What is behind the rise in anti-tourism protests? | BBC News - video Dailymotion

Bbc News

#Tourism #AntiTourism #BBCNews In many countries across Europe, anti-tourist sentiment is growing.    Barcelona locals have sprayed visitors with water guns, and anti-tourism protests in Mexico turned violent.    But tourism holds up the economy of many of these countries, so what has changed to mean it's no longer welcome? And how can we be better tourists when we go abroad?   BBC News's Kirsty Grant reports.  00:00 Intro 00:20 What are the cons of tourism? 01:40 What are the pros of tourism? 03:05 Why have anti-tourism protests become more prevalent? 04:30 What are the solutions to overtourism? 04:55 How can we be better tourists?  Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog   For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news  #Tourism #AntiTourism #BBCNews

Transcript

00:00Why do locals hate tourists?

00:02We've seen people in Barcelona spraying visitors with water guns

00:05and anti-tourism protests in Mexico that turned violent.

00:09Similar ideas have been picking up in other European cities too.

00:12But tourism contributes a lot to economies around the world

00:14and some countries are desperate for more visitors.

00:17So what's going on and why is this backlash growing?

00:20It's not surprising Barcelona had major protests.

00:2315 million people visited the city last year.

00:25That number is almost 10 times its population

00:28and they were greeted by this.

00:32Tourists go home.

00:33It's not just crowded streets that bothers locals.

00:36More tourists means more demand for short-term rentals.

00:39Online short-term letting companies like Airbnb

00:41have taken over the market too

00:43with people able to charge whatever they want without any regulation.

00:46And the housing that is left gets pricey.

00:49The cost of an average rental in Barcelona has doubled over the last decade.

00:52The average monthly rent there costs €1,500

00:55and the average monthly income is also €1,500.

00:59So it's just not feasible.

01:00And having that many extra people puts a huge strain on local resources too.

01:05Simon went to Mallorca recently to see the impact.

01:07So many people means so much more traffic on the road.

01:10It means problems with water.

01:11It means problems with power.

01:13It means problems with waste.

01:14What do you mean by the water and power?

01:16We go on holiday.

01:17We might want a shower in the morning.

01:18We might want a shower in the evening.

01:19We want to drink water.

01:20So we want to use the toilet.

01:22Spain is a hot country.

01:23It regularly goes through droughts.

01:24So yes, there's pressures on the water table.

01:27We're buying things from the shop.

01:28That creates waste.

01:29And then there's just the vibe of a place.

01:31If most of the houses near yours turn into an Airbnb,

01:33the area loses a sense of community.

01:35Local amenities turn into gift shops

01:37and local workers into tour guides.

01:39It is important to say though,

01:40there are lots of people in Spain and other countries

01:43who still really want to welcome tourists.

01:44And that is a message that the ambassador to,

01:47the Spain's ambassador to the UK also wanted to reinforce.

01:50That the protests are a small minority.

01:53They do not represent the voice of the Spanish people.

01:55And in many places, this hate for tourists just doesn't exist.

01:58Countries like Greenland, Morocco and Georgia

02:00are all crying out for more visitors.

02:02And despite France being the most visited country in the world

02:06and a country famously not afraid to protest,

02:08it just hasn't seen the same backlash.

02:10France is a much bigger country

02:12and it's got a much wider spread of its pretty towns,

02:16its pretty cities.

02:17It's only really got the south coast of France,

02:19whereas Spain has got really tight core destinations

02:23that are literally having a surge of visitors flooding.

02:27Many countries in Southeast Asia believe the more tourists, the merrier.

02:30In Thailand, the level of visitors peaked just before COVID

02:33and people there are working hard to get that back.

02:35Over tourism isn't even a debate.

02:37The real debate is how the hell do we get them back?

02:39We need the money back.

02:41Vietnam, frankly, you'd be hard pushed to find a single Vietnamese

02:44who would put sustainability of tourism

02:46anywhere on their top 30 or 40 list of things to be worried about.

02:50Sometimes it's even to the detriment of their own environment.

02:53Maya Bay in Thailand had so many people going up and down in boats

02:56that the coral got completely destroyed.

02:58But it was a rare occasion where officials chose to protect the land

03:01over making profit.

03:02They shut down the island completely for three years to let it recover.

03:06So back to the backlash.

03:07Why is this an issue now?

03:08What's behind this sudden tourist hate

03:10in areas which have welcomed them for decades?

03:13Well, firstly, more people can afford to travel now.

03:15And the COVID-19 pandemic meant that some people

03:18were just desperate to get away as soon as they could.

03:20But for others, the pandemic had a different impact.

03:24For the first time, Spanish people saw their homes without tourists.

03:29They saw their beaches without tourists.

03:31They could go to local cafes and bars without being covered in tourists.

03:34And they started to react to the fact that,

03:37does this have to be a lightness all the time?

03:38Do we have to cope with this level of tourism?

03:40So we really missed them and they didn't miss us at all.

03:44No comment.

03:45While most things are getting more expensive,

03:47flights are actually getting cheaper with budget airlines

03:49like EasyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.

03:51And then there's social media,

03:53which means tourists are concentrated in certain areas,

03:56all to get the same photo for their Insta dump.

03:58Like this iconic site in Japan

03:59where Mount Fuji is peeking out from behind a shop.

04:02Well, if I didn't have social media, I wouldn't come here.

04:04I wouldn't even know that it existed, this place.

04:07So many people were crowding the area,

04:09getting in the way of traffic and causing blockages

04:11to take the same photo that officials actually put up a screen

04:14to block the view.

04:15But Jonathan says this herd mentality when we're travelling isn't new.

04:19It's just speeding up.

04:20We used to complain about the same bloody thing.

04:21Everyone went to the same place.

04:22Certain places come into fashion.

04:24Everyone has to go there.

04:25It gets ruined because everyone's there.

04:27Then somebody discovers something else.

04:29And it just happens much faster now.

04:30So what can be done about it then?

04:32Venice brought in this €5 tourist tax

04:34for day trippers at the busiest times of the year,

04:36which it says has been a success.

04:38It's now increased the number of days that that tax applies.

04:40Barcelona announced a total ban on all short-term holiday lets by 2029.

04:44And when Simon spoke to the Spanish ambassador,

04:47he said they're planning to build more homes for Spanish locals.

04:50But it is a fine balance.

04:51Governments need to keep their residents happy

04:53without losing the income they get from tourism.

04:55So how can we be better tourists?

04:57If you still want to travel, this shouldn't put you off.

04:59But there are some ways to be less annoying.

05:01This is a very difficult question.

05:03And I asked this to an MP in Mallorca last week.

05:06And we need to consider ourselves as tourists

05:08and the demands that we're putting on resources where we're going.

05:13So do we need to have two showers?

05:15What about the waste that you're creating?

05:17Do you really need to hire a car?

05:18Can you use local transport?

05:22Could you potentially have a longer holiday in the place where you live?

05:25Those short trips present acute pressure on destinations.

05:30They are the points that the MP in Mallorca said we need to be thinking of.

05:35Because in his words and his words in cell,

05:37he said sometimes we're starting to feel like strangers in our own home here.

What is behind the rise in anti-tourism protests? | BBC News

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