ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-09-20 · by Nelli Saarinen and Caitlyn Davey
Amsterdam and other popular tourist destinations are implementing strategies to manage overtourism, which includes ceasing traditional marketing efforts, imposing taxes, and restricting access to hotspots. Joseph Cheer, a sustainable tourism professor at Western Sydney University, explains that overtourism goes beyond just having many visitors; it creates local issues like overcrowding, loss of amenities, increased pollution, and unaffordable housing for residents. In Barcelona, authorities have banned short-term rentals through platforms like Airbnb to address the city's affordability crisis, reflecting a broader global trend of cities attempting to regulate tourism to benefit both locals and visitors.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For many people a holiday in a beautiful destination far from home is the perfect way to relax and leave behind the daily grind.
asserted
holiday → relax → grind
For those who live in tourist destinations, travellers bring business and work opportunities.
asserted
travellers → live → opportunities
But when more and more people flock to the same places, the pressure on locals and their environment can become destructive.
asserted
pressure → flock → locals
The city of Amsterdam, known worldwide for its picturesque canals, red light district and bike lanes, has ceased to invest in traditional marketing altogether.
asserted
city → know → marketing
"Amsterdam is not trying to grow tourism.
asserted
Amsterdam → try → tourism
Amsterdam is trying to manage tourism," Amsterdam & Partners corporate communications specialist Mila de Heer says.
asserted
Heer → try → tourism
"Our aim is a visitor economy that contributes to the city, respects residents and strengthens Amsterdam's cultural, social and economic fabric.
asserted
that → contribute → fabric
In destinations around the world overtourism has aggravated residents who say they no longer benefit from an industry that is overtaking their infrastructure and contributing to a lack of affordable housing.
asserted
that → aggravate → housing
Now many of the world's most desirable destinations are saying no to unrestrained mass tourism — but finding the antidote is not simple.
asserted
finding → say → antidote
Different strategies are being tested to limit the influx of tourists, including taxes, access restrictions and the closure of hotspots.
asserted
strategies → test → hotspots
Not just 'a lot of tourists'
In 2025 the travel and tourism sector generated $US11 trillion ($15 trillion) and accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the global economy, according to research by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
uncertain
sector → generate → Council
Western Sydney University sustainable tourism professor Joseph Cheer says It is important to understand that overtourism means more than just "a lot of tourists".
asserted
overtourism → say → tourists
"At its most basic, overtourism is when tourism growth starts to create problems at a local level," he says.
asserted
he → start → level
Overtourism manifests as overcrowding, loss of amenities, rapid development that communities cannot keep up with, noise, pollution, waste management issues and increased housing costs, Dr Cheer says.
asserted
Cheer → manifest → that
He says housing in popular destinations often gets used to accommodate tourists because it is more profitable.
asserted
it → say → tourists
"In a situation where we have a housing crisis or housing affordability crisis, this locks out locals from the housing that they would otherwise have had access to," Dr Cheer says.
asserted
Cheer → have → access
In Barcelona, Spain's most visited city by foreign tourists, authorities announced a moratorium on short-term rentals such as Airbnb to help make the city more affordable for residents.
asserted
city → visit → residents
Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city would scrap the licences of more than 10,000 apartments approved as short-term rentals by November 2028.
asserted
city → say → November
Housing is a pain point in Barcelona, where demonstrators have hit the streets the past two summers with water pistols to protest tourism.
asserted
demonstrators → hit → tourism
Regulation of platforms such as Airbnb has proven successful, according to Dr Cheer.
uncertain
Regulation → prove → Cheer
"It's been able to put limits around the extent to which tourism takes place in local areas.
asserted
tourism → put → areas
Airbnb had a slogan: 'to live like a local'.
asserted
Airbnb → have → local
The trouble is, no-one asked the locals whether they wanted people to live like them," he says.
asserted
he → ask → them
The ban is part of Barcelona's wider plan to cut off tourism growth.
asserted
ban → cut → growth
"The demand can't grow if there's no accommodations for [tourists].
asserted
demand → grow → tourists
Already this summer we're seeing that there are people who can't come because they can't find a place to stay.
asserted
they → see → place
We're not going to respond to growing demand," the city's new sustainable tourism commissioner José Antonio Donaire told The New York Times.
asserted
Donaire → go → Times
The Italian city of Venice banned large cruise ships from entering its historic centre in 2021, following years of protests by locals.
asserted
city → ban → locals
The community group No Grandi Navi (No Big Ships) attracted media attention for protesting on water, waving flags from small boats.
asserted
group → attract → boats
When a cruise ship full of passengers descends upon a city, facilities and infrastructure can be put under pressure without much economic benefit, Dr Cheer says.
asserted
Cheer → descend → benefit
University of Adelaide tourism management senior lecturer Freya Higgins-Desbiolles says the cruise ship ban is a good example of a community being centred in decision-making.
asserted
ban → say → making
"The local communities should be setting a vision of what they want for tourism in their place," she says.
asserted
she → set → place
Tourist taxes and minimum spends
Japan, a favourite destination for Australians, has increased a number of fees aimed at tourists and immigrants amid fears of overtourism and a surge in anti-immigration sentiment.
asserted
Japan → increase → sentiment
This includes the tripling of Japan's international tourist tax, which is attached to airfares departing Japan.
asserted
which → include → Japan
According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation, the fee will "support the maintenance of public works, critical infrastructure at airports and tourist sites, restoration of historic assets, and the creation of online tourist resources".
uncertain
fee → accord → resources
Closer to home, the Balinese have watched their island completely transform, with its rice paddies and agricultural land turned into villas for tourists.
asserted
paddies → watch → tourists
Foreign visitors have almost tripled in the past 15 years.
asserted
visitors → triple → years
Almost seven million foreign tourists visited the island last year, more than 1.5 million of them Australian.
asserted
million → visit → them
But the infrastructure has not kept up with the pace.
asserted
infrastructure → keep → pace
The island is grappling with a waste crisis and frustrated locals blamed overdevelopment after the island was hit with deadly floods.
asserted
island → grapple → floods
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia