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[Culture]

Overtourism

by Lee Hyeon-ju, Culture Reporter, twohj1218@mju.ac.kr

and by Hwang Bo-sung, Culture Editor, khby44@mju.ac.kr

Venice, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Paris, France; Santorini, Greece; Thimphu, Bhutan; Kyoto, Japan. These are cities where local residents have had to vacate their homes and leave their communities vacant due to overtourism. Korea is no exception. Seoul Bukchon Hanok Village, Tongyeong Dongpirang Mural Village, Busan Gamcheon Village, and Jeonju Hanok Village are all victims of overtourism. 

A particular social problem is described by overtourism, a compound word that combines over and tourism, meaning that tourists have surpassed the accommodation capacity of a tourist area and are invading the lives of the local people. Due to overtourism, the environment and ecosystem are destroyed and the quality of tourism is degraded. A more serious problem is that the local people who experience day-to-day discomfort eventually migrate to another place. As a result, the enjoyment of tourists is negatively impacted.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of tourists in the world was 674 million in 2000 but increased to 1.3 billion in 2017 and is forecasted to be 1.8 billion by 2030. Thanks to growing wealth worldwide, traveling is becoming a more widely shared form of recreation. This growth was once welcomed as good news; however, popular destinations around the world cannot accommodate myriad visitors from all over the globe. Each year, the top-luring destinations in Europe are filled with tourists that surpass the number of locals by multiples, and thereby turning those locations into “uncomfortable” towns. This situation is becoming an increasingly global menace.

The explosion of tourists has resulted in a variety of travel patterns. In the past, tourists enjoyed sightseeing and taking pictures of famous tourist attractions, such as famous towers, statues and other landmarks. But nowadays, tourists are staying at local homes and guest houses rather than hotels, buying food at local markets like the locals and cooking, eating and traveling around secluded neighborhoods. These changes in travel patterns are spreading all over the planet and inflicting damage to local residents. With the arrival of various facilities for tourists, local workshops and small shops that preserve the identity of an area often disappear, and problems such as noise, garbage, and rent increases intensify.

Moreover, the influence of social media, such as Instagram and Facebook, is very noticeable cause of overtourism. Before the use of smartphone-based SNS became widespread, the main purpose of tourism was to pursue the experience. However, after SNS, especially photo-sharing applications such as Instagram, became explosively popular, the situation began to change. Once a tasty restaurant or a stunning store in an isolated place is captured by an influential Instagrammer (Instagram user), the information is spread instantly in the followers’ networks. As a result, when you reach the tourist attraction, you find that the surroundings have been changed by the construction of one or more stores in the vicinity. This is the case in Korea’s Gyeongju. It has now become a regular activity for people to engage in self-promotion using photos and SNS. For many, the pictures taken on the trip become more important than the experience.

To alleviate these problems, some tourist attractions have taken bold steps. In San Marco Square, Venice, Italy, order maintainers are stationed at key points and sanctions are applied to tourists found eating there. More than 30 million tourists visit Barcelona every year, which results in rising apartment rents, illegal dumping of garbage, and noise pollution. As these problems persist, the Barcelona government has formed a tourism committee of public officials, schools, and local residents to discuss and suggest alternatives to address the problems caused by excessive tourism. Tourists now pay an extra amount of money for their accommodation. This cost corresponds to a so-called “tourism tax” used to keep areas clean. In addition, tourist groups are restricted from entering the famous traditional market, the Boqueria.

Korea’s Bukchon Hanok Village is a famous tourist destination that 10,000 domestic and foreign tourists visit on an average day. Tourists have come into conflict with the residents through unauthorized entry into the residents’ homes or by ringing their doorbells. In order to relieve the suffering of Bukchon residents, Jongno-gu has restricted tourism in Bukchon by creating a time limit for sightseeing: weekdays and Saturdays, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Banners are used to inform tourists who come to Bukchon of the restricted sightseeing period.

As we have become more industrialized, our living standards are becoming more and more commonly associated with tourism and traveling. Nowadays, traveling around the world has become a daily routine, and when the holidays come, the number of passengers at Incheon International Airport is so high as to reach new records every year. There are no citizens who hate the development of a local economy and vibrant domestic economy by tourism. However, even if traditions and history are turned into tourism resources, it is necessary to preserve original traditions and find a way for tourists to minimize the damage they inflict on local residents.