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?

@rjfiih Scotland has a 'right to roam' law, which is very much like your 'everyman's right'.

Unfortunately people abuse it, whilst claiming it's their right to do so. The local farmer has had to put up fences and gates to stop people parking big RVs on his land. He still gets people pitching tents in his field and leaving their rubbish behind.

If people followed it properly as you do, it would be fine. Your camping experiences sound idyllic. True wild camping. I don't see the attraction of being one of a dozen vans parked up in a 100 yard stretch of road.

Paragraph 7 mentions that this regulation does not apply when the service is confined to a specific Member State. I.e. a ski resort is not exporting their services across border, they are confined to the local area as is a museum in Rome or public transport in Estonia. I imagine, this is the "loophole" that other countries use to support their local residents.
I very much hope there is a change in overall law, though. I can think of a quite a few EU laws that I disagree with. EPR being the latest shit show.

God it's depressing isn't it 😔

I grew up in a touristy part of Scotland. It is so much busier than it was when I was growing up. The council do very well out of the cruise ships but the cafes and restaurants complain because the cruise ship is AI so they fill up at breakfast. People avoid the town when there are ships in. I don't know how the west coast copes, we avoid it when we have holidays in Scotland, and go to places like Aberdeen, Angus, Perthshire, and Glasgow. There is so much of the country that is beautiful but the tourists are concentrated in small areas.

Airbnbs are given a bad name but it's just a website with good photos and an effective map based search engine that has the same self-catering properties as places like booking.com. I don't want to share a hotel room with my kids for a week or two, we want to be in somewhere selfcatering so we go to local restaurants and buy food from local shops when abroad.

our Airbnb host gave us the card and administered it when went to Klagenfurt so it is possible.

@FruAashild for me I think there is a difference between airbnb's where they are owned and run locally - so are part of the local hospitality industry - and those which are holiday houses owned by people who want to make money when they're not using them.

In both cases visitors spend money in local cafes and shops, that's absolutely true, but in the latter situation, where most of the rental income generally leaves the area whilst the locals have to put up with the tourism pressure, that doesn't seem fair?

There are no easy solutions, but for me the fundamental issue is about finding a balance between what tourists and locals need from a place, and making sure that tourism gives back, not just takes.

Well yes because apart from the fact you're repeating what a previous poster said, it's pretty obvious isn't it?

However, if we want to maintain them for hundreds more years, we need tourism.

The problems lie in large corporations siphoning off profit from tourist hotspots to cater to a mass market. Cruise ships basically offshoring their costs and profits is a prime example but there are also disruptor-businesses like Air B&B and Uber/Lyft/Grab which do a hell of a lot of damage by undercutting established businesses using a fucktonne of venture capital money to make the sums add up. The massive subsidies we give to aviation and road transport also cost everyone dearly.

Tourist taxes, congestion charging and regulation are part of the solution. Those of us who are wealthy enough to be able to afford to spend money on tourism should travel more mindfully, stay longer, use public transport, and interact both considerately and generously with local businesses. If that means fewer destinations get ticked off the bucket list well... that's probably a good thing in itself.

Tourism in Dubrovnik began in the 1890s. As I mentioned, my parents used to rent out rooms and apartments that were part of our family home.

One of the biggest challenges we face is overcrowding, which occurs only during the peak summer season. However, Dubrovnik remains beautiful, just as it always has been, especially during the off-peak season.

I’m sorry to hear that you were disappointed by the city, but I can assure you that it is the safest place I have ever been, and I have travelled a lot.

As teenagers, we used to go to the beach at midnight for a swim. A friend would bring his guitar, and that was our night out.

My daughter, who is now 15, used to stroll around the old town just to have ice cream at 10 PM, and that was considered completely normal. I would never allow her to do that in Camberley, where we live now.

Tourism brought more money than people need.
People used to stay at hotels or private family homes where host/ local family lived.
Air BNB is a massive problem.

I actually think the problem is smartphones rather than tourists. I went to the Amalfi coast a few years ago and there were some spots that were a total nightmare … because there were queues of people with selfie sticks wanting to take loads of photos of themselves. The Tower of London bans people from taking photos of the Crown Jewels and this stops the mad queues.

A few months ago, I travelled to New York, and I remember trying to book accommodation through Airbnb. I found that New York has very strict laws regarding this. Legally, you can only book a room in a New York City flat/ apartment where the host lives. Essentially, you must stay with the host. Otherwise, it would be illegal.

However, in Europe, you can rent an entire flat or apartment that is intended for business purposes.

I understand all this hype that has been in the media about Spanish people who were pushed out of the property market because of Airbnb and foreign buying properise that are occupied only a few months a year.

People with money got greedy but what about our young generation who want to buy or rent in the town where they were born, where their family lives? Well, they can't. Property prices are so inflated and not in line with local salaries.

I advise people, do not go to the "popular" destination during the summer peak season.
If you want to experience the city, please travel out of season.
October has always been my favourite time.

For some reason, Cornwall popped into my head so it's not just Europe, this issue is worldwide.

I agree that Dubrovnik is beautiful, I have never been disappointed with it. It does get busy, but as you say it feels a very safe place to be.

I’m sorry to hear that you were disappointed by the city, but I can assure you that it is the safest place I have ever been, and I have travelled a lot
I don't believe I said I felt unsafe. Appart from being trampled by tourists. Dubrovnik is one of the most vanilla places I've been to, but over-tourism has taken a beautiful city and turned it into a kind of Disneyland.

Yeah it used to be fairly quiet down there but now it’s rammed with tourists.

Afraid it's similar around a lot of the NC500 too. Small villages/laybys left with piled up rubbish/poop in the long grass, etc. If people were respectful, at least, (disposed of rubbish/gray water appropriately and followed the correct procedures for burying of human waste, if no access to a toilet), then, OK, it would be busy, but we wouldn't resent the influx as much.

I was first in Dubrovnik for my 40th, 11 years ago. Late September. Yes, there were tourists (like us!), but it wasn't overrun. You could get on a bus - and local men would automatically give up their seats for older people/women. It felt fairly traditional outside of the main areas, and you could wander around.
That week, they happened to be filming the part of Game of Thrones, where Cersei did the Shame Walk, so parts of the city were closed off in the very early morning. (Yes, I'm a GoT fan, and it intrigued me, that I wanted to visit that beautiful place!)

We went back about 18 months ago, in early June 2024. The days were hellishly busy. 5-6 cruise ships in, and some absolutely vile people from them (mainly British, sadly....) I sat down on some steps for a rest, as was on crutches at the time, awaiting a knee replacement, and letting my friend climb up to the top. Whilst I waited for her, two older women from Glasgow sat down next to me, and as I'm also Scottish, we started chatting. OMG! They moaned there was 'nothing to see', the 'food was terrible', and that there was 'too much walking'!! All things I vehemently disagreed with! In the end, I suggested they might consider staying on the ship in future!

Anyway, there were huge groups of tourists from the cruise ships, being taken around the tiny streets, blocking the way for others. The tour guides didn't sound Croatian, so not bringing a local context to things; and they looked miserable too. It was stiflingly hot, TBF, but if that's a cruise ship holiday, I'll pass... (I realise this isn't the point of this thread, but I was on a roll there!! 😁)
I'm not sure these type of groups really add much to the economy of the place, and just completely overcrowd the streets. Had similar experiences in Mykonos just pre-Covid, and it's totally put us off going back.

Oh don't. Edinburgh has been pretty hideous this summer, busy-ness wise. I live just outside, but work at the Uni, so right in the middle of a lot of the venues. Whilst the vibe is great, trying to get anywhere is awful.
Don't get me started on being priced out of living in the city (hence why I ended up in Fife), as even though I'm on a decent-ish salary, it's not a high one, and because I'm on my own, I can't even afford anything half decent in town.

My sister & family are on the NC500, so we compare moans sometimes! I know we're all incredibly lucky to live in such beautiful parts of the world, but sometimes......

Oh, don't start me on the HP shops/cafes/etc. everywhere old now. So, Victoria St in Edinburgh is particularly bad for it. It's not even where it was written! I was heard to shout (after a couple of wines) one day last Summer, 'It's not f-ing Harry Potter world!', when I couldn't get through the crowds on crutches...

(Oh, and the Shambles in York is completely ruined by the HP shops now. I was SO disappointed a couple of years ago. It wasn't what I remembered of it.)

I haven't been to Edinburgh since BHPM (before Harry Potter Mania), but I have been to York a few times. There's always queues outside the HP shop.

I do remember getting the train to King's Cross and wondering what all these people were clustered around near the toilets for. Bloody platform 9 & 3/4. At least that's a relevant location. And the shop right next to it, again queues outside.

I've been In Dubrovnik when there have been 5 cruise ships there and it's stupidly busy, particularly like you say, on those lovely narrow streets.
We stay in a nearby town called Cavtat and plan our trips into Dubrovnik when there are going to be less cruise ships there. We also go to Dubrovnik of an evening when the ships have gone.
I love Dubrovnik and Croatia as a whole.
Like you, I would not want to go on a cruise ship holiday.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned

We stayed close to Dubrovnik and only went in on the non cruise ship days. It’s easy to check the number of ships, when they are due in port and how many passengers they have.

We went a few years ago out of season and hired a car. I liked Dubrovnik but I felt like I’d seen enough in one day. It’s too small, too busy and too overrun with tourist shops to retain its charm. It felt a bit like a Disney attraction. I’ve not had that problem with Rome. We usually go in winter and even though it’s busy in places you can tell that there are lots of locals living there too.

I grew up in a tourist town in Cornwall and it was overrun in the summer time when I was a child and that was 50 years ago.

It definitely does ruin your experience of places.

I’d always wanted to visit Westminster Abbey but the experience was marred by just too many people. I tried again more recently early, as soon as it opened - and still too many people.

The best things I’ve ever visited limit numbers. The Last Supper in Milan springs to mind - it was fantastic, and really intimate.

Yeah, I've been to Cavtat both times I'd been to Dubrovnik. It was still busier in 2025, than it was in 2015......Not as bad as the Old Town, though