NYT article on tourist areas…

[Anonymous]

Enacting fees and/or rules to curb over tourism and bad behavior. Do you think this will help at all? It does make sense that some places are caping number of visitors per day. But I’m not sure small fees will do much to stop tourists (will help raise money though). I agree something needs to be done…esp in areas with more fragile ecosystems.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/04/travel/global-overtourism-fees-rules.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Anonymous]

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

If they’re going to do this to actually limit crowds (vs. just raise revenue) they’re going to have to impose fees higher than 5 Euro or whatever most of these places are talking about. I would pay quite a bit more to visit many of these places that have been overrun if they could thin out the mobs. As a “boomer” that remembers when places like Paris and Venice were actually pleasant to visit, I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to and I thought I would at this time in my life, but I would if it was more like it used to be. I used to go to Paris every other year, and after the last visit @ 10 years ago, I have had zero desire to go back. It wasn’t the same place. Part of it is the damage done by STRs, despite the attempts to ban them in Paris. The neighborhoods are hollowed out of residents and full of tourists.

It would be tricky, but if they found the right balance, I think they could actually increase total revenue by catering to a more high end market. The problem is that there are locals who make money off of mass tourism (running buses from cruise ships, etc) and I’m sure those people have political influence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they’re going to do this to actually limit crowds (vs. just raise revenue) they’re going to have to impose fees higher than 5 Euro or whatever most of these places are talking about. I would pay quite a bit more to visit many of these places that have been overrun if they could thin out the mobs. As a “boomer” that remembers when places like Paris and Venice were actually pleasant to visit, I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to and I thought I would at this time in my life, but I would if it was more like it used to be. I used to go to Paris every other year, and after the last visit @ 10 years ago, I have had zero desire to go back. It wasn’t the same place. Part of it is the damage done by STRs, despite the attempts to ban them in Paris. The neighborhoods are hollowed out of residents and full of tourists.

It would be tricky, but if they found the right balance, I think they could actually increase total revenue by catering to a more high end market. The problem is that there are locals who make money off of mass tourism (running buses from cruise ships, etc) and I’m sure those people have political influence.

What neighborhoods in Paris have been “hollowed out” if residents? Sorry but Paris is a terrible example of this as there are a million places you can go where you will not run into a single tourist. The real issue is in smaller cities that can’t absorb the mobs flocking to the two or three main tourist sites between 10a-4p everyday. I’m all for it. Hell, charge 20 euro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they’re going to do this to actually limit crowds (vs. just raise revenue) they’re going to have to impose fees higher than 5 Euro or whatever most of these places are talking about. I would pay quite a bit more to visit many of these places that have been overrun if they could thin out the mobs. As a “boomer” that remembers when places like Paris and Venice were actually pleasant to visit, I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to and I thought I would at this time in my life, but I would if it was more like it used to be. I used to go to Paris every other year, and after the last visit @ 10 years ago, I have had zero desire to go back. It wasn’t the same place. Part of it is the damage done by STRs, despite the attempts to ban them in Paris. The neighborhoods are hollowed out of residents and full of tourists.

It would be tricky, but if they found the right balance, I think they could actually increase total revenue by catering to a more high end market. The problem is that there are locals who make money off of mass tourism (running buses from cruise ships, etc) and I’m sure those people have political influence.

What neighborhoods in Paris have been “hollowed out” if residents? Sorry but Paris is a terrible example of this as there are a million places you can go where you will not run into a single tourist. The real issue is in smaller cities that can’t absorb the mobs flocking to the two or three main tourist sites between 10a-4p everyday. I’m all for it. Hell, charge 20 euro.

I don’t think it’s only impacting small cities though. Honestly I think certain places (like Antarctica) should be completely off limits to tourists.