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Spreading tourists to new areas can just create new overtourism hotspots

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03 September 2026

Spreading tourists to new areas can just create new overtourism hotspots

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The photo presents tourists on Main Market Square in Krakow, Poland.

Trying to fix overtourism by spreading visitors across a wider area or season can simply extend the crowding into places locals previously relied on for a break from tourism.

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Editorial team

Related Organisation(s)

Responsible Tourism Partnership

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Geographical descriptors

EU-27

Organisation Type

Academic / Research and VET Institutions

Regional Authorities

SMEs (a company with less than 250 employees)

  • Specific types of tourism

    • Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism

    • Urban/city tourism

  • Transition Pathway Strategic Areas

    • Changes in tourism demand and opportunities

    • Coordinated information on travelling

    • Governance of tourism destinations

  • Business activities

    • Hotel and similar accommodation

    • Other tourism transportation activities

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Travel Tomorrow, an industry commentary outlet, argues that "temporal and spatial dispersal" strategies used by destinations to fight overtourism (spreading visitors to the shoulder season or the outskirts of a city) can backfire by pushing tourism into the "backstage" areas residents use for everyday life, denying them the off-season breathing space they previously had. Why it matters: destination managers currently piloting dispersal strategies (a common response encouraged under several national and EU-level overtourism initiatives) should weigh this trade-off explicitly rather than treating dispersal as an automatic win for residents.

#ResidentWellbeing #DestinationManagement #TourismDevelopment

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