Description

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Before COVID-19 hit, the biggest problem in the world of travel was overtourism. Crowds threatened to spoil natural environments and make daily life unbearable for residents of popular travel destinations. Then, seemingly overnight, tourism nearly ceased. Yet there is no question that travel will resume; the only question is, when it does, what will it look like? Will we return to a world of overrun monuments, littered beaches, and gridlocked city streets? Or can we do things differently this time?

Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future charts a path toward tourism that is truly sustainable, focusing on the triple bottom line of people, planet, and prosperity. Bringing together tourism officials, city council members, travel journalists, consultants, scholars, and trade association members, this practical book explores overcrowding from a variety of perspectives. After examining the causes and effects of overtourism, it turns to management approaches in five distinct types of tourism destinations:

1. historic cities;
2. national parks and protected areas;
3. World Heritage Sites;
4. beaches and coastal communities; and
5. destinations governed by regional and national authorities. 

While each location presents its own challenges, common mitigation strategies are emerging. Visitor education, traffic planning, and redirection to lesser-known sites are among the measures that can protect the economic benefit of tourism without overwhelming local communities.

As tourism revives around the world, these innovations will guide government agencies, parks officials, site managers, civic groups, environmental NGOs, tourism operators, and others with a stake in protecting our most iconic places. 
 

About the Author

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Martha Honey is the Co-Founder and Director Emeritus of the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST). Martha led CREST as the Executive Director for 16 years before transitioning to her project-based role of Director Emeritus in 2019. Over the last two decades, Martha has written and lectured widely on ecotourism, impact tourism, cruise and resort tourism, coastal and marine tourism, climate change, and certification issues. Her books include Coastal Tourism, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Caribbean, Vol. 1 & 2, and Marine Tourism, Climate Change, and Resilience in the Caribbean, Vol. 1 & 2 (Business Expert Press, 2017), Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise? (Island Press, 1999 and 2008), and Ecotourism and Certification: Setting Standards in Practice (Island Press, 2002). She is the Executive Producer of CREST’s film, Caribbean ‘Green’ Travel: Your Choices Make a Difference, released in May 2016. Most recently, she has been an editor and author of a new study on cruise tourism, published in Spanish as Por el Mar de las Antillas: 50 Años de Turismo de Cruceros en el Caribe and in English as Cruise Tourism in the Caribbean: Selling Sunshine. Previously, Martha worked for 20 years as a journalist based in East Africa and Central America. She holds a Ph.D. in African history from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
 

Praise For…

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“Overtourism provides a crucial toolkit to reboot the tourism industry for a more equitable and environmentally just future. A must-read for the tourism industry, scholars, and travelers themselves.”
 
— Pegi Vail, NYU anthropologist and filmmaker, Gringo Trails

“A practical, supportive resource to explore tourism's most vexing dilemma: ensuring sustainable livelihoods, enduring conservation, and high-quality traveler experiences. It is especially relevant because the COVID-19 pandemic has created a once-in-a-century market correction opportunity to design, plan, and implement lasting sustainable travel solutions.”  
 
— Jim Sano, VP Travel, Tourism, & Conservation, WWF

“A gem of a book. A tour de force of writings by leading tourism scholars and practitioners, providing thoughtful and innovative solutions for this critical industry.”
 
— Shyam Kamath, Founding Dean, College of Business, California State University, Monterey Bay

“A truly sustainable and regenerative travel industry requires a collective commitment to the people and planet. Overtourism provides invaluable insights about how we can work together to build resilient communities, restore fragile ecosystems, and create a more equitable future.”
 
— James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel

"The intersection of travel industry special interests and promotions with the bigger pictures of sustainability and impact make Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future a concrete assessment that should be on the reading lists and in discussion groups of a wide audience, from students to those actively participating in the travel industry." 
— Donovan's Literary Services

“Excellent and welcome contribution to college library Environmental Studies and Social Issues collections.”
 
— Library Bookwatch