How to Avoid Overtourism: 10 Easy Solutions to Tourism Problems

Have you ever wondered how to avoid overtourism? With more people travelling than ever before, are there even any overtourism solutions?

The good news is, yes! Through my travels and observations since 2008, I’ve identified strategies we can use avoid contributing to overtourism. As tourists we hold the power to drive change for good, and I’m so passionate about this subject I created this blog and wrote a book to spread the word!

The way we can avoid overtourism is by becoming invisible tourists. In this article I’ll explain why it’s crucial to know how to not look like a tourist when abroad, and the small steps we can take to create a far-reaching ripple effect in curbing overtourism. It’s a win-win for everyone.

I first published this article in March 2019 and have updated it since. I think the last point may be one of the most important and I wonder if you’ll agree… On a scale of 1 to 10, how “invisible” are you? Read on for more!

This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. I may make a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

This article forms part of my top strategies for to how to be a responsible a tourist, detailing effective tips towards ethical tourism to benefit visitors and locals alike. It’s also one of many strategies I discuss further in my book, “How to Not Look Like a Tourist: Unlocking Your Hidden Power for Overtourism Solutions”. Take a look once you’re done here!

Why we need overtourism solutions

In the two decades leading up to early 2020, we saw overtourism issues increasingly make headlines around the globe. Overcrowding, loss of authenticity and resentment from locals were spreading like wildfire. And then, overnight, these issues were abruptly extinguished as borders shut everywhere in March 2020.

But during the lengthy closure we also observed the positive effects of tourism decimated, where livelihoods and communities were destroyed without tourism money.

Today, tourism has mostly recovered from the early 2020 decline, but problems with overtourism have reared their heads again. I’m a firm believer that by making a few simple changes to how we travel, we’re able to strike a balance between these two extremes.

How to avoid overtourism: Solutions to tourism problems

The first step in understanding how to avoid overtourism is understand how we got here. Naoto Kan says, “If we don’t understand the cause of a problem, it’s impossible to solve it.”

Nobody likes an annoying tourist. So how can we avoid being one without contributing to tourism problems? There a few key things to consider regarding our travels style first. Some points may be obvious, but others you probably haven’t thought of!

If we’re after the “authentic” travel experience, contrary to popular belief we won’t get it by staying in an Airbnb and chasing viral social media locations. We’ll get it by being a more mindful and responsible tourist.

An invisible tourist.

Let’s get into my 10 overtourism solutions and how we can still travel while helping to combat overtourism at the same time:

1. Stay longer at your destination

How is staying longer an overtourism solution? I know this sounds counter intuitive, but hear me out.

The majority of travellers only seem to spend a day or two visiting a city. This means overcrowding is all too easy as tourists rush around from place to place because their time is very limited. Travelling in this way can have a crushing impact on local’s quality of life, and other tourists for that matter.

If we stay longer at our destination, there’s suddenly no need to cram everything into a short timeframe. We’re able to visit popular tourist attractions during less busy periods, even visit some museums or galleries at night when day trippers and large tour groups are long gone. 

This makes for a more enjoyable experience without the overwhelming burden of crowds and getting elbowed in the ribs every few moments!

2. Stay in central accommodation (& avoid Airbnb)

We can make the most of our travel time by staying in centrally located hotels in city centres, hostels or traditional B&Bs. We’ll be able to skip getting the train and bus into the city centre each day at our destination. This saves a lot of time as well as transport costs. The added bonus for locals here is we won’t be taking up a valuable transportation spot a commuter could use during rush hour.

With only a casual stroll back to our accommodation, we’ll also be able to see the town from a different perspective during the night and enjoy places day trippers miss out on! I believe this is one of the most underrated and under-utilised overtourism solutions.

By staying in a reputable, centrally located hotel, hostel or traditional B&B, we’re helping to avoid contributing to issues affecting locals from Airbnb and similar homestay accommodation around the world. Unlike vacation rentals which are unregulated, these traditional accommodations are always in areas zoned for tourists so they minimise disruption to locals. They’re in areas where high pedestrian traffic is expected and usually tucked away from residential areas.

Unregulated vacation rentals such as Airbnb in city centres are taking away long term accommodation for residents, and are sometimes not in areas zoned for tourists. Noisy tourists coming and going it all hours in a quiet neighbourhood may be detrimental to locals’ quality of life. Locals are trying to sleep as they have work the next day and won’t appreciate boisterous tourist antics at 4am! No one likes being kept awake by commotion outside.

TIP: These ethical Airbnb alternatives will help you find hosted stays at your next destination and other options that ensure you won’t inadvertently be taking long-term accommodation from local residents.

3. Explore off the beaten path

There’s SO much more to any destination than what’s limited to the photos we see on social media. Even wandering a few streets away from the popular areas allows us to discover unique treasures, like these hidden gems in Kyoto, and even these lesser-known Kyoto alternatives! We need to try and lessen the impact of our heavy tourist footprints on local communities by doing what we can to dilute crowds from the most heavily visited areas.

Not only will this help minimise the negative impacts of overtourism, it will also give us a greater appreciation and understanding of the destination beyond the tourist hot spots.

We can also help bring new business to less-popular and less-visited nearby cities of our main destination. If planning to visit a super busy place, research some nearby alternatives you can add to your trip to help enrich your experience. Local store and restaurant owners in these less visited-areas will love you for it!

TIP: I created tis Japan Off the Beaten Path Facebook group to help my readers discover incredible locations beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

4. Support small local businesses

Get behind small companies! Allow yourself to travel independently where possible by avoiding large tour agencies where money doesn’t trickle back down to local communities. Although I am not entirely against cruises myself, it’s a fact that cruise companies are notorious for this.

According to Skift, European cruises have been significantly increasing their frequency in recent years, which has been one of the causes of overtourism in coastal cities like Barcelona and Venice (more on this down the page).

Even though tourists are visiting a city, on a major cruise it means they aren’t staying in local accommodation, aren’t eating all local food most of the time and aren’t spending much of their money in the local community. The majority of their spending goes back to the major cruise operators and the locals bear the brunt of the negative tourism traits without even seeing much of a financial benefit.

One way to see a city and contribute back to the local community is to hire a private, local guide to show you around and share their knowledge with you and participate in local cultural experiences.

TIP: My personal favourite sites to find authentic experiences and local guides are Klook for destinations globally and Arigato Travel, MagicalTrip & Wabunka for Japan. Read more here about the cultural experiences I’ve personally tried and enjoyed in Japan!

I probably wouldn’t have known about this gorgeous cave pictured below on the outskirts of Athens had I not hired a friendly local guide for the day!

TIP: If you’re worried about travelling independently, don’t be. I’ve shared my personal, detailed itineraries in various destinations around the world to help make things easier for you. Being prepared means you’ll have the confidence you need to travel on your own!

5. Respect locals going about their day-to-day lives

Although it may be our holiday, it’s important to remember to be respectful of locals who live and work at our destination with this overtourism solution. Here’s how:

Respect private property

While it’s hard to imagine sometimes, try to put yourself in a local’s shoes. You wouldn’t want random people trespassing on your fancy front porch in the name of “doing it for the ‘Gram”, would you? During one of my visits to New York City, being a fan of Sex and the City I wanted to find the building that was filmed as Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment.

The disgruntled residents must have been so fed up with people cramming their staircase and getting in the way (and rightly so). They had chained off the entryway and left a note to remind tourists this was their home, so to take a quick photo and be on their way. Respectfully, this is what I did (while cropping out the chain).

Don’t abuse public transport 

Tram #28 in Lisbon is a regular commuter tram. Although, you’d never guess because it’s been completely inundated by tourists wanting to get around the city on the cheap.

The line of tourists stretches so far that locals can no longer use this mode of public transport for their commute to work, seeing as queues for an hour or more are not uncommon.

This really sucks for locals trying to go about their daily business.

It’s up to us to make a conscious effort to explore by another means if we don’t want to make life difficult for locals, and ourselves. We’ll definitely see more when by wandering leisurely on foot (and in the time we’d spend lining up, no doubt). Stay longer, take your time and enjoy!

Obey the local road rules & parking regulations

If driving around in a new country, we need to ensure we know the local road rules and any parking regulations. It’s never a good idea to park illegally as this can result in hefty fines or our rental car being towed. What an inconvenience that would be on holiday!

In the small residential village of Shirakawa-go in the Japanese Alps, there’s an increasing number of tourists parking illegally, making it difficult for locals to go about their business. For such a small town, it has designated parking areas and simply cannot sustain numbers of illegally parked cars.

TIP: Also remember, some countries drive on the LEFT hand side of the road, which may be a challenge to get used to at first.

Sometimes the warning signs are there to save our lives – did you see the crumbly cliff edge you were about to take a selfie on? Or the warning notice about rips occurring at the local beach? With the increasing numbers of tourists around the world, there has also been a correlation to tourist-related injuries and deaths.

In 2011 there were only 3 selfie-related deaths recorded. Did you know that number greatly increased each year to reach to 93 in 2017? Combining all records from 2011 to 2017 brings us to a staggering 259 selfie-related deaths. I’d hate to think what it’s at now.

While this sounds like a cliché, we need to respect the environment and any warning signs for our own safety – no one wants to become a statistic.

For natural wonders and UNESCO World Heritage sites

Some people need to resist the unusual urge to carve their name into trees or stones, as this causes irreversible damage to significant attractions. In Kyoto, Japan, tourists have been vandalising the bamboo by etching their names into the UNESCO World Heritage Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, causing significant destruction.

If everyone did that, there soon may be no bamboo groves left for anyone to enjoy. When one bamboo trunk is damaged, it can spread to others. That would be an absolute shame!

When hiking or camping in the wilderness, please follow the “leave no trace” principle. We need to take home everything we brought along and nothing we didn’t. 

For animal welfare

If drones are not permitted where you are, please don’t be the knob who disregards the rules. In some destinations such as Australia, drones are considered aircraft so it’s necessary to learn the regulations beforehand. There are also restrictions for flying drones over waters when whales are present, as drones have also been known to disrupt wildlife and birds.

Additionally, please consider the ethics related to animals used in tourism. Some animals are being exploited in order to attract tourist money, like the riding of elephants and patting chained tigers in Thailand. An alternative is to visit an elephant sanctuary where the animals are rescued from cruel conditions and nursed back to health.

In Santorini, Greece, it’s been revealed that donkeys have received spinal injuries from lugging tourists up the 600 stairs from the port to the main town, a well as being worked to dehydration in extreme heat. For the sake of the donkey’s welfare, the cable car is a much more efficient way to journey up the cliffside from the port. We’ll also feel better for doing so and the donkeys will thank us for it!

7. Respect local culture

Each culture is unique and has its own significance in the world. Their differences are what makes them so special. But what happens when we end up turning all places into the same ordinary mono-culture? When the local etiquette, language and cuisine are slowly eroded away by overtourism and replaced by a barrage of the same stuff we see everywhere else? What if the unique cultural differences that attracted us to a destination eventually disappeared?

Some tourists can be pretty demanding folk and expect things to be the same as home when they travel. Alternatively, we should do what we can to help preserve what makes each destination exceptional, and it starts by respecting the local culture.

Learn some local language

As I point out in many of my travel guides and itineraries, try your best to greet locals in their native tongue. It goes such a long way! Not only does this help preserve the local culture, it goes to show you have made a the first step in understanding their culture and appreciating their way of life. This can be one of the most fun overtourism solutions… Really!

I’ve become quite the language hoarder over the years – I am not fluent in any, though! However, learning bits of local languages has helped me get off on the right foot with countless locals I’ve encountered. I can say basic greetings and phrases I’d need to get by in Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek and a few more. But how do I learn so fast? Find out in my guide to learning language for travel.

TIP: For Japan specifically, I created this free Japanese for tourists cheat sheet to help you get by!

Clothing & etiquette

From wearing the appropriate clothing inside religious structures to the correct etiquette when eating out and using public transport, respecting the local culture can come in many different forms.

What may seem normal to us may actually be a taboo at our destination so it’s important to find out any cultural do’s and don’ts before we make fools of ourselves.

TIP: Don’t be that annoying bikini-wearing tourist wandering the streets if a beach is not visible nearby. In many places this is not appropriate.

Embrace local cuisine

Respecting local culture also intertwines with embracing their cuisine. Unfortunately, over the years I’ve seen first hand how local cuisine at popular destinations is getting pushed out of cities in favour of foods where tourists originate.

There are many instances of this happening across Europe (Lisbon is one such example). During my visits over the years to Surfers Paradise, Australia and Queenstown, New Zealand, I’ve noticed the traditional pub culture is slowly being eradicated and replaced by Chinese and Indian establishments to entice these new visitors from Asia.

What’s wrong with tourists sampling the local cuisine? Is there a point of going to a new country to only eat the same food we would at home? Surely this defeats the purpose of travel… Go on, be adventurous and try something new! This is where local foodie tours are a great idea.

8. Travel during off-peak periods

Travelling during the off-peak season is one of my favourite overtourism solutions. Travelling during the off-season or shoulder season is not only a great way to save a little money for ourselves, but also brings tourism dollars (or insert other currency here) to locals at times when they actually need it.

• Visiting Paris in March is the perfect example. Hotels and flights cost less and crowds are also much smaller during these times. It’s a win-win and one of the most important overtourism solutions!
• By travel during off-peak periods, I’m also talking about daily as well as seasonally.
• With suitcases, try to avoid catching public transport during rush hour where commuters are already fighting it out to get to and from work.
• If it’s possible, also try to avoid travelling during major public holidays where crowds are already expected to be huge, like if you’re planning a trip to Japan around Golden Week, for instance.

Places like Barcelona, Lisbon, Venice and Santorini have been bombarded with cruise ships and day trippers throughout summer in recent years, causing massive crowds and major overtourism issues. Local’s lives are becoming affected negatively and the rate this is happening is not sustainable.

Sure, the weather may not be as desirable for travelling during the off season… but there is no such thing as bad weather, only wrong clothes! Less-than-perfect weather sure as heck beats being having to navigate through overcrowded areas.

9. Be prepared and research a destination beforehand

I firmly believe this is one of the best tips for how to avoid overtourism. It still surprises me when tourists ask advice for things to do in public forums of a destination they are already at! Knowing in advance what attractions and things to do at a destination:

• Prevents wasting time figuring it out on the go once we arrive, leaving more time to explore
• Gives us an insight into how long to stay at a destination in order to have enough time to see everything we want
• Helps us know where the tourists hotspots are and how we can minimise our time amongst crowds.

Learning beforehand about the significance of attractions will help make our visit more meaningful. There isn’t much point getting a photo at a temple or monument if we don’t know much about its history or why it’s an important part of the local culture. This is why finding out about any UNESCO sites is helpful. There’s so much more to travel than likes on social media for capturing the same shot as everyone else.

It’s also incredibly handy to research how we will get around at our destination in advance. Catching Metros, busses, taxis or exploring on foot? Keep in mind… The cheapest option may not be the most sustainable, but I believe as tourists it’s a price we are obligated to pay.

10. Travel for YOURSELF, not for validation from others

These days it’s so easy to be influenced by highlight reels on social media. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t inspired to visit somewhere because I saw it on Pinterest or Instagram.

Sure, social media can inspire travel but it should be only used as a starting point for researching the destination further, not be the sole focus of travel. Travelling for social media leads to disappointment, and tourists claiming a place is overrated as they spent their trips queuing for photos at viral spots.

We need to stop and make sure we visit a place because it interests us, it resonates with us, we’re intrigued by the history and culture. Not just because people we know went there or we want to showcase the same shots on our Instagram as everyone else to keep up appearances.

If we travel somewhere to simply check it off your list and say we’ve been to impress others, is it really going to be worthwhile, enjoyable or memorable if we don’t have an appreciation for what’s there?

Let’s allow ourselves to be fully immersed in a destination and enjoy it through our own eyes, not the screen of a smartphone.

Concluding my solutions to tourism problems

That’s a wrap to my guide for how to avoid overtourism! The negative effects of overtourism have wide-reaching implications for both locals and tourists.

From the solutions I’ve listed above, I hope I’ve inspired you adopt some of them to avoid contributing to overtourism on your next trip. There are now all too many examples in popular destinations of what happens if we don’t embrace local culture and the differences to our own.

As guests in a new place, we should act in a respectful manner to our hosts and adapt. Why should they change their cultural heritage that dates back hundreds – if not thousands – of years to appease us tourists?

To help respect and preserve local culture:

• Grab your invisibility cloak and try to blend in!
• Learn the local lingo beforehand, correct etiquette and sample local cuisine.
• Stay longer, explore further, search for alternatives and be prepared.

These steps will help to prevent the diluting of native culture through hoards of tourists demanding otherwise from the travel industry. Each of my travel guides and itineraries for many destinations around the world show you how!

We don’t want to lose something unique by replacing it with something ordinary that can be found anywhere else. Even the little well-meaning things we do count towards more sustainable tourism! Do you agree? Let me know if you’ll use any of these overtourism solutions on your next trip!

If you’d like extra tips to combat overtourism and sustainable travel advice, come and join me on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok for more.

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