Overtourism: How to be a responsible tourist - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

I went to Japan, avoided Fuji, I took a slow train so saw plenty of it, and Kyoto, went to secondary quiet cities, and still got upset by tourist who couldn't behave. Japanese people told me it disturbed them a lot.

“You are a guest …” 👍 that’s so true! Respect the local culture.

You are a guest when you travel is exactly what my grandmother used to say. Be a polite guest, not a rude intruder.

Stay in hotels, guest houses and apartments built for tourists, avoid housing on Airbnb, it's destroying communities.

This topic is really engaging. Living in a tourist destination, I can see clearly the benefits as well as drawbacks due to overtourism. Travelling is great but just please respect, being a well-behaved guest☺️

Explore your own city and region. I've been surprised by delightful views, great food, quirky museums, and such. I've also reached an age where I take 1 or 2 pictures, then put the cellphone away. Live in the moment and take in the experience fully engaged with what is around you.

It is absolutely absurd this Selfie-madness.

I live in Japan and overtourism is crazy here. It is impacting work commutes for locals on already packed trains. If I were in a position to do so, I would charge an entrance tax on people coming from abroad and hotel taxes both national and local. The tax should exceed what is required to deal with tourism issues, but also go to offsetting the income tax and residential (local) tax burden. I would also tax international chain hotels at a higher rate since they will mostly send their profits abroad.

In Seattle we don't have a lot of tourists but when the cruise ships dock and we get tourists for a couple of days, it's always really nice to see them. So I guess the key is to find the places that want you to stop by and spend money. 🤷

this problem also happens in Japan it is so serious problem I often hear the news about scribbling shrine and temple we want to respect our culture😢 if you visit Japan,I want you to behave like other Japanese people 😢 （i have just started learning English,i can’t explain it well,,,sorry 😭）

Same problem in Queenstown New Zealand workers living in their cars to service international hotels many of them foreigners on short-term work visas. It is about the dollars paying workers as little as possible and maximising the return to shareholders😢

The problem is the gentrification of the cities. Airbnb has destroyed the market, making impossible por locals to rent. This turns the cities into photocopies, so artificial.

What everyone is tired of is obnoxious wannabe influencers with a bad case of Main Character Syndrome ruining it for everyone, locals and polite tourists.

I don't think there is a solution. More and more people from all around the world - 8 billion of us - we all want a better life, we all want our dreams to come true, we all want to travel (I personally don't, but I'm the minority). More tourists is a reality for every single destination on this planet (and beyond!). More tourists means huge issues in every single country. These destinations will belong to tourists, not the locals. AirBnB like rentals, expats, people working from 'home' they can move to anywhere they like = house rental/sale prices will skyrocket. More people more problems. Add the mix of climate crisis to the mix ... the future is grim.

I have never stayed in an Airbnb. I hope this helps. I come from a country that depends on tourism. I understand there must be balance. Ultimately, the needs of locals must come first.

I have been travelling for over 40years!!I have returned to places I have loved...oh what a mistake.Over tourism and just too many people.Timed entry into many places and towns is one solution.

I live in Calgary Alberta Canada. Every year during July we hold the world greatest out door show ,the Stampede. And every year tourists around the world come to attend it. For 10 days we have people that is making headaches to the locals. We would tolerate it as it brings in money that boost our economy. But that really makes us who are living here upset when there are morons and idiots whom don’t respect the citizens who have a life here. I ,myself,would try not to be a nuisance to the locals when I am a tourist to others. I wish people are not so selfish

"I just discovered this place. Practicing gratitude, manifesting abundance...."

Always in comment sections, you see people bitching about other people. People are bad. People are selfish. People are rude. But it's never them that they're talking about. It's always other people.

What should be is alarm bells going off in our heads after hearing what Lucy said about having to queue to go on the Rialto Bridge in her last trip to Venice, Italy. Something is wrong when you see literally crowds of people doing the same in order to see the Acropolis in Greece or waiting in line for hours to go up in the Eiffel tower in Paris, but it still does not kill any desire for people to want to go there, does it and we all know why? It's just like Raj and Lucy said: people love to travel because it feels good to go somewhere else and see new things and experience different types of food and to be free of everything that holds you back at home. Travel opens up your mind. When Indians start heading out across the world adding millions more pleasure-seekers to the numbers, it's not going to change anything, but it is changing the world and homogenizing it. You see the same leather shop in every port village, town and city on the Mediterranean---only the postcards change. But what can you do to stop the crowds when the crowds are made up of you and me?