Note:  The title may have misled you.  This has NOTHING to do with TheDonald or his misguided immigration detention policies.

I was reading a few articles this month- just about the time I completed my expensive, extensive travels over the summer- that blew my mind. Having spent a ridiculous sum of money in Berlin, Athens, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, and the California Wine Country, I was shocked to hear that government officials are bitching about “overtourism”.

Overtourism? You mean you don’t want us to come and visit?  (Oh, please, everyone, give them what they claim to want and  go to Israel instead.  It always want more tourists. Not just for your dollars- I promise. They want you to see first hand the wonderful changes they made to the desert, the tech wonderland they have [matching Silicon Valley], and the plusses and minuses of the Palestinian situation. [It’s not pretty- but it’s a sh..load better than what TheDonald does to immigrants and the South does to minority rights.])

Yes, it’s true. While many of the nations (Greece, Italy, Spain come to mind immediately) are desperate to increase their economies, they don’t like the fact that many of the people coming to visit are no longer the idle rich- but regular folks. These folks manage to find cheaper hotels (using Travelocity, Priceline, Expedia, etc.), don’t rent cars or taxis (using Uber), and the like. Not to mention the fact that I can fly on Wow airline to Israel round trip for under $ 1000 in their top of the line seating (or $ 600 for cattle car)- among their other destinations.

Yes, it means that folks may be spending less money per trip- but more folks on more trips mean more tourist revenue and that still augments the economy.

The issue is that many destinations now have plenty of tourists. And, in some of the smaller villages, the tourists may actually outnumber the locals. Which means (especially with climate change induced heat spells) the summer months are sweaty messes.

It’s certainly true that no city can accommodate an infinite supply of visitors.  And, many of the prissy city fathers (or mothers- no need to be sexist) declare that tourists also alter the character of historic cities.

(I remember when my son was hired as a guide for Caen for the 75th anniversary for the Battle of Normandy. About the same number of folks came the next year to mark of the end of World War II. No one complained then.)

I admit that when I wanted to visit the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, the wait was substantial. And, given the heat wave that was overtaking Europe at the time, it was less than pleasant. But, then, again, I live in the DC area. Where the traffic situation is such that a five-mile trip can take 5 minutes to 5 hours. I’m used to (yet, still abhor) delays.

Right now, many government authorities are beginning to limit the number of tourists. And, their first line of defense? Screwing around with AirBnB. Most of the governments in Europe believe this source of lodging is the primary driver of the problem they call “overtourism”.  As such, they (Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, among others) are limiting the number of nights a residence can be rented.

(I admit that AirBnB is a significant factor in lodging. If we believe their numbers, they account for 18% of all lodging sales in Barcelona, 22% in Kytoto, and 12% in Amsterdam. And, as they also claim, as opposed to hotel distribution which are normally in city centers, their offerings are all over the city. Like my lodging in Berlin that was in the middle of nowhere- despite the claims of the host.

Of course, I have clients who have bought- and renovated- multiple sites in a destination city. And, they rent them out. That’s not quite the home-sharing concept that AirBnB details to local governments.)

The protestations that tourism is no longer effected by folks seeking wonderful experiences or learning something new, that they are instead seeking to build a social media presence (personal branding) is overblown. (I do recall one teenager- along with four friends and his mom- that were clowning around on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh doing just that. But, he was the only instance of that I saw over 25 days of travel in multiple destinations.)

Moreover, I doubt very much these governments want to go back to when folks traveled by ship- or via multiple legs on a prop (non-jet plane). Because their governments will choke to death without that revenue. (You do know that 1.3 billion international trips were taken last year- but that number was only 25 million back before jet travel began.)