Why overtourism is testing the limits of global cities

In Rome, all roads may not lead to the Trevi Fountain, but many tourists would swear otherwise. The baroque marvel, commissioned in the 18th century by Pope Clement XII, has become a tourist funnel point in the city’s historic core. Navigation apps, eager to prioritize scenic routes, now regularly steer travelers through this aquatic landmark, whether or not they’re interested in seeing it again. What should be a highlight becomes an obstacle course of selfie sticks, sweaty bodies, and mounting exasperation.

The crowd crush isn’t just uncomfortable—it signals a broader issue. The sheer density of tourism in hotspots like the Trevi has transformed public spaces into bottlenecks. For locals, daily life is rerouted. For visitors, the dream of spontaneous discovery is replaced by congestion and fatigue. This is overtourism in action: when the number of tourists overwhelms a place’s capacity to absorb them gracefully.

The problem isn’t just numbers. It’s conduct. Tourists behaving badly have become viral spectacles—and political flashpoints. Take Italy. One infamous CCTV clip shows a visitor at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery stumbling into an 18th-century Medici portrait, tearing it by accident. Another incident involved a tourist carving his name into the Colosseum’s ancient wall. When caught, he claimed ignorance of the monument’s historic value. These cases, whether clumsy or clueless, stoke public outrage and harden attitudes against outsiders.

Some incidents are exaggerated or even apocryphal, such as the tale of an American tourist impaling himself on a Colosseum fence while chasing the perfect selfie. But the stories persist because they fit a pattern: tourists as bumbling, disrespectful interlopers in sacred or sensitive spaces.

The Italian government responded in 2024 with sweeping fines—up to $70,000—for vandalizing monuments and cultural sites. Though originally aimed at climate activists targeting icons like the Trevi and La Scala opera house, the law reflects a broader mood: enough is enough.

Italy isn’t alone. Around the world, the backlash against overtourism is mounting. In Tokyo, one celebrity likened tourists and migrants to “invasive species”—a metaphor that, while inflammatory, taps into a real concern about cultural erosion. In Portugal, locals have protested rising rents and the hollowing out of neighborhoods due to Airbnb conversions and tourist-driven gentrification. In New York, intensified border checks have made headlines, and the resulting discomfort has prompted the city to revise its international tourism forecast downward by 17%.

Part of the blame lies with “revenge travel”—the post-COVID boom driven by pent-up demand. Global travel came back with a vengeance in 2022 and 2023, pushing cities and infrastructure to their limits. But the deeper roots go back centuries.

Historically, tourists have always posed challenges to local order and customs. In the 14th century, Dante described pilgrims clogging Rome’s bridges and being herded like cattle across the city. Pilgrimage was the original tourism: people traveling for awe, redemption, or experience—but also commerce, intimacy, and indulgence. That tension has never gone away.

Tourism isn’t just a cultural phenomenon. It’s big business. Globally, the travel and tourism industry contributes about 10% to GDP. In Italy, the number is slightly higher. In Japan, it’s around 8%. The allure of those dollars makes it hard for governments to enforce real limitations on visitor numbers, even when the cultural and infrastructural toll becomes obvious.

Many of the industries that benefit from mass travel—airlines, hotel chains, restaurants, luxury retail—are structurally dependent on continued growth. They market seamless, curated experiences that shield tourists from discomfort and difference. Ironically, this cocooning can result in behavior that is disrespectful, because visitors remain psychologically outside the local context.

The commercial incentives are also perverse: the more tourism succeeds, the worse it can become. When every place becomes a checklist destination, authentic experience is replaced by crowd logistics. It’s a problem of scale and expectation—of turning every sacred site into a social media backdrop.

Technology has quietly amplified these dynamics. Apps like Google Maps, Instagram, and TikTok now steer tourists en masse to the same narrow set of attractions. Algorithms reward popularity, not quality. A viral post can transform a quiet courtyard into a thronged stopover. Crowds feed on crowds, and cities that once hoped to attract more visitors now find themselves scrambling to manage them.

This algorithmic herding undermines discovery and heightens frustration. It also hollows out the visitor experience: when travelers are fed the same itineraries, destinations lose their texture and nuance. Tech convenience has made tourism efficient—but also increasingly soulless.

So what can be done? One proposal is to scale up the use of certified human guides. As far back as 1625, Francis Bacon suggested that travelers bring someone "that hath the language and hath been in the country before." The modern equivalent would be locally accredited guides trained to enrich, contextualize, and regulate visitor behavior. It’s a jobs program and a cultural buffer.

Another approach is to rethink urban planning and infrastructure. That means spreading out visitor flow, developing under-visited neighborhoods, and creating systems to throttle or meter crowd density—using real-time data, dynamic pricing, or timed tickets. Venice, for example, has begun charging entrance fees for day-trippers.

Third, platforms need to de-amplify clickbait destinations. Google and Meta have the data to detect saturation patterns. Adjusting the visibility of over-trafficked spots and highlighting lesser-known alternatives would go a long way toward easing pressure points. But beyond systems, there must be a shift in traveler mentality.

Ultimately, tourism reform is not just about managing others. It’s about managing ourselves. Travel should be about getting out of one's comfort zone—not importing it. That means skipping the generic bucket list in favor of genuine curiosity. It means learning a few words of the local language, respecting local customs, and choosing restaurants and lodgings that are part of the community, not parachuted franchises.

Visitors must ask themselves why they travel. Is it to collect photos? Or to experience a place as it is—on its own terms, not theirs? When travelers embrace immersion over insulation, their impact is gentler, and their experiences richer.

Tourism has always been a paradox: enriching and exploitative, enlightening and obnoxious. But the current wave of overtourism is unsustainable. Cities must act decisively to diffuse pressure, spread economic benefits, and protect cultural integrity. Tech platforms should stop funneling people into the same five photo ops. And tourists must reframe what it means to truly visit a place.

To travel well is to travel humbly. Not every journey needs to go through the Trevi.