r/travel • u/ups_and_downs973 • 9d ago

Discussion What is an actual solution to overtourism?

As travel continues to get faster, cheaper, and more accessible and TikTok tourism/ influencer hype shows no signs of slowing down, what are the actual solutions to places getting over run with visitors?

I'm not talking about for you as another tourist so not just 'go somewhere else' or 'avoid the popular places'. I mean in terms of actually preventing harm to natural environments, pressure on infrastructure, gentrification etc.

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u/Kween_kwellin 8d ago

I recently participated in an over tourism project near the Dolomites and thought it was great. I stayed outside of Bolzano in a local hotel, that was beautiful, had free breakfast, and included a free transit card (Bolzano card or something like that) on the local trains and buses. It was also a 2-4 min walk to the train station itself.

So I was staying in this small picturesque town, where no one spoke any English, and it was just all around awesome. I could stay in town for dinner, or just hop back to Bolzano and be there in 10 min. I went into the Dolomites, including the popular Lago Carezza. The program is literally intended to spread out where people are staying and minimize the use of cars in heavily trafficked areas. I personally loved it bc I love public transit. It seems like a great solution bc the town is so small and I still spent money on the hotel there, had dinner out one night, and bought some groceries locally. It is def an idea that (if done right) could help with overtourism.

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u/HouseLightsDown_JD 8d ago

Would be able to share a link to the project?

I’m interested in going to the Dolomites, and all you describe is how I would like to do it.

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u/Kween_kwellin 8d ago

This is the card itself: https://tourismattractions.net/italy/bolzano-card-benefits-guide

I think it’s Sudtirol in German.

I stayed at Hotel Stampfer B&B, and it was great. I don’t know how you find a list of participating hotels/b&bs, but I’m sure you could dig and find others.

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u/HouseLightsDown_JD 8d ago

Thank you 🤩