This is a growing problem in small towns throughout western US. An old mining town in the mountains will become a major ski resort and thousands of people will descend upon the place on weekends, clogging grocery store aisles, being snarky to locals, and generally killing the attractiveness of the place. Soon, generational locals will move and foreign laborers will be hired through special programs to work in the shops and hotels. Soon, anything original in that town will be replaced by a faux replacement. Examples of this are Truckee, CA and Park City, UT.
I am Spanish and I was aware of these problems in my country, but I did not know of any case in the United States, I imagine that no place or country in the world is exempt.
Here where I live something similar has happened to all the coastal fishing villages, now they are sun and beach theme parks. The locals live far away from the beach, where it is cheaper to live.
I lived in Greece in the early 70’s. Tourism was definitely a part of the economy. The apartment building I lived in had a souvenir store on the first floor. It was only open when the buses of tourists would visit, an arrangement with the bus driver.
I recently saw a photo of lines of tourists waiting for the gates to open to get into the Acropolis. There have been general strikes protesting the number of tourists in the country.
Greece has no where near the infrastructure that Japan has. They also don’t have a tradition of respect anything like the Japanese, except perhaps in the churches.
I hope they manage to find a way to have tourism work in Japan.
When I was writing the text I was thinking about the famous cities of Paris, Rome and Athens. I felt this places may have the same problems as Japan or even worse.
I hope the massive influx of tourists won't end up irreversibly deteriorating the monuments of ancient Greece. It would be a tragedy. Hopefully it is being sustainable or moving forward soon to seek a healthy balance.
Japan is getting ahead of the problem before it worsens, and that’s a lesson to just about every over-visited and high-traffic location worldwide. I'm considering the US National Parks and popular state parks during the peak seasons. I genuinely believe that when a scenic and unique location becomes heavily visited continually, the energy that makes that location so unique significantly dissipates. We must stop "loving places to death" for the sake of the perfect selfie and the sake of checking off items on “bucket lists.”
In Spain, where I live, something similar to what you describe happens. The only measure I know of to ensure sustainability is in caves. Caves have a limitation on the maximum number of tourists per day. The rest of the spaces are completely open to whoever wants to come and I think it is worth examining carefully whether it is viable to continue like this or it would be better to restrict the capacity or implement certain conditions.
Yes, mass tourism cannot be prioritized because otherwise it will end up deteriorating the tourist destination and in the long term will reduce the number of visitors. We must guarantee the future by working from the present.
The Mark Twain quote is the absolute truth. You will feel different about people after you travel with them. Thank you for sharing. This is a great read. My son can speak Japanese and wants to live there in Osaka. I am going to share your post with him. I am sure he will enjoy it!
Hopefully it will interest your son as well. It's an interesting topic, we have to take care of touristic places and find a healthy balance between tourism, local well-being and sustainability of the monuments and environment visited.
This is a growing problem in small towns throughout western US. An old mining town in the mountains will become a major ski resort and thousands of people will descend upon the place on weekends, clogging grocery store aisles, being snarky to locals, and generally killing the attractiveness of the place. Soon, generational locals will move and foreign laborers will be hired through special programs to work in the shops and hotels. Soon, anything original in that town will be replaced by a faux replacement. Examples of this are Truckee, CA and Park City, UT.
Thank you for your comment, I did not know that.
I am Spanish and I was aware of these problems in my country, but I did not know of any case in the United States, I imagine that no place or country in the world is exempt.
Here where I live something similar has happened to all the coastal fishing villages, now they are sun and beach theme parks. The locals live far away from the beach, where it is cheaper to live.
I lived in Greece in the early 70’s. Tourism was definitely a part of the economy. The apartment building I lived in had a souvenir store on the first floor. It was only open when the buses of tourists would visit, an arrangement with the bus driver.
I recently saw a photo of lines of tourists waiting for the gates to open to get into the Acropolis. There have been general strikes protesting the number of tourists in the country.
Greece has no where near the infrastructure that Japan has. They also don’t have a tradition of respect anything like the Japanese, except perhaps in the churches.
I hope they manage to find a way to have tourism work in Japan.
¡Hello Paula!
When I was writing the text I was thinking about the famous cities of Paris, Rome and Athens. I felt this places may have the same problems as Japan or even worse.
I hope the massive influx of tourists won't end up irreversibly deteriorating the monuments of ancient Greece. It would be a tragedy. Hopefully it is being sustainable or moving forward soon to seek a healthy balance.
Japan is getting ahead of the problem before it worsens, and that’s a lesson to just about every over-visited and high-traffic location worldwide. I'm considering the US National Parks and popular state parks during the peak seasons. I genuinely believe that when a scenic and unique location becomes heavily visited continually, the energy that makes that location so unique significantly dissipates. We must stop "loving places to death" for the sake of the perfect selfie and the sake of checking off items on “bucket lists.”
I completely agree.
In Spain, where I live, something similar to what you describe happens. The only measure I know of to ensure sustainability is in caves. Caves have a limitation on the maximum number of tourists per day. The rest of the spaces are completely open to whoever wants to come and I think it is worth examining carefully whether it is viable to continue like this or it would be better to restrict the capacity or implement certain conditions.
Inspiring comment, thank you very much!
The key word is sustainability. These places must be preserved and protected.
Yes, mass tourism cannot be prioritized because otherwise it will end up deteriorating the tourist destination and in the long term will reduce the number of visitors. We must guarantee the future by working from the present.
The Mark Twain quote is the absolute truth. You will feel different about people after you travel with them. Thank you for sharing. This is a great read. My son can speak Japanese and wants to live there in Osaka. I am going to share your post with him. I am sure he will enjoy it!
Glad to hear you liked it!
Hopefully it will interest your son as well. It's an interesting topic, we have to take care of touristic places and find a healthy balance between tourism, local well-being and sustainability of the monuments and environment visited.
I agree. It is all about respect. When you have self-respect, you respect the people and spaces around you.
You're right. This is the key point.