overtourism – आवारा मुसाफिर

A criticized Airbnb deal will let users play gladiator in Rome’s Colosseum

November 17, 202486 Views

The ancient Roman Colosseum will be the venue of gladiator fights — albeit staged — for the first time in two millennia under a $1.5 million sponsorship deal with Airbnb that aims to promote “a more conscious tourism.” But some visitors to the monument Thursday, as well as housing activists, were skeptical about the value of the arrangement, citing ongoing controversies in many cities over the role of short-term rental platforms in fueling overtourism and limiting affordable housing for residents and students. Under the deal announced by Airbnb and the Colosseum on Wednesday, the sponsorship by the short-term rental giant will cover the renewal of an educational program inside the ancient Roman amphitheater covering the history of the structure and gladiators. FILE PHOTO: A gener...

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Italy’s Pompeii to cap daily visitor numbers to 20,000

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November 9, 2024108 Views

The ancient Roman archaeological park of Pompeii in southern Italy said on Friday it would cap daily visitor numbers at 20,000 as a response to its surging popularity. The change, effective from Nov. 15, comes after a peak of more than 36,000 daily entrances on a free-admission Sunday, the park said in a statement. The park's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said that reducing human pressure on the ancient site was important for conservation and safety reasons. A detail of a richly decorated but uncommonly small house with finely preserved frescoes of mythological scenes is pictured in the archaeological site in Pompeii, Italy, in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on October 24, 2024. Parco Archeologico di Pompei/Handout via REUTERS The new limit follows attempts by other t...

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Will a curfew ease overtourism in Seoul’s historic Hanok Village?

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October 30, 202485 Views

Kwon Young-doo, owner of a private art gallery in Seoul's historic Bukchon Hanok Village, is concerned about an impending curfew policy aimed at mitigating overtourism in the area. The curfew, set for a trial in November and to be officially launched in March next year, will limit tourist access to specific areas of Bukchon from 5 p.m. (0800 GMT) to 10 a.m. Fines of up to 100,000 won ($72) will be imposed on violators. Kwon Young-doo, the owner of the Asia Cultural Art Museum in Bukchon Hanok Village, introduces traditional collectibles during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, October 18, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Soo-hyeon "Who would want to visit?" said Kwon, the owner of the Asian Cultural Art Museum, who moved to the historic area 18 years ago. "They'll leave with a ba...

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Venice expands tourist entry fee system to include more days

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October 24, 2024165 Views

Venice is going to broaden its tourist entry fee system in 2025, almost doubling the number of days visitors will have to pay to see the lagoon city, and hiking the price for last-minute arrivals, officials said on Thursday. In a world first, the Italian destination introduced a 5- euro charge in April for daytrippers arriving on particularly congested days, hoping the levy would help thin the crowds. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed that the tax aims to help the city and its citizens battle overtourism and avoid huge influxes of visitors during crowded holidays and weekends. FILE PHOTO: Tourists walk in St Mark's Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a new fee for day trippers in a move to preserve the lagoon city often crammed with tourists in Venice, Italy, April 25, 2...

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Hungary mulls freeze on Airbnb licences in Budapest

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October 14, 2024159 Views

Hungary's government is considering a plan to impose a moratorium on new Airbnb licences in Budapest and to raise taxes on short-term apartment rentals in the capital city, the economy minister said on Monday. Marton Nagy announced the plans about a month after residents of Budapest's sixth district voted to ban short-term rentals from 2026, the first such ban in one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. Some residents in European tourist hotspots blame short-term lets for driving up home prices. In central Europe, Budapest was the most popular city for short-term stays in 2023 with 6.7 million guest nights, according to Eurostat, ahead of Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow and others. Eurostat figures show almost 719 million guest nights spent in the European Union were...

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In a record year for tourism revenues, Greece to ban new short-term lets in Athens

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September 16, 2024100 Views

Ban to be in force for at least a year, tax on holiday lets to be increased A ban on new licences for short-term rentals in three districts in central Athens will be in force for at least a year, the Greek government said on Monday, also raising the tax on such holiday lets. Like many other European tourism destinations, Greece is seeking to balance a profitable industry fuelled by online platforms such as Airbnb with the needs of locals facing a housing shortage. A lack of housing and the rising cost of living prompted the country this month to announce an increase in a tax on short-term rentals, ban new licences in central Athens and give homeowners incentives to switch to long-term rentals. A view of the cityscape with the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill seen in th...

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Greece to tax cruise ship arrivals to protect popular islands from overtourism

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September 8, 2024206 Views

Greece plans to impose a 20-euro levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, in a bid to avert overtourism, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday. Greece relies heavily on tourism, the main driver of the country's economy which is still recovering from a decade-long crisis that wiped out a fourth of its output. But some of its most popular destinations, including Santorini, an idyllic island of quaint villages and pristine beaches with 20,000 permanent residents, risk being ruined by mass tourism. Speaking at a press conference a day after outlining his main economic policies for 2025, Mitsotakis clarified that excessive tourism was only a problem in a few destinations. "Greece does not have a structural o...

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Too many tourists, not enough management

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August 20, 2024132 Views

A look at the chaos of ‘overtourism’ in the summer of 2024 The doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel’s house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It’s a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy. There’s precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of “overtourism.” Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string “because it’s funny,” he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the “tuk-tuk” of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are f...

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New tourist limits get warm welcome in Venice

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August 2, 2024168 Views

Venetians and visitors alike welcomed new rules introduced on Thursday to limit the size of tourist groups in the latest effort to reduce overcrowding. Tourist parties will be capped at 25 people and guides will be barred from using loudspeakers to help the flow of pedestrians and make it more peaceful for residents. "I think it's right," said 81-year-old local Edie Rubert. "It would be better to reduce it more. Because you can't walk along the narrow canalside streets when these groups are there," she added, saying it was even worse when she needed to use her shopping trolley. Local police fines a tour guide on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, It...

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Greece’s Santorini bursts with tourists as locals call for a cap

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July 28, 2024201 Views

Armed with selfie sticks and phones, the tourists flood into Santorini from everywhere - on dinghies from giant ocean liners, on coaches that zigzag up the steep hillsides, atop donkeys that clip-clop along the narrow cobbled streets. Some brave the afternoon heat to find a good spot among the white-washed houses and blue-domed churches where they then wait hours to watch the Greek island's famed sunset. As the sun dips, many more join them, squeezing along the cliffside or onto balconies, cameras at the ready. Tourists view Santorini’s famed sunset, on Santorini, Greece, July 25, 2024. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis "This has been my dream since high school," said American tourist Maria Tavarez, 40. But for many of Santorini's 20,000 permanent residents, the once idyllic island...