Just ran across this piece in The NY Times that you might find interesting in light of recent discussions here. Hopefully, this link will get you behind the paywall.
The author paints a not-so-pretty pictures of what has happened in Bologna in recent years.
Travel is great when I do it. It's horrible when all those TOURISTS do it.
Interestingly, from a US (and probably Asian) perspective, "cheap flights" are not part of our travel plans. There are some slightly less expensive ones (we chose TAP to fly to Portugal mostly due to the direct flight), but far, far fewer that most Americans are taking advantage of vs folks within Europe taking cheap flights. And certainly, AirBnB and short term rentals are SOLELY, in this case, at the feet of the folks in Bologna renting their properties (plus the folks they elect to create the rules).
I do think there are a lot of folks out there traveling. I wish it was one of those situations where the a good balance could be reached, but as someone who - back in the 70s/80s - would go to an amusement park on a summer weekend vs a summer Tuesday, I learned early that crowds are really bad during some periods and bearable during others. As an adult, we basically try to mostly travel during the off-season and the shrinking shoulder season. When we do travel during "high" season - no matter where - we pretty much know things will be busier (sometimes unbearably so) than during normal or low season.
I was just about to post this myself! On our one and only day in Bologna, two women tried to pick my husband's pocket while a priest watched from the doorway to a church, and then a mime tried to steal his hat. In the future, we will do our over-touristing elsewhere.
Another thread on the same article, with some comments:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/new-york-times-bologna-article
I don’t see this as general over-tourism, but rather tourism for the wrong reasons, and the unfortunate results——old traditional businesses being replaced by trendy new butcher shops and other purveyors of a trendy food item. And students and other locals getting priced out of their apartments because of conversions to vacation rentals.
Bologna has earned a reputation as a “foodie” destination, and according to this article it is mainly due to one thing: mortadella. I personally find that stuff difficult to even look at, let alone eat (and I am by no means a vegetarian, or kosher). But we have managed to spend ten very enjoyable days in Bologna on 2 separate trips in 2022 and 2023, without ever seeing the stuff. (We consciously avoided the famous Quadrilatero market area due to the crowds; they just felt wrong so soon after the pandemic.)
The city has so much to offer—-quirky little museums, a huge basilica with connections to science, a clock tower to climb, nice hikes in the hills outside of town, and more. And yes, probably some excellent restaurants, but we preferred to return to the little neighborhood trattoria again and again.
Tom, let me see if I understand this: Because landlords can make more money by renting on AirBnb than by housing locals on annual leases, it's Bologna's fault that there is overtourism? The lords of Silicon Valley (who do not check for compliance with local regulations) are not to blame? Greedy Landlords are easy to blame, but how about the Americans who demand a micro washing machine and a pod coffee machine as necessities of life? They even have the delusion that they are "living local".
I have never booked an AirBnb, and never will. It's interesting that my high-income NYC suburb (in Bergen County NJ) has banned any rentals under 30 days. And we're 25 miles from Times Square!
I had an excellent couple of days in Bologna in April 2023. Being shoulder season, probably wasn't nearly as crowded as it would be in the summer, and compared to the other places I visited on that trip (Rome and Florence) I certainly didn't find it crowded at all, although there definitely were plenty of tourists.
My sympathy only goes so far for the author of the Times article though. She's lived all over the world (in Hong Kong currently apparently). So it's OK for her to travel all over, just not the hoi polloi. Got it.
Also, there is so much more to Bolognese cuisine than just mortadella (as anyone who has been there knows). Her fixation on it was puzzling to say the least.
As another old person who remembers traveling in the 80s, well, I feel for folks who travel during the high season these days. All I can say is look forward to the day when you don't have to go to travel when everyone else is. For us it's just not fun to do so. Yes, the shoulder season is shrinking, but far better than, say, July.
Perhaps the almighty dollar or euro will have the last say, or perhaps city leaders will consider measures to limit tourism, and more tourist sites will use reservations to control the masses of people descending upon them. I laugh now, but Mary and I were nearly trampled by group tours at the Louvre. I guess being in a group gives you some sort of cache right-of-way.
I don’t see this as general over-tourism, but rather tourism for the
wrong reasons,
I agree. My reason to travel is just, the others are not.
people are coming to her town only interested in bending the town to
fit their pleasure-mode, which is junk food.
Which is proven by the fact that tourists purchase property, buy the franchise, do the renovation and personally own the McDonalds in town.
The lords of Silicon Valley (who do not check for compliance with
local regulations) are not to blame?
Of course they are. They send gangs of “enforcers” into every corner of the world to pressure and intimidate the locals into making more money and installing modern conveniences like washing machines.
how about the Americans who demand a micro washing machine and a pod
coffee machine as necessities of life?
Outrageous. A recent survey of the citizens of the city proved that they much prefer a wooden wash board in the bath tub over an electric washing machine.
They [Americans] even have the delusion that they are "living local".
And they are very foolish not to understand that entire multi-generational local families live in 300sf, have little if any indoor plumbing and tend to their flocks of sheep in the evening. No local lives in a 700sf flat with cable TV and a washing machine. Unheard of.
She's lived all over the world (in Hong Kong currently apparently). So
it's OK for her to travel all over, just not the hoi polloi. Got it.
It’s her hometown so it’s different. She hates that tourism has prevented the town from maintaining its quaint 1948 atmosphere.
The solution is obvious. We need to form a RS Benevolent Association that keeps all of the tourists out except for us … for the good of the locals of course. We need to explain to every town like this that we know what is best for them and demand control over their political assemblies so we can institute laws that we understand will be best for them. The alternative is we just sit back and watch them ruin their lives with cheap food and washing machines.
A different take. "Overtourism" seems to be the fad cause of the moment. Every city or country decrying too many tourists once assiduously promoted tourism and has the governmental tools to control how many tourists visit and the conditions under which they visit. They can control where cruise ships dock, they can charge unacceptably high docking rates, they can limit Airbnb rentals, and they can impose exorbitantly high hotel taxes. In short, they have the tools to reduce tourism to acceptable rates and to increase their revenue to offset the supposedly negative aspects of too many visitors, many of whom live in their own country or in Europe.
And of course, those chanting overtourism travel themselves, and they are really complaining about the dynamism of a postindustrial economic world that goes beyond tourism. Housing costs in any number of American cities have soared--think Austin and Seattle--but too many tourists are not the reason.
A couple of thoughts:
A lot of this discussion reminds me of the never-ending debate among photographers about street photography in the U.S. Broadly speaking, in the US it is legal to take a photo of anyone or anything for non-commercial purposes from any public space (street, park, transit, etc.). What is legal, though, is not always polite or ethical, and there is a whole spectrum of opinions on what is acceptable. In the end, each person has to find his or her own level of comfort, similar to what we are grappling with in our ongoing discussions about over-tourism, responsible tourism and shallow tourism.
A second, more selfish, issue is how we make our trips more enjoyable for ourselves in an age of mass tourism. Do we change our plans to avoid crowds? How do we balance the crowded bucket list sites (e.g. - the Colosseum, the Mona Lisa, the Giza Pyramids) with more unique experiences? Do we stay longer in one place when we travel? Do we avoid places with cruise ship ports? Do we avoid traveling at certain times of the year?
Marie, many of the issues you raise are not new--where to go, how long to stay, what to see, how to act. In my mind, tourists are visitors. They are guests in the community they are visiting and have an obligation to act as responsible guests--certainly to be polite and largely to show respect for the local culture. I suspect nearly all who post with any frequency on these forums do so. However, those living in the communities visited represent their city and country and have a commensurate obligation to respect responsible visitors.
What seems new is the sudden emergence of an ethical component to the very act of traveling. Visiting Bologna is an ethical question? I choose to save ethical discussions for more substantial matters. And I suspect that for at least some, concerns about overtourism are an exercise in virtue signaling.
And though I had previously seen the NYT article you linked, thank you for sharing it to other on these forums.
Well, another "op-ed" stating the obvious. How about some expert solutions, not just blaming the Philistines for ruining my good time?
These cities need to decide what they want to be. Chase the money with tourism or strike some sort of balance for the sanity of the permanent residents. I'd guess the answer is taxes related to tourism along with reservations for visiting popular attractions. Let the residents decide.
There is no easy button.
RJ, I totally agree. We also try to act like guests in someone else's house, or country, and behave appropriately, with respect and restraint.
And forgive me, but I'll once again add this:
"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." - Yogi Berra
We also try to act like guests in someone else's house, or country, and behave appropriate, with respect and restraint.
I like the way that Cameron Hewitt put it: "we are uninvited guests . . . ".
Stan, right, and I don't know if this will come across as silly or not, but as an American I consider myself an unofficial ambassador of my country and hope to leave a favorable impression.
As far as "stay home," nope. Life is short and we want to experience as much as possible in the very limited time we have on Earth.
The NY Times article is concerning of course.
Equally concerning are the comments to the NY Times article advocating a "Stay Home" movement that rejects travel.
I don't have the answer to the overtourism problem affecting so many places here and abroad (or other problems such as the environmental impact of global travel), but promoting an insular and parochial mentality by telling everyone to just stay where they are has to be near the bottom of the list of meaningful solutions.
Steve, well said.
I like the way that Cameron Hewitt put it: "we are uninvited guests .
. . ".
If he said that, then I will give him that it is true in some Albanian villages, but undeniably false in 95% of the destinations discussed on this forum or in any of the destinations on RS tours. Or do I misunderstand the mission of City, Regional and National Boards of Tourism sponsored with the money from the tax payers of those locations?
But having been invited is no excuse for poor behavior. I still respect every destination as though I were a guest and respect their decisions on every aspect of tourism in their lands. Right down to carrying my passport when the law requires even if it is safer and easier and .... what ever .. to leave it in the hotel.
And I agree with the last several posts.
The communities concerned about too many tourists have the power to limit the number of tourists who visit and any negative aspects of too many tourists. A problem may be a lack of consensus in those communities on whether there is a problem and whether any action should be taken. But they can make visiting, say, Venice so expensive that a first-time visitor says I will stay two days instead of four, that someone who has visited Venice says I will go elsewhere this trip, and that cruise-ship companies say we are taking Venice off our itineraries. But the idea that people should be shamed into not traveling is crazy.
Ms Sala misses her own point. Sounds like Bologna has been undergoing change since it's founding. She would like it to stay the way it was...that's not going to happen with or without tourists. I especially loved her point about the stationary shop being closed. She convinced me that tourism and the love of mortadella was the only reason.
Consider the source.
I'd skip Bologna in the future but that's based on Bologna, not tourists. The massive crowds when I was there were local college students. Driving was similar to driving in Rome with variable signage on every block - who could drive where, when.
Doing it over again, I would have stayed in Parma. (I've stayed in Modena once and didn't want to visit again).
I do only summer travel, ie, sometime from May to Sept. Certain aspects , the pros and cons of such travel you either accept or just put up with it. There are moments when it does become taxing.
In France prior to the Games it was still crowded but Germany was even more so, packed and delayed trains, and train stations teeming with crowds, even sold out night trains. I was told at least 3 times then particular night train departure time was sold out or near to being sold out eg, taking the night train Berlin to Metz via Offenburg (only 10 seats left in 2nd class). What about that notion that night train routes don't sell out? Plainly no longer valid.
Weather-wise in May and June, Paris didn't "sizzle" (as per the famous song and singer), I wish it had. Airbnb is not an option. I stay in 2 or 3 star local hotel chains or a small hotel locally owned. You can negotiate with the owner re: rates. Paying in cash with them always helps.
I agree that traveling in general and, in particular , by train was less "taxing" over-all in the '70s and '80s, certain feature re train platforms, esp. in Germany didn't exist in German train platforms in those years. A seat reservation on an ICE is an absolute " must " if you don't want to stand for 2 hours Given the present situation DB finds itself in, I don't expect it to get better. next year or the following.
Watching German n-tv news at breakfast , I saw two words used were very ominous....jahrelang Vernachlässigkeit (years of neglect) and Einschränkungen (limitations with that particular connotation, diction-wise) don't offer good chances of improvement when it comes to DB and its current problems which travelers (and everyone else ) have to confront.
Interesting on the issue of being "invited or uninvited".....Never occurred to me in a personal way. In France regardless of where, from the North to the South, the SW of the country, or Alsace-Lorraine, towards the Loire, regardless , I never felt "uninvited" only , at times, inadequate language -wise. If I had only some level of proficiency, it would be much, much easier to inter act the locals. Glaring proof is in the these last 2 trips (post-pandemic).
In Europe technically, officially by way of the Passport , I am a guest, simply because I'm not a resident even though that question has ben put to me a number times especially in Germany. Not interested in the notion of feeling or being "invited or invited" .... I'm there, that's all, and glad of it.
Invited vs Uninvited. I was quoting C. Hewitt in something he said recently either in his blog or book. Sorry I cannot find the reference. But the point I believe he was making was that you should act respectfully in being in someone else's home: to not be a demanding guest, expecting all things to meet your expectations. Like much of the advice given here, being aware that local customs and norms are different, and respecting them.
Sure the people in the tourist business are happy to take your money, even if they judge you for your poor manners (no greeting!?) but that doesn't mean everyone you encounter on the street appreciates your contribution to the economy. Especially if you're blocking their way, over-tipping, talking too loud, demanding ice and food like Olive Garden back home. Oh, and having the-customer-is-always-right attitude.
Acting like an uninvited guest to me means being self-aware, and respecting the people whose home you are in, not trying to make it just like your home.
With rare exception I would suggest invited or uninvited to be hyperbole.
The main problem in "overtourism" is "tourism by cruising" either rivers or the Med. If you cruise, your ship comes into port. You get off, buy a few souvenirs or not, clog up the shopping districts, go back to the boat, eat there, sleep there.
The cities and locales get very little except your presence.
We have thought about the various river trips, and have decided to never take any. It's over-tourism travel. The tourist spends almost nothing in each port.
But that's good, cause they don't want tourists sleeping in their cities and displacing locals.
I've only been to Bologna once, back in 2012.
I didn't eat mortadella or fried tortellini. I just mainly wanted to avoid horse or pigeon dishes.
I go on walking tours but rarely food tours. Prices are kind of a bad value compared to simple walking tours and now I have dietary restrictions anyways.
I'll probably go back, mostly for the porticoes and other architecture and the history.
BTW the globalization of Italian food really occurred in the '50s and '60s, with some Italian-Americans playing key roles.
Right after WWII, Italy could barely feed its population, let alone revel in their culinary traditions.
Emilia-Romagna food products depend on global exports. The interest and demand for foods from this providence unfortunately entails overtourism to a certain extent.
On this date, there is another Barcelona overtourism piece on the home page of the New York Times website. I did not post the link because you probably need to be a subscriber to access the article.
First of all, I have visited Bologna (in 1990) and enjoyed it (didn't do the foodie stuff then), but found it to be a second tier location in Italy.
First tier in Italy are Venice, Florence and Rome, as well as some smaller cities like Siena, Verona, Lucca, Sorrento/Capri/Pompeii/Amalfi Coast.
Having done a lot of traveling (lived in Europe for four years and Saudi Arabia for five years) before and after retirement. Yes, there are more tourist now than 30-40 years ago. Still, I have found that I can enjoy visiting places, even those routinely overcrowded.
Years ago, you didn't need to book any admissions to key sites in advance, but now it is mandatory for the top sites. Another thing is that when we lived in Germany years ago, we drove our vehicle in Italy, Yugoslavia, France, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. Now, I read about so many people in Italy getting very expensive tickets, sometimes for just driving in a bus lane or entering a city or town without a permit.
Still, you adjust to changes and move on. We are pushing 80 and we now don't rent cars anymore or do it ourselves on traveling. We book a group tour. Our favorite is Gate 1 Travel. The tour company takes care of everything, transportation, lodgings, admissions, guides, and many meals.
I suppose if people go to Bologna mainly for dining, then they are deeply saddened by the changes. Gate 1 Travel usually has some dining or cooking events on each tour. This is great, but secondary to seeing historical, artsy or scenic sites.
I remember meeting a Venetian resident on one of our many trips to Venice back in the early 90s. He complained about how much the city had changes. He said that half the residents (many there for many generations) had departed because of changes that had taken away from the community element of the city. I asked if tourism was the problem, he said, it was part of the problem, but not all. He said many of the younger generation didn't want to stay in Venice.
Having traveled in the USA quite a lot, I have found that touring major American cities to be more problematic these days. Crime in many large cities on the West Coast and large cities, especially in the NE USA is a serious problem. Yes, pickpocketing in Barcelona, Rome and Paris is very bad, but getting attacked or mugged is far less likely. The problem is the result in a failure of leadership in those places.
I have visited 83 foreign countries, including some in the third world where if you go in the wrong neighborhood, you may not come out. Been to Lima, Peru (we love Peru) three times and were warned by our tour guides as well as other locals of where NOT to go.
We handled things very well and avoided those places. On our last trip to Peru, we did Cuzco and Machu Picchu, plus more and had wonderful guides that skillfully avoided the no go areas.
In places like Lima and Quito, Ecuador, you see driving by some areas homes with 10ft walled with barbed wire on top. I suspect those are areas not to visit.
If you travel on your own, research is important. Plan your trip, including transport, lodging, sites to see and you will succeed.
Don't let negativity harm your touring. Stay smart and you will do just fine.
Don't want to battle big crowds, then plan to either avoid those places or visit them in the off season.
because at least they bring their bedroom with them, instead of occupying homes meant for locals but which have been converted into hotels or Airbnbs, etc.
Here we see a key issue: The rise of AirBnB and displacement of locals. This is going to take local action. In my town, I am beginning to look at short-term rental issues - every city, town, etc should have a policy. There are a number of persons here in Sioux Falls (a medium size city in the Upper Midwest of the US, biggest city in SD) who have growing AirBnB businesses. I view that as negative.
To the point about short-term rentals and displacement of locals: supply and demand. If the demand for rooms exceeds the supply of hotels, then they need to build more hotels, which will also displace locals. You can either increase supply or reduce demand. Maybe the Chinese have the solution - building a fake Hallstatt in China.
"Research is important." How true.
I watched the German news just about every day in Germany either in the hotel room or at breakfast, especially n-tv and given the present situation with the trains and the words used to describe that, DB is not going to get better.
One announcement I dreaded to hear in the big train stations, especially with luggage in tow, eg, Hamburg Hbf, Berlin Hbf or Nürnberg Hbf was the announcement saying that your train would be coming in on another track, say from your present track 5 to track 8. You hear it happening to others and stand there hoping the next announcement would not apply to you. So, you research and plan around this, tailoring your routes, etc.
