.
Despite some of the overtourism being predictable, overall travel to and within Europe is still down 10% from 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization. Part of the reason is that fewer people are visiting countries close to the Ukraine war, such as Lithuania, Finland, Moldova and Poland.
Additionally, Chinese tourists have not fully returned, with flights from China and other Asia-Pacific countries down 45% from 2019, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys.
Tourism-dependent Greece is expected to receive 30 million visitors this year, still short of 2019’s record of 34 million. Still, the number of flights has so far increased, with tourist hotspots bearing the brunt.
The Ministry of Culture will introduce a new ticket system at the Acropolis this month, offering visitors hourly slots to smooth out crowds. But no remedies for busy morning cruise ship parking queues on Mykonos and Santorini have been discussed.
Tourists visit the ancient hill of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Tourist numbers have surpassed 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations, with tourists flocking to the Colosseum, Louvre, Acropolis and other major tourist attractions. While European tourists helped the industry recover last year, this summer’s economic boom has been largely led by Americans, supported by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Thanasis Stavrakis)
Revelers, mostly tourists, watch the running of the bulls from their balconies during the San Fermin festival on Saturday, July 8, 2023 in Pamplona, Spain. Increased numbers of tourists have brought crowds to the Colosseum, Louvre, Acropolis and other major tourist attractions. His 2019 record in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry recover last year, this summer’s economic boom has been largely led by Americans, supported by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
Spain’s Tourism Minister Hector Gómez said it was a “historic summer for tourism” with 8.2 million tourist arrivals in May alone, a record-breaking second month in a row. Still, some hotel groups say bookings have slowed during the first weeks of summer as flight and room prices soared.
Costs are increasing as flights from the U.S. to Europe increase by 2% from 2019 levels, according to ForwardKeys.
Tim Henschel, CEO of booking site Hotel Planner, said, “The increased demand for long-distance travel from the United States reflects the continued boom in ‘revenge travel’ sparked by pandemic lockdowns. It’s the result.” “The big cities of these popular European countries will definitely be crowded during the summer months.”
The number of American arrivals to Italy’s must-see destinations like Rome, Florence, Venice and Capri has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, according to the Italian hotel association Federal Bergi.
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These provide a lot of retained purchasing power. American tourists visiting Italy spent 74% more on duty-free luxury during the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2019.
“There are also other regions in Italy that make a living from Italian and European tourism, but at the moment they are still below 2019 levels,” said Bernabo Bocca, president of Federal Belgium.
He expects a full recovery to take another year. He said the economic slowdown had discouraged Germans from entering the country, and that Italians were “less willing to spend this year.”
And your wallet will be flattened. Accommodation costs in Florence have increased by 53% compared to last year, compared to 25% in Venice and 21% in Rome, according to Italian consumer group Kodacons.
Gelato will now be 21% more expensive than last year due to soaring sugar and milk prices.
Perhaps nothing has fueled the increase in tourism in major spots more than the rapid rise in short-term apartment rental prices. Federal Bergi’s Bocca said the constant number of hotel rooms has caused massive congestion in Rome, swelling taxi lines, congested pedestrian crossings, and the inability of city buses to continue on their routes. It is said to be the cause.
Tourists sail on a boat on the Seine River in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Tourist arrivals in some of Europe’s most popular destinations have surpassed 2019 records, with tourists flocking to the Colosseum, Louvre, Acropolis and other major tourist attractions. While European tourists helped the industry recover last year, this summer’s economic boom has been largely led by Americans, supported by a strong dollar and, in some cases, pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In Rome and Florence, he says, “you walk down the street and you see tourists with suitcases coming out of the doors of every building.”
The mayor of Florence has limited the number of short-term rentals in the historic center to 8,000 people, but no action has been taken in Venice. The historic center of this canal-side city has 49,432 residents and 49,272 beds for tourists, almost half of which are apartments available for short-term rental.
Giacomo Salerno, a tourism expert at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University, said the inconvenience was “routine.”
He said it was difficult to walk through streets crowded with tourists or ride public water buses “full of tourists with suitcases.”
Students cannot find affordable housing because owners prefer to make a profit on vacation rentals. The decline in the number of residents means a lack of services, including a shortage of family doctors due to the rising cost of living, mainly due to tourism demand.
Venice has postponed plans to impose an entry tax on day-trippers into the city in a bid to curb the number of people entering the country. But activists like Salerno argue that this will do little to solve the problems of population decline and tourist intrusion, and will instead cement Venice’s fate as an “amusement park.” .
“That’s like saying the only use of this city is for tourism,” Salerno said.
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Aritz Parra in Rome, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Ciaran Gilles in Madrid, Angela Charlton in Paris, and Kelvin Chan in London contributed.
