Mass Tourism

VENICE, Italy (AP) — A scowling gondolier ferrying sightseers 10 at a time across the mouth of Venice‘s Grand Canal scolds passengers to sit still and frets over being shorted the bargain 2-euro fare. The brief journey perched along the sides of a packed gondola is a far cry from…

Gondoliers transport tourists along a canal in Venice, Italy, 8 April 2023. (Photo: Andrea Merola / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Unesco World Heritage Centre experts regularly review the state of the UN cultural agency’s 1,157 World Heritage sites, and at a meeting in Riyadh in September, a committee of 21…

Published July 22, 2023 12:59am AMSTERDAM —Amsterdam took a first step toward banning large cruise liners under broader plans to reduce mass tourism and pollution, officials said on Friday. Once implemented, the measures adopted by the city council would bring the Dutch capital into line with other high-profile European cities,…

ROME - The Arrigoni bakery has made bread for the popes for almost a century -- from rosetta rolls to wholewheat loaves -- but mass tourism has proved deadly and no prayers can save it now. "We turned the oven off on Tuesday," said Angelo Arrigoni, whose father opened the…

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13 min reading time Published on 20/06/23 - Updated on 20/06/23 Faire rimer tradition avec modernité, c’est désormais le pari de l’Espagne qui entre dans une nouvelle ère de son offre touristique. Capitalisant sur ses nombreux atouts, dont la gastronomie, l’architecture, la culture ou encore la religion, le pays entend…

10 min reading time Published on 16/06/23, Updated on 7 hours ago Like France, Spain enjoys a high standing on the international tourism scene, placing the Iberian country in second place among the world's tourist destinations in terms of arrivals. Its economy is heavily dependent on the tourist industry, which…

Last week Italy was, again, struggling with the conundrum of mass tourism. One of the country’s most charming seaside towns, Portofino, has just introduced legislation to dissuade tourists lingering for selfies: there will be fines of up to €275 (£243) if they block traffic or pedestrians in two “red zones”…

LYON - A mayor in the French Alps famous for fighting mass tourism on the Mont Blanc has come under fire for filing a legal complaint against two people camping on the mountain's peak. Jean-Marc Peillex, mayor of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, has for years sounded the alarm against overcrowding on western Europe's highest…

Several of France’s heavily visited natural sites are sounding the alarm. Access to some of the Calanques coves in Marseille and Corsica is now limited in order to limit erosion. Other villages struggling with mass tourism, such as Étretat in Normandy, are rethinking how they handle the influx of visitors. Can…