From Culture To Content: Airbnb, Instagram And Overtourism – Have We Gone Too Far?

Have you noticed really nan sounds of historical cities person changed? The squawking of invasive greenish monk parakeets, nan hum of electrical vehicles, and nan rumble of trolley cases dragged successful hunt of an Airbnb person go nan caller characteristic noises. Overtourism has reached its peak, and fewer would disagree.

In nan 1990s, while awaiting a formation successful JFK’s departures lounge, I struck up a speech pinch a family that introduced maine to a caller benignant of tourism – 1 I ne'er imagined would expanse nan globe. “Where are you headed?” I asked casually, expecting a circumstantial destination. “Europe,” they replied. Surprised by nan wide answer, I pressed, “Whereabouts?” “First London, past Paris, Barcelona, Florence, and we’re flying backmost from Berlin.” I assumed this was a able family embarking connected a grand, two-month adventure. To my surprise, I learned nan New York begetter had conscionable 1 week disconnected activity for this whirlwind family vacation. In my mind, “holidays”, successful my language, were for relaxation, not racing done cities pinch stunning architecture, and queuing astatine check-ins. These guys are crazy, I thought. But this frenetic gait turned retired to beryllium quintessentially New Yorker.

In 2025, nan whistle-stop sojourn to iconic sites nary longer demands leisurely strolls to savour nan sights, people, aliases cuisine. It takes only arsenic agelong arsenic it takes for a selfie. The emergence of Instagram has birthed a caller breed of traveller: nan “selfie tourist”, easyJetting to landmarks for illustration Rome’s Colosseum, Athens’ Acropolis, aliases Florence’s Uffizi Gallery for a fleeting sojourn to seizure contented for Instagram aliases TikTok. The trend, dubbed “selfie tourism”, has raised questions: is it a destructive unit overwhelming cities aliases a captious economical motor to embrace?

The world’s astir celebrated recreation blogger, Rick Steves, among others, has highlighted nan analyzable effect of overtourism connected culture, communities, and nan environment, and successful a caller blog begged his readers to extremity this type of vacation trend.

Overtourism for a selfie successful historical cities – is it each truthful bad?

Social media has been driving modern recreation trends, pinch a 2023 study revealing that 75 per cent of travellers mention platforms for illustration Instagram and TikTok, wherever hashtags for illustration #travel get 74.4 cardinal views connected TikTok and 624 cardinal posts connected Instagram, arsenic their inspiration for choosing destinations. Young travellers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, look for “Instagrammable” spots for illustration Morocco’s Chefchaouen aliases Italy’s Cinque Terre. Rick Steves, a champion of taste immersion, has noted that this inclination often reduces historical sites to specified photograph ops, pinch visitors putting photos complete engaging pinch a destination’s taste heritage.

Economically, tourism is simply a lifeline. Cities for illustration Palma de Mallorca dangle heavy connected it, pinch a Kleber Group study which estimates that 35 per cent of jobs successful Mallorca are straight tied to tourism, and outer industries push this fig person to 80 per cent. Yet, 2024 saw anti-tourism protests connected nan island, raising nan question: What would Mallorcans do without it? Similarly, cities for illustration New Orleans person seen nan affirmative broadside of tourism gross to rebuild aft devastations for illustration Hurricane Katrina.

The downsides, though, are stark. Rick Steves has criticised short-term rentals for illustration Airbnb, which he urges travellers to avoid, for exacerbating lodging crises. In 2024, he based on that platforms for illustration Airbnb displace residents by converting homes into tourer apartments, which thrust up costs successful cities for illustration Barcelona and Venice while replacing section businesses pinch world chains for illustration Starbucks and McDonald’s.

What tin beryllium done to combat selfie overtourism?

Typical time astatine nan Trevi Fountain successful Rome.
Credit: Resul Muslu

Selfie civilization tin besides disrespect ineffable spaces. In Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, visitors disrupt prayers for photos, while successful Japan, a surface was erected to artifact a Mt Fuji position owed to selfie-related disturbances.

Destinations are fighting back. Venice’s €5 day-tripper tax, Portofino’s €275 fines for lingering successful selfie zones, and Amsterdam’s bans connected caller hotels and cruise ships purpose to curb nan chaos. In a much constructive approach, Japan is contracting influencers to item lesser-known architectural wonders and amended visitors connected their taste significance.

Little looks apt to alteration until nan adjacent societal media arena shifts nan attraction of those chasing nationalist support connected Instagram aliases TikTok. It’s thing we will each person to unrecorded with.

In 2018, while sipping vino astatine a terrace barroom successful Rome, I chatted pinch an American mates who loved nan metropolis but lamented “all nan graffiti”. I held my tongue, resisting nan impulse to constituent retired that graffiti was a Roman invention—and that nan markings connected nan sandstone wall were apt 2,000 years old. They excessively were jetting disconnected to their adjacent destination successful nan morning, they told me, and past another.