At the Berlin Tourism Fair, one of the largest in the world, overcrowding in the most popular destinations is emerging as a central issue among professionals. Now is the time to promote destinations less known to the general public than Rome, the Balearic Islands, or even Santorini.
As the Acropolis of Athens caps its visitor numbers at 20,000 per day, a new tourism trend is emerging in Europe. This consists of promote destinations less known to the general public than those which attract the most visitors, such as Paris, Rome, or Santorini.
“It is very important to alleviate the pressure on certain destinations by promoting the offer of other less known destinations internationally“, says Olga Kefalogianni, Greek Minister of Tourism.
With tourism returning to pre-pandemic levelscountries are welcoming new trends to help stem the flow of visitors who disrupt residents’ lives by bringing with them problems such as high rents and pollution.
“Mass tourism does not exist in Slovenia. We don’t have any big resorts or anything like that either“, explains Rebeka Bizjak, head of the Germany and Switzerland office at the Slovenian Tourist Board.
Crowded destinations like Venice and Amsterdam are increasing tourist taxes to combat overtourism. Iceland will also introduce a tax later this year to help it achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2040.
“It is true that at certain times, Tunisia may have been perceived as a mass tourism destination. But today, it is from this model or this image, of course, that it has been improved thanks to the work and efforts made by all the actors of the Tunisian tourism ecosystem.“, says Mohamed Moez Belhassine, Tunisian Minister of Tourism.
France plans to launch a campaign to encourage domestic and foreign tourists to visit off-the-beaten-track destinations rather than the 20% of the country where 80% of visits are concentrated.
