PARIS, July 9 — In order to mitigate the effects of mass tourism and tackle overcrowding at tourist destinations (while ensuring their preservation), travellers will be required to make bookings to visit certain global hotspots this summer, to respect strict visitor quotas, or to stump up a fee. And these measures could be music to the ears of touristophobes and tourismophobes alike.

In seaside resorts and trendy cities, tourists flock to enjoy the view, visit the sights and soak up the atmosphere. Streets, parks or seashores become teeming anthills. As the summer vacation season kicks off, cities like Marseille, Biarritz, Barcelona and Venice are preparing for this wave, which they perhaps thought had subsided.

Indeed, in the two years since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was talk of more responsible tourism, less focused on concrete cities and more on mountain landscapes and the great outdoors. And while mountain-based vacations may be on the rise, it’s clear that the pre-Covid form of tourism is as popular as ever, much to the despair of touristophobes — people who have an aversion to tourists.

Touristophobia should not be confused with tourismophobia, a more pertinent subject according to tourism expert Paul Arseneault, former holder of the Transat Chair in Tourism and director of the Tourism Intelligence Network. As the tourism trade publication L’Echo Touristique explains, tourismophobia is defined as “a rejection of the tourism industry and its institutional and commercial partners by residents of a territory, who feel — legitimately or not — deprived of their rights, benefits and peace.”

Quotas: restricting access to clamp down on crowds

Changes are emerging in the tourism industry that could calm the nerves of anxious touristophobes, even if they are above all presented as measures to protect the environment.

In natural sites popular with visitors, quotas and booking systems are being introduced to restrict access to certain landscapes this year. This is the case at the Calanque de Sugiton in Marseille, and the Lavezzi Islands, the Aiguilles de Bavella or the Restonica Valley in Corsica.

And France’s Calanques National Park, for example, will limit access to 400 people per day from Saturday, July 9 until August 21, 2022.

Pay to visit

Elsewhere in Europe, access to the historic centre of Venice will become subject to a fee from August 2022 for tourists visiting for the day without staying overnight. Price ranges from €3 to €10 depending on the period, the events and the time spent in the city.

After being trialed this summer, reservations and payment to access the city will come into force on January 16, 2023, announced Venice’s councilor for tourism Simone Venturini at a press conference in June. “We are aware that the measure can no longer be postponed and that it is essential if we want to reduce the excesses of seasonal tourist peaks,” he said.

On the other side of the world, the South Asian country of Bhutan has announced a tripling of its tourist tax. The daily fee will now amount to US$200 (RM885.40) per night for travellers, the Bhutan Times reports. The country, which has been pursuing a sustainable tourism policy for some years, will reopen its borders on September 23, 2022. — ETX Studio