2024-11-23T07:57:52-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150147032/overtourism-are-cities-suffocating Katherine Guimapang 2019-07-19T15:01:00-04:00 >2024-03-15T01:45:58-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f8/f807076eab51c43e867de83b4c956da8.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>The global tourism boom that&rsquo;s inundated legacy destinations like Venice, Amsterdam, and Barcelona has birthed a term&mdash;overtourism&mdash;to describe the harried state of a city besieged by too many visitors. A recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, Destination 2030, looked at cities&rsquo; readiness for tourism growth and concluded that Vancouver, [...] had &ldquo;visitor volumes and activities with potential to cause strain on the city.&rdquo;</p></em><br /><br /><p><a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/59326/tourism" target="_blank">Tourism</a> is one proven way cities can boost their economy in addition to promoting cultural awareness. However, how much strain is tourism putting on these cities? According to&nbsp;recent CityLab coverage by Molly McCluskey, "overtourism" is a term city development and tourism councils are using more frequently. Take Vancouver for example. McCluskey shares that the city will reach its 95% tourism capacity by the end of the summer. What does this mean exactly, and what steps can be taken to manage overcrowding?</p> <p>According to Gwendal Castellan, manager of Sustainable Destination Development at Tourism <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/195/vancouver" target="_blank">Vancouver</a>, he and his colleagues think, perhaps they should "just stop promoting the city?" Castellan continues, "We've been watching this happen all over the world.&nbsp;We haven't hit those edges [of oversaturation] yet, but we're not far off." Cities strained from "overtourism" must not only react to visitor demand but respond to residents and local officials. From overcrowded parking lots, busy...</p>