Canary Islands Residents Revolt Against Overtourism

American tourists are flocking to Tenerife in record numbers. 5.6 million tourists visited the Spanish island in 2023, and more than 26,000 came from the United States between January and September of 2023.

On a still summer morning on Washington State's Orcas Island, I rented a pair of tandem kayaks from a sleepy-eyed, flaxen-haired attendant barely out of her teens, who quickly returned to painting watercolors in the tall grass beside the weather-beaten sales kiosk. A gentle wind went shhh through tall hemlocks as my family paddled, two by two, to a rocky islet at the center of Mountain Lake, on the flank of Mount Constitution. There we clambered ashore, and the kids, Agnes and Rex, immediately began darting among the lodgepole pines, collecting sticks and pine cones to build fairy houses. Aside from the faint smell of a forest fire burning in the Cascades and a smudge of smoke on the eastern sky, it could have been a scene from my own childhood.

At Patina Maldives, Fari Islands, the tranquil beauty of the archipelago meets cutting-edge artistic and environmental consciousness. This year, the resort played host to Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar, a master painter renowned for his dedication to sustainability in art. His latest project, "Life Energy", is a series of unique 'Living Paintings' developed during his residency, which vividly embody his artistic vision and his commitment to environmental care.

The Madras High Court has made it mandatory for all motor vehicles seeking to enter the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal between May 7 and June 30 to obtain electronic passes. The aim is to collect data on the number of tourists visiting and the number and types of vehicles that are entering these hill stations.

Ryan Reynolds is Yas Island Abu Dhabi’s new chief island officer.

TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel said recent protests in the Canary Islands are not about tourism, but rather about a shortage of housing and lack of regulation of online platforms like Airbnb. 

Venice is among many cities grappling with the effects of overtourism as the number of visitors bounced back from pandemic lows.

Authorities in Venice have been accused of transforming the famous lagoon city into a “theme park” as a long-mooted entrance fee for day trippers comes into force.

Experience Turks and Caicos is thrilled to announce a significant surge in air arrivals from the United Kingdom to the Turks and Caicos Islands, marking a positive turn in our tourism landscape. While the United States remains our primary tourism source, the rise in visitors from the UK during the initial months of this year is truly encouraging. From January to March 2024, we welcomed 3,946 arrivals from the UK and Europe, representing a remarkable 105.4% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This surge can largely be attributed to the launch of Virgin Atlantic’s non-stop flight from Heathrow, London to Providenciales on November 4th, 2023.

It's the summer of the Paris Olympic Games and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour across European cities, but for locals, this summer is already heating up to be one of protests—across Lake Como, Barcelona, the Canary Isles, Venice and Amsterdam, residents are already fighting what they perceive as overtourism.

As Europe nears peak summer season, tourist hotspots are increasingly feeling the strain.

In a bid to tackle overtourism and ensure the city’s livability, Amsterdam officials have announced a bold new policy banning the building of new hotels in the bustling Dutch capital, The Washington Post reported.