In the News

I was recently quoted in the Scotsman.

The Scotsman (July 22nd):

Michael O’Regan, also a lecturer in tourism at Glasgow Caledonian University, says he believes the word “over-tourism” should be banned, as it places the onus of the problems faced by popular destinations onto the tourists, rather than local governments.

“It was never meant to point the finger at tourists, but that’s what has happened,” he says. “Instead of looking at the people who are in charge of tourism, which is the politicians, the marketing organisations, who are turning a blind eye to things like the effects of short-term rentals, we are pointing the finger at tourists who we’ve asked to come and then saying it’s their fault for coming.”

He argues areas which see a sudden peak in tourism, such as Iceland, after its financial crash at the end of the 2010s brought prices down and attracted thousands of visitors, eventually often see levels even out.

However, he admits some cities – like Barcelona, Amsterdam and Edinburgh – are always going to experience high numbers of visitors, which require management from city leaders.

He says: “If you look at Amsterdam, they’re doing it the right way. They’ve had issues with tourism impacting upon local people and their quality of life. So they’ve reduced marketing and are stopping cruise ships landing at the city. They’ve taken a lot of steps to reduce the negative sides of tourism.

“Everything a city needs, they have within their toolbox. They can include tourist taxes if they want, they can restrict licences for new hotels or restrict enlargement hotels, or they can restrict when pubs, nightclubs start and finish. There’s a whole host of tools out there.”

I do not believe words should be banned, even if some phenomena like mismanaged tourism cannot be explained by phrases such as overtourism. Destinations, and how they are managed are complex issues. The term “over-tourism” oversimplifies complex factors and reinforces harmful stereotypes. Therefore, I welcome further debate about the term.

However, I do get behind this article about backpackers.

ABC News (Australia): It’s time to stop blaming young travellers for hyper-tourism and demand destinations protect their ancient monuments…. Here, here!

Younger travellers have become convenient scapegoats for destinations that have refused to take control of tourism themselves, but as Michael O’Regan, a Glasgow University lecturer in tourism, notes, backpackers are more likely to stay more than one night, use public transport, use homestays and return more money to a local economy and deliver more value than the wealthy, so-called “high quality” older tourist who flies in on a private jet and has very little economic attachment to the place they visit.