Overtourism

[Chuckanut]

The guide for one of the hiking tours I took blames it on Rick Steves bringing the CT to the attention of a global.

Nobody goes to the Cinque Terre anymore. It’s to crowded.

 

[mh]

Nobody goes to the Cinque Terre anymore. It’s to crowded.

Very Yogi Berra there. [emoji106]

 

[imoldernu]

one more:
Top tourism spots crack down as they become victim of own ...

 

[NW-Bound]

From the above link:

The boom is down to a fast-expanding global middle class combined with a proliferation of budget airlines and online travel agents which have made travel cheap and easy. A Londoner can fly to the south of France for less than 20 pounds ($25).

Add to the above cheap public transportation so that one does not have to rent a car, who wants to stay home then?

 

[Rianne]

Took a cruise many years ago for 4 nights. No desire to ever take another.

 

[NW-Bound]

When I can no longer travel by myself and want to get out of the house, I would rather take a cruise than a bus tour.

And I would spend more money to go on a more classy boat to avoid the rowdy younger crowd.

 

[Souschef]

Took a cruise many years ago for 4 nights. No desire to ever take another.

That is understandable. Those short cruises are normally "Booze Cruises". I have been on 40 cruises, the longest one 32 days. With a few exceptions, I have enjoyed all of them.
At our age, we detest airports, so we have been taking cruises out of LA. We have notice more mobility impaired passengers, as they can rent scooters on board. They do not have to face the hassle of airports

 

[NW-Bound]

That is understandable. Those short cruises are normally "Booze Cruises"...

Yes. I have not taken many cruises, but saw that the longer cruises of 7 days or more tend to have older people. You don't have the rowdy crowd around the pool and at the bar. Geezers go to bed early. One night at 11PM, out of curiosity I went up to the lounge and dance floor at the highest level on the ship. I saw only one couple dancing, besides the lonely DJ.

PS. I did not observe any on wheelchairs on the 7-night cruises. The passengers were mostly 60 to 70+.

 

[Nemo2]

Those short cruises are normally "Booze Cruises".

Generally around the Caribbean I presume? Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

Live near Rocky Mountain National Park. Extremely too many tourists, lines to get in, lines on hiking trails, some roads have to be closed due to traffic. Crowded like a amusement park and yet the local town continues to promote more to come even though a million visit in just the month of July.
Know of several long time locals moving to quieter place.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Here in DC, you can clearly tell when it's May or early June, thanks to the numerous junior high kids on school trips and their tour buses. That being said it's not even close to the crowds you see in places like Paris, Prague, or Venice. If a US airline starts to have prices like Ryan Air or Easy Jet, then we'll see the hordes of littering tourists all around.

 

[audreyh1]

Took a cruise many years ago for 4 nights. No desire to ever take another.

We took a small ship cruise with 100 passengers. That was quite an enjoyable way to explore Prince William Sound. Wonderful wildlife viewing.

Pretty funny when that Princess Line cruise ship approached us from the glacier - it looked small at first compared to the glacier face, but then just kept getting bigger and bigger! We were so tiny in comparison.

But, yeah, no way I’m getting on a ship with many hundreds let alone thousands of passengers. I’m not looking for a floating city!

But I love being on boats, so definitely plan more small ship cruising.

 

[Nemo2]

Generally around the Caribbean I presume? Thanks, but no thanks.

And, while we're at it, a double "No thank you" to this bunch:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-brawl-aboard-P-O-cruise-liner-Britannia.html

 

[NW-Bound]

Aye, aye, aye...

Just looking at the photo of the crowd at the pool on the ship, and I already do not want to be there. The article said the brawl happened at 2AM. On the last cruise that I took, most passengers were already in bed at that time. Yep, I feel at home with the geezers.

 

[Gulfbeach]

I think the natural progression is to longer cruises on smaller ships. Though we have cruised as many as 72 days at a time with no problems, we are now settled on about 30 day itineraries on 600 passenger ships. But we have friends who swear by ships with fewer than 100 passengers on board!

 

[Rianne]

We took a small ship cruise with 100 passengers. That was quite an enjoyable way to explore Prince William Sound. Wonderful wildlife viewing.

Definitely would do a small ship cruise, have to look into that.


Expensive, but would much rather spend the dough on this type of cruise.
https://www.uncruise.com/booking/special-cruise-offers

 

[athena53]

Expensive, but would much rather spend the dough on this type of cruise.
https://www.uncruise.com/booking/special-cruise-offers

My 5th cruise with them is in November. I've posted on UnCruise before and don't want to write a commercial here- but totally different from the mega-ships.

 

[Rianne]

My 5th cruise with them is in November. I've posted on UnCruise before and don't want to write a commercial here- but totally different from the mega-ships.

No commercial, but experience. Are the rooms comfortable? I really want the personal experiences off the ship in remote areas. I watched the Galapagos video.

 

[audreyh1]

Definitely would do a small ship cruise, have to look into that.


Expensive, but would much rather spend the dough on this type of cruise.
https://www.uncruise.com/booking/special-cruise-offers

I’m definitely considering them.

The company we sailed with, Cruise West, is no longer in business. I think they got hit by the huge drop in tourism from the 2008/2009 financial crisis, and shut down in 2010 due to difficulties getting financing.

 

[Nemo2]

Are the rooms comfortable?

The rooms be cabins.

 

[Teacher Terry]

They better be fabulous for that price)

 

[athena53]

I’m definitely considering them.

The company we sailed with, Cruise West, is no longer in business. I think they got hit by the huge drop in tourism from the 2008/2009 financial crisis, and shut down in 2010 due to difficulties getting financing.

UnCruise took over most of CruiseWest's ships and refurbished them.

They [the cabins] better be fabulous for that price

Actually, they're not. Pleasant and basic, all have windows. There's a giant suite on the top deck but I haven't checked it out- way out of my price range. Here's what you get for all the extra $$$:

1. US-flagged vessels. Crew are paid according to American maritime laws. Most have advanced degrees in fields such as Marine Biology. One was able to answer my question about a formation that looked like a caldera: no, it was an island formed after the Cocos plate subducted under another tectonic plate. (She named it but I can't remember it.)

2. ONE dining room but very good food, locally sourced, mostly prepared from scratch. Vegetarian options always good. Alcohol included.

3. Fellow passengers- generally successful but low-key. No fancy dress night. Leave your egos and your bling at home.

4. Everything but the tips included and tips really are voluntary. Kayak or paddleboard any time you want if the boat is at anchor. Excursions are included except for one snorkeling expedition in Alaska where I paid $120 to cover the cost of a wet suit heavy enough to withstand the 42-degree waters.

5. One park in Costa Rica (Manuel Antonio) limits the number of people in the park and everyone else has to wait in line; there were so few of us we were able to just take skiffs to the shore and go in. We don't overwhelm sites and we can get into smaller places the big ships can't reach.

6. The captain has a lot of leeway- if there's a pod of whales hanging around the ship for 3 hours, well, we stop. If a particular passage that isn't usually navigable is open, we take it.

7. So much activity- hiking, kayaking, swimming- I never gain weight despite the excellent food and drink.

It isn't for everyone who's expecting a room with a "verandah" and butler service for that price but it's exactly my style.

 

[Moemg]

A lot of older passengers take a transatlantic and then return on the Cunard line .If another cruise company started doing a regular trip back and forth to Europe they would be booked solid .

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

We didn't have this problem of over tourism 30 years ago, or at least it wasn't near as bad. What changed? Well, I can only guess. For one thing there is simply more people on the Earth today than 30 years ago, so more people with the ability to tour the World. Asia and Africa have hundreds of millions more people just between the two of them alone.

Now I'm not laying the blame on those continents alone, tourists come from every corner of the globe, and it's fair that it should be that way. Technology has gotten better, planes maybe a little more comfortable to fly in than 30 years ago.

Another reason I can guess for more tourists is the World is more open than 30 years ago. 30 years ago there were quite a few Russian satellite countries, not to mention Russia itself that was closed off to a large part of the World. Today it's a lot easier to visit those former Soviet countries.

The last reason I can guess that there are more tourists today than 30 years ago is the population of the World is getting older. That means people want to see those sights they never could see until now in Paris, Rome, London, Moscow or wherever before they pass on. Older people are more likely to have money and can afford such trips overseas.

That is my guess as to why this is happening and it will probably only get worse in the years to come as such countries that benefit from tourism are unlikely to turn off the money train anytime soon. Even if it means such countries continue to be over run with the hordes of people strolling through their country.

 

[athena53]

I'd add one more factor, for better or for worse: discount air travel. A transatlantic flight used to be a luxury before deregulation. My first transatlantic, to London on a charter called DanAir, cost a little over $300 RT- in 1977. It was probably a little roomier than current Coach seats and the service was comparable. Once the discounters such as Laker and PeoplExpress entered into the picture, the product deteriorated but it became affordable to many more people.