The trouble with tourists?

As I climbed Japan’s 12,388-foot Mount Fuji with two church friends last month, clouds occasionally shielded us from the sun or surrounded us as fog. We navigated a rocky trail among a crowd: Japanese guides identified by their tags, petite hijab-wearing women, Caucasians speaking North American English, and a big group of Mandarin-speaking climbers sporting matching red backpack covers emblazoned with traditional Chinese characters. Some climbers carried their national flags, likely props for photos at the summit.

Prior to our ascent on Sept. 5, my friends and I each paid 2,000 yen (about $13) online, a fee implemented in July for hiking the popular Yoshida trail. We also went sightseeing at the resort town of Fujikawaguchiko, where authorities in May installed a 8-by-66-foot black screen near a Lawson convenience store to block Mount Fuji from view. The move came after local residents complained about tourists overcrowding the location to take pictures of the store with the iconic volcano in the background.

In recent months, Japan and other countries including Spain and Italy have seen record numbers of international visitors. But as travelers overwhelm popular destinations, local residents are sometimes pushing back, complaining of growing disruptions to their daily lives. That has prompted officials to enact measures to counter the trend, now widely known as “overtourism.”

Japan received over 9 million visitors this summer. When we visited Fujikawaguchiko, the black screen had come down, removed by authorities in Yamanashi prefecture in August as crowds thinned out. But a quota enacted in July to cap the number of hikers on Yoshida trail to 4,000 per day remains in place. Mount Fuji also spans Shizuoka prefecture, and officials there are considering regulating hikers as well. 

In Spain, where21.8 million travelers flocked over the summer, anti-tourist sentiments ran high. In Barcelona, the city famous for the works by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí—including the unfinished Sagrada Família basilica and Park Güell—thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets in July, chanting, “Tourists, go home!” Some even used water guns to squirt people dining alfresco in the tourist-heavy La Rambla district.

To residents, mass tourism means “being kicked out of your home,” protest organizer Daniel Pardo Rivacoba told France 24. Not only do tourists crowd public spaces and transportation, but shops become “absolutely useless for locals” as they cater to tourists, he said.

And some Spaniards have been priced out of affordable housing. Because property owners can charge more by renting out their apartments short term to tourists than by renting long term to locals, residents have fewer housing options. Short-term rentals have contributed to a 68 percent rental price increase in the past decade, according to Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni.

Collboni announced in June that Barcelona will ban all apartment rentals for tourists, including Airbnb listings, by 2028 to ensure sufficient housing for locals. Currently, more than 10,000 apartments are licensed as short-term rentals.

The Rev. John Chapman, chaplain at St. George’s Church in Barcelona, has lived in the Spanish city for more than a decade. He recognizes the Biblical concern to protect the weak within the community, which includes ensuring the poor can find accommodations.

At the same time, his international Anglican church welcomes tourists, who can make up more than half the congregation on Easter and Christmas. Typical Sunday attendance is about 90 people. “Part of our ministry is for people who are transient, as God can often speak to people when they’re away from home,” Chapman said.

Meanwhile, in Italy, the population of Venice is sinking even while tourism is surging. When Philip Jones moved to the City of Canals to teach English 12 years ago, the electronic ticker at the city’s Morelli pharmacy, which tracks the main island’s population, displayed a number that had recently fallen below 60,000. Now, the figure has dropped below 50,000.

“Part of the reason is the city is becoming very, very difficult for ordinary Venetians to live in,” said Jones, who serves as a warden at an Anglican church in Venice also named St. George’s. When crowds of tourists descend on the small city, its narrow streets are easily blocked, he explained.

Still, Jones is happy living in Venice and doesn’t discourage others from visiting. But he believes tourists should stay longer than just one day to better enjoy the 1,603-year-old lagoon city perched on petrified wood piles. Many day-trippers rush through major attractions in Venice, where the rhythm of life is slower.

Venice piloted a 5-euro tax (about $5.40) on day-trippers between April and July, receiving about 2.2 million euros ($2.4 million) from nearly 450,000 vacationers. Officials said the revenue would go toward essential services. Jones doesn’t think the fee will be effective as a deterrent to overtourism: “If somebody is visiting from Australia or Japan … are they going to be put off by paying 5 euros to go to Venice?”

Mass tourism generates plenty of money, of course—not just through government fees but also visitor purchases. The money doesn’t necessarily enrich locals, though, according to Valeria Duflot, co-founder of Venezia Autentica, which promotes sustainable tourism in Venice. Tourist dollars often leak out of the local economy “because people spend their money in international businesses,” she said. To support Venetians, Duflot helps connect tourists with local businesses. 

Back in Japan, my friends and I found the locals friendly, whatever they might think of the regular waves of tourists. At the hut on Mount Fuji where we stayed overnight, an employee enthusiastically pointed out to us the volcano’s shadow, a rare sighting. At the top of the mountain, a kind Japanese climber offered to take a photo. And in Fujikawaguchiko, smiling, elderly hotel staffers and a patient, white-haired sushi chef kept us sheltered and well-fed. It seems travelers are still welcome here, despite the island nation’s efforts to curb their numbers.