Crowded Out: The Story of Overtourism

A powerful short documentary exploring Overtourism, featuring interviews with local residents and global experts.

Overtourism occurs when there are too many visitors to a particular destination. When rent prices push out local tenants to make way for holiday rentals, when narrow roads become jammed with tourist vehicles, when tourists cannot view landmarks because of the crowds – these are all signs of overtourism.

And it is the backlash from local residents that has made overtourism news. Cities such as Barcelona, Venice and Dubrovnik, and places once thought of as remote such as Iceland and Skye have suffered firsthand, and the protests by local residents have spread.

There has been decades of virtually uncontrolled growth, and it has crossed a threshold: in many destinations, tourism now demonstrably creates more problems than benefits. Learn more on Responsible Travel at:

[lilianamariatomaz]

I’m from Portugal, I am getting a degree in tourism management and we talk about this issue very often. In the beginning it was cute and helpful for the economy but then people started to move here, justifying it with the country being cheap…which it might be if you earn the same salary as someone from the Nordic countries or something like that. Needless to say that our minimum salary doesn’t even compare, we are one of the EU countries that has the lowest salary. This phenomenon has raised prices in every single thing, including the housing market. Sadly, the country is not ours anymore. It’s basically for the rich people

[marnoch]

I visited Venice in 2009. It was so sad. We arrived and it was understandably busy. That poor city had no soul left at all. It felt flogged. Then after two days of being able to walk amongst the busy streets of tourist shops and restaurants, an ENORMOUS cruise ship arrived. Nothing could had prepared us for that level of overcrowding on the streets. It was overwhelming, frightening, and heartbreaking. We were all part of the problem. RIP Venice.

[whatever]

I’m so glad you mentioned the Isle of Skye in this video - I’m Scottish and my father works as a driver for luxury tours. Every. Single. Tour group. That he has. Goes to Skye. It doesn’t matter their age, their background, their interest in Scotland as a whole (and a lot of them ARENT even interested in the country, they just want to check it off some imaginary list) everybody who comes to Scotland now goes to Skye. This is an island with one road on and off to the mainland, and the majority of the roads are single track with passing places. Tourists barely know how to drive on our side of the road, let alone what to do when meeting oncoming traffic. They park in the passing places (which is illegal), they litter human waste out of their motorhomes, every single accommodation is fully booked, the locals can hardly get food in the one big supermarket on the island, and a fish supper costs £18. What does our genius government do? Propose building an airport on the island! Against local wishes! The place is supposed to be a remote and rural Scottish island, and it has turned into a theme park.

[merryfergie]

Airbnb is a huge, global problem.
When the company went public on wall street,
Responsibly was omitted from the prospect.

[Deadcat]

I heard about how much joy and peace some areas of Japan experienced during covid due to the lack of crowding and tourism, it is sincerely depressing

[theduchessofkitty]

Too many places where people actually live have been Airbnb’d to death. It is happening to my own hometown.

[heavensmountains]

You could do a repeat of this documentary today. The industry has worsened now that Covid & the restrictions are over. I live in a beautiful little town with exceptional natural beauty. However, it is so overrun with tourists that you don’t want to go out of your yard. Shopping for groceries is a trial, driving is insane, parking is impossible, the hiking trails are littered, lakes are ‘wall to wall’ with visitors. What used to be a welcomed industry has become one we dread, grit our teeth and put up with. 🇨🇦

[ALEXLAD]

My fave quote on tourism from David Foster Wallace:

“It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience, It is to impose yourself on places that in all non-economic ways would be better, realer, without you.”

[a.randolph]

This is happening here in the states as well. I live near a national park and MILLIONS of people come through our town every year. It's such a massive strain that locals are becoming very verbal about not wanting any more tourists. Residents are leaving every day.

[NeuroPOP]

I’m Italian and I have lived in Pisa for 12 years. It pains me a lot to see how people treat my town. There is even a series of Chinese couples organizing fake weddings in front of the cathedral every year. With no permission from the municipality.

[PumpkinMozie]

You can see this on a smaller scale in America too. My hometown is (was) a quaint Pennsylvania Dutch community with a small but thriving tourism market. Then after inflation started getting worse, all the retirees and others from nearby NYC decided they all wanted to move to my hometown to enjoy its cheaper cost of living. Well guess what. It’s not cheap anymore and fewer and fewer people are actually locals each year. I can barely afford my rent anymore.

[GayFrogsTho]

I worked in Barcelona last summer and that is definitely a city with an Overtourism problem. It was saturated with people and combined with the heat it was intolerable. And the prices were a joke, for local people I really sympathise with being priced out of their own neighbourhoods.

[Janika-xjbv]

I come from Lisbon, Portugal. There's so many tourists, sometimes I feel like a figurine in a postcard. An unnamed character in a tableau vivant for tourists to enjoy.

[ChardeeMacdennis]

The most crowded tourist spots I’ve ever been to were the Trevi fountain in Rome, The David in Florence and The Vatican Museum. I’ve traveled all over the world and Italy was definitely the most overcrowded feeling.

[fari]

This video should go viral! Look at what is happening to Himalaya. It used to be so pristine and now it's getting destroyed by overtourism.

[markdavids]

Ex pats moaning about tourism is priceless.

[Bobrogers]

My sister and I did all our traveling 20 to 30 years ago. Tourist venues were not crowded; on a rainy day there might only be a handful to see a castle in the UK. We did several European river cruises on small boats, and tour groups were less than 20 and could visit local establishments that served local residents. Our trips were affordable by schoolteachers and retirees on a budget. Now Viking has taken over the European rivers with their floating resorts, and prices are double and triple what they were. I cannot imagine how anyplace worth visiting can accommodate thousands of cruise ship passengers all at once! These places lose their authenticity and become artificial entertainment for the hordes of visitors.

[reenakemp]

I've lived by the Great Smoky Mountains national park my whole life. 43 years. It's changed so much and now we have millions and millions of visitors. It's destroying the park, the roads and pricing local residents out of rental homes.

[fissureofriddles]

Overtourism also makes a place more dangerous. Lots of people crammed into a place with the mentality that they can switch off, have fun, be self indulgent, get drunk, get hyper and excitable and that everything around them exists merely for them and their entertainment...I'm sure this lethal concoction has already lead to many tragic events and horrible accidents. From personal experience of living in an overhyped tourist area, the sound of emergency sirens are heard constantly all day and all night! 'paradise'!

[Owlabi]

I went to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan and got so fed up with how many people there were I left within like an hour. I then ended up by a river with hardly any people and a lovely peaceful beautiful shrine just from walking around a little and since then I'm trying to travel to more hidden gems, rather than well known places filled with people. Searching for these places is so much fun as well.