Where do you go?
Pushback against ‘over-tourism’ is gathering pace. Maui, Hawaiian archipelago’s second-largest island, is set to can vacation rentals to meet a housing shortage made worse after a wildfire destroyed neighbourhoods. Reportedly, over a fifth of Maui’s housing is built for tourists. Last month, Spaniards turned water guns on unsuspecting vacationers in Barcelona and Mallorca. They were protesting mass tourism that’s ‘fuelling a housing crunch and erasing their hometowns’ character.’ Protests in Italy, Greece, Belgium and Bhutan have forced authorities to tweak policies that promote tourism unchecked at the cost of upending a destination’s living costs, draining its water, altering its character and degrading the environment. World’s most-sought spots are in ecologically fragile areas – or have turned vulnerable after tourism’s push. Think: 75% of solid waste in J&K’s Pahalgam is courtesy visitors.
India’s groaning with car-choked roads, dry water sources and shaky mountains across Himalaya’s favourite spots. Landour’s population is less than 4,000. Mussoorie’s is 30k-35k. In 2024, the two had about 20L holiday-makers. A growing pain for locals are off-season crowds – post-Covid, tourism’s a year-round affair. Climate change meets OTT-tourist infra to deal a double whammy: a landslide in Sikkim stranded 1,600 tourists this June. Who’s thinking solutions? Limiting numbers was attempted in some hill stations. But little has moved on dispersing the travelling hordes to new cool-climate spots, or building satellite destinations around hotspots. Tourist masses need new destinations.