Who can resist such a headline? farandwide,com have done a slide show of what they regard are overhyped and overrated tourist attractions. It seems there are two main reasons why a venue gets on the list – in some cases it is because there is not much to see (these are overhyped). But the other major reason is because they attract too many tourists and hence there are queues, delays and ‘sleaze’. So surely this means these sites are highly rated rather than overrated…
The latter is of interest from an OM perspective because it is all about capacity management. These tourist sites, such as Pisa’s leaning tower, the Louvre and Westminster Abbey, by definition have limited capacity and demand far exceeds their ability to provide the perfect visitor experience.
This is becoming a major issue for the residents of some popular destinations, such as Barcelona and Dubrovnik, who are protesting about “overtourism”. It is not just the crowded public spaces that offend residents. One implication of high demand is that landlords are renting out residential space to short stay tourists on websites such as airbnb, rather than to local people who need somewhere to live. It can also result in transport networks being snarled up.
Finding a solution to this issue is not easy. In some cases, access is restricted by issuing a limited number of permits to visit a site, such as for the Inca Trail in Peru. Or by limiting the size and number of cruise ships visiting a destination, as in the Galapagos. But ultimately it comes down to individual tourists taking responsibility for their choices and behaviour. In which case, it seems to me that there is a strong case for nudge economics to be applied.
Jones and Robinson 