'I'm An Ethical Travel Expert – Here's How To Avoid Overtourism On Your Next Holiday'
Following a bumper year for tourism in 2024, Hokuto Asano, first secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, told Fox News Digital that “Overtourism is a new challenge for the Japanese community.”
As a result, the country is reportedly considering a “tourist tax” in some cities.
But Japan is far from the only country that’s been reconsidering its relationship to tourists recently.
Spanish protests against over-tourism have led to some changes in cities like Málaga, the capital of Costa del Sol, which now prevents new holiday rentals from being registered.
Similar protests have happened in various cities in Italy and Portugal, as locals say overtourism is inflating housing costs and eroding the “essence” of some popular cities.
HuffPost UK spoke to Michael Rozenblit, who co-runs the responsible tourism company The World Was Here First with co-founder Maggie Turansky, about how to avoid overtourism where you can.
Do your research on the area
Rozenblit told us that “there are many ways where travelling can be beneficial rather than detrimental to a destination” – but you have to consider the specific needs of the location you’re visiting.
“If it is an incredibly popular destination already known to have a problem with overtourism, we’d recommend visiting a smaller, nearby city,” he shared.
“For example, instead of Barcelona, you could visit Girona. There, you can still experience unique Catalonian culture and cuisine without contributing to the absolute mass tourism that the capital sees.”
He recommended visiting popular spots in the off-season if you can to avoid overtourism, and discourages patronising big-name chain hotels and short-term rentals (which can harm the rental market for locals).
“Opt to stay in a small, family-run accommodation option instead,” he added.
“If you like the convenience of staying in your own apartment, there are many guesthouses and B&Bs that also offer this or even have shared kitchen and laundry facilities.”
If you can, spend more time in the city than you would otherwise
On his site, Rozenblit said: “We like to advocate for slow travel and we try to take our time and spend more days than most in the majority of places we visit. We like to ensure that we can fully appreciate a destination and we don’t think we can do that if we only have a short period of time there.”
So perhaps it’s not surprising that he advised visitors to extend their stay if they possibly can.
“The longer you spend somewhere, the more you can get to know it and the more your money can benefit the local economy,” he told us.
“Stay in a more local-centric neighbourhood rather than right in the city centre - this can allow you to see how locals actually live in the city and it makes it easier to patronise small local businesses.”