Overcrowding in tourist destinations – overtourism – has been the most debated phenomenon of the summer of 2024. Business on one side and negative environmental impacts on the other. We wonder if there are solutions to solve the problem. Maybe a law will be developed. In Capri, one of the most renowned tourist destinations in the world, a debate dedicated to the topic took place in which the mayor Paolo Falco and numerous political figures spoke. It is not the first, it will not be the last and, coincidentally, the conclusions were precisely a request to the government for legislative intervention. The title of the event says it all: “Capri: rules and choices for the tourism of the future”. It was a moment of reflection and discussion with institutions and mayors of other renowned Italian locations, all sharing the same phenomenon.
Overtourism, “we can’t stand still”
So: Is it possible to stop overtourism with a law? That's what has been asked. A ad hoc law that gives the mayors of municipalities with high tourist pressure the power to intervene on complex phenomena: methods of access to tourist locations, new openings of non-hotel activities and short-term rentals, greater spending capacity for security and protection of the territories. Let's get down to business. How to establish whether a municipality is high tourist pressure? We need indices that measure the relationship between resident population, extension of the territory, number of visitors and tourist beds. In short, things to be established well, because in the meantime some mayors have solved the problem in their own way. "It is no longer possible to stand still and watch and be only spectators and we mayors, despite ourselves, often are" said the Mayor of Capri.
Italy with top tourism
But for Italy, at the top of international tourism and grappling with urban sustainability processes, great determination is needed to reconcile the presence of tourists with the liveability of places. This year, even the cities of art that derive important resources from tourism to provide services have suffered. Is it possible to manage the flows without falling into controversy over closed numbers, tickets or selections by wealth? tourist is a resource But can mayors exposed to overtourism act to protect their rights, like those of their fellow citizens?
Interesting insights into Capri have been offered by a study conducted by Professor Antonio Preiti “Overtourism and containment strategies: the Capri case”. Capri, in recent years has recorded a 24% increase in arrivals (from 2,06 million passengers in 2013 to 2.7 million in 2023). It is the tourist resort with the highest tourist density index: 1.200 people per km2 in high season. Beautiful, crowded, glamorous, not poor, it is the prototype of an excess of quality tourist demand that is good for the economy. Let's face it, though: will a law be enough to stop the phenomenon? And when?
