AIBU to think tourism can ruin places we once loved?

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We visited Tiblisi several years ago, and liked it, but have just returned. What a disappointment. It's absolutely overrun with tourists (and I am aware that I'm part of the problem).
AIBU to think that tourism destroys destinations?

Antiparos in September 2023 was the last ‘quiet’ holiday I had. Summer crowds had cleared and it it doesn’t usually get too busy anyway as it’s awkward to get to. We had a small beach to ourselves one morning, it was great.

@Takoneko is correct.

Tourists who spend their money in hotels, restaurants and do on do bring something to the local economy. The ones who just descend en masse to take photos and spend next to nothing can hardly be welcome visitors. It's not just cruise ships either.

There is a ridiculously beautiful little town in Austria which is hugely popular with tourists. The town population is only about 700 but they get something like 3 million visitors a year. I think it featured in a TV show somewhere like South Korea which adds to it's popularity. We have been on a walking holiday but I like to think we were the right sort of tourist. We stayed in a local hotel, ate out in the restaurants and paid to visit the big local tourist attraction. It seems most of the visitors turn up on tour buses and swarm to get a photo from one particular viewpoint but spend next to nothing while they are there.

A year or so ago the residents staged a protest and for a while actually blocked access to this viewpoint. Don't know whether it has been resolved in any way.

Too many tourists do ruin places but you are one of those tourists doing it.

weareallqueens · Today 20:26
It’s an unanswerable question

It is, and also as pp have pointed out, the more people who go somewhere the less enjoyable it is everybody, yet no one should complain as they are all part of the problem.
If travellers really want tourist free places, then maybe anywhere that has got widespread terrorist activity or an ongoing civil war would be the answer.

Well, yeah.

People in Barcelona tell tourists to stay away and then people from other countries get pissy say things like 'waaah, enjoy the crash when the tourists stop coming'. Yes, places depend on the the income from tourism and yes it can make life intolerable for the people that live there. Both things can be true. And then the quest for a photo (without anyone in the background obv) at some viral scenic hotspot has given rise to crazy queues and crazy overcrowding. We're all part of the problem!

@Shloopie ”We're all part of the problem!”

I don’t know. I don’t really go places. So that’s nice. I can not be part of one problem 😂

I talked about a lovely family run B&B that I went to in the old days, and talked on here to someone who posted about how they just realised that Airbnb was ruining everything! And they used it. I’m not saying people shouldn’t go anywhere. Perhaps a bit of thought needs to happen. I have a contact who went to Rome this year and said it really made her think and she was quite shocked by it all

She doesn’t really go places either. She didn’t really want to travel in the first place, but her friend really wanted to go. She also used to live in London but she said the Rome situation was just absolutely awful in terms of tourist numbers even compared to London.

Yup. I’d love to go to Rome. I’d love to go to Santorini, and so on… but would it actually be fun any more?

Well of course, I have just messaged a friend about going to Budapest. I have family there and have been going since about 1995 and it is a very different (and far more expensive) place to be a tourist. But it is an amazing city so people will visit and a lit of local people and the economy benefit.

I have been to Tblisi 3 times in the last 12 months, and to be honest do not recognise your description. It is hardly over-run by tourists in the way Paris or Barcelona is, there is still very much a local vibe. Georgia has dropped the visa for China for a while, so far more Chinese traveller's but they are not a rowdy lot and just go about their stuff and take tours into the mountains and wine region. Of course Russian tourists have always visited and still do so. Apart from that, I have not noticed a huge influx.

@Butchyrestingface, OP just wants everyone to be amazed that they are so exotic they go to Tbilisi. It is not a popular city break from the UK because there are few flights, and all direct flights go from London and it takes about 5 hours.

It is one of my favorite cities, as is Tskabulto where I stay with my second mum and pay about £120 for 5 days worth of thermal water spa treatments. Food is amazing, wine is wonderful, I would recommend it to anyone. To avoid flying from London, I always fly from my local airport to Turkey or Poland and pick up a flight from there.

Over tourism is awful, though. We travelled before kids & although busy, places were manageable. Everywhere now is overcrowded. We did Japan last year and had to pre book everything, and execute the holiday like a military operation. Some places were a shuffle along.

I find the way to avoid it is skim past the main attractions & find places off the beaten path. I found the most amazing Edo museum in Sumida City, and then a stunning viewing tower and the DC played in the playground with local kids just beyond it on the path. Also inspired us to do whole Mt Inari loop. It's unbearable at the bottom, with tourists pushing & shoving for photos before moving on. So quiet at the top!!

This is hardly a startling insight: managing over-tourism has been a much discussed issue in the last few years.
Sorry, I thought this was AIBU, not the Staggering Insight thread.

, OP just wants everyone to be amazed that they are so exotic they go to Tbilisi. and this is unpleasant, even by AIBU standards.

We've been to St Ives in September and it's been lovely, including last year. I would avoid it in the peak months.

Provides employment and is often the main source of income for many towns and cities. It feels awful to live or work in those places, particularly during the summer but there you go. Oxford is one of the worst I’ve visited personally. Such a tiny city with narrow as hell pavements and tourists absolutely everywhere all of the time.

@weareallqueensRome is busy anyway. I went in 2018, 2023 and 2025. The Colosseum was unbearably busy the last time but otherwise it's always been brilliant. I've never been to the Vatican though, so can't comment on that.

There are a few things that could help. Better control of Airbnb. Limits on holiday lets and prioritisation of accommodation for locals. Controls on flights? It’s a bit like town planning. Can’t be left to the free market without causing damage.
It’s an interesting subject OP and sorry you got snarky replies.

I love Croatia. Where did you go there this year?

I do think tourism can ruin destinations, yes. And of course I'm also a part of that problem!

I think there's also something a bit soulless about modern tourism, where technology means there's little reason to interact with the locals at all. You no longer even need to speak to a person, in whatever language, to buy a train ticket or ask directions. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to visit places before they were overrun with tourists. Now even relatively 'minor' destinations are overcrowded and bland.

Same on Dartmoor

I went to Rome last January, which is probably the 'lowest' time of year for tourism. Even then, it was very busy, but manageable. I definitely wouldn't go between May and September if I could avoid it at all. Hot, incredibly crowded and much more expensive for accommodation.

I think Rome seems much more crowded than London because it's much smaller. Also, ancient and medieval buildings weren't designed for traffic and massive crowds.

It should not be fines for littering in National Parks, it should be bans from driving there, or perhaps anywhere.

It is a question of balance, tourism is an important factor in the economy of a region but you can have too much of a good thing.

We went back to Antibes, one of our favourite haunts, after a gap of 6 years. I could have wept it had changed so much.

It has had millions of euros in investment but has completely lost its soul. A smart new development of shops, restaurants and flats which could have been anywhere in Europe.

Much of the investment seemed aimed at attracting Far Eastern visitors (lots of Japanese shops!) and it seems to have been very successful.

Yes. It is definitely a factor in me deciding to travel less. Both from the perspective of recognising that I'm contributing to it and also finding travel less enjoyable. My Tbilisi is Istanbul. Hardly unknown in the late 2000s when I first went, but a completely different, overly crowded and unpleasant experience last year.

Of course tourism brings economic benefits but if local people are protesting it and reporting a drop in quality of life, then 'but it brings in money' is not a convincing argument.

Travelling out of season (for those who can) and encouraging visitors to stay in less obvious places are all part of addressing what is becoming a problem for more and more places, and spreads economic benefits, but I do think reducing travel is too.

Every summer, we go to Dubrovnik for five weeks during the school holidays. (We live in Surrey). I was born in Dubrovnik, and we have a house there. The last time we experienced a quiet summer was in 2020 due to the Covid lockdown. It was beautiful—not too busy, yet still lively.

Over the years, I've noticed how much Dubrovnik has changed, it has become busier. Many locals dislike tourists from cruise ships because they hardly spend any money and typically use their own tour guides. Our local guides should be telling tourists about our rich history, including the war and the experiences we, as locals, went through—not guides who can’t even pronounce the name of our town correctly.

Also, our little town has become wealthier, leading to an increased demand for workers in the hospitality industry. As a result, we now import workers from countries like Nepal and India, as there aren't enough local people to fill these roles.
Those workers do not speak Croatian so I have to speak English.

My parents started renting rooms and apartments, which are part of our family home, in the early 80s so I remember as a kid it was very busy then but we didn't have cruise ships at that time so it was nice busy.

Honestly, If I wasn't from Dubrovnik, I would never go on holiday during the summer, it's the most expensive time of the year to travel, very busy and too hot.
The best time for me is October, the sea is still warm and clean, I can walk around the town or City walls without anyone pushing me.

I absolutely love Dubrovnik!
I agree that it get's very busy when the cruise ships are there though.
We have never stopped in Dubrovnik itself, we stay at nearby Cavtat and catch the bus (is it number 10) .
I love that part of the world.

Yes Rome is absolutely awful now. The first time I went there it was on a day trip from Sorrento 35 years ago. The square where the Trevi Fountain was busy but not crowded. I was able to walk straight up to it and DH took a photo of me sitting on the edge. Went back three years ago and it was absolutely rammed. Took ages to actually get to the fountain and when I tried to sit on the edge got shouted at by a security guard. We went back late at night thinking it might be quieter but it was exactly the same!