Thousands of protesters marched to the streets on Sunday in Barcelona, Lisbon, and Naples to demand a stop to what they refer to as the “touristification” of their cities. However, why do vacationers cause so much conflict?
According to Sandra Carvão, Director of Economic Intelligence, Policy and Competitiveness at UN Tourism, “more disposable income among the middle classes in many countries…more accessible travel in terms of air capacity but also in terms of air fares” and “border crossing facilities that have changed radically over the decades” are the main reasons why mass tourism has increased recently, she told Euronews.
According to UN Tourism, foreign visitors increased from 416 million in 2005 to over 747 million in 2024. BIn contrast, visitor arrivals in Italy decreased by 10.5% during the same time frame.
On the bright side, the surge of tourists brings in money and jobs for the tourist areas. Because it’s an employment-intensive industry, many jobs are created. “More than 80% of tourism businesses are SMEs, and women hold more than 50% of these jobs,” Carvão stated.
According to UN Tourism, Spain received €80 billion from foreign visitors in 2023. In 2023, foreign visitors brought in €61 billion for France, €47 billion for Italy, and €23 billion for Portugal.
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