Overtourism to plague more cities in the next 10 years

The word “overtourism” gained so much traction in the last few years that Oxford dictionary named it their list for 2018 Words of the Year. Several prominent cities like Paris and Amsterdam have already fallen prey to this menace.

A report now claims that over 10 cities are at the risk of overtourism in the coming decade. This survey was based on the projected growth of tourism in that city coupled with its infrastructural capabilities to deal with the population.

The report also takes a look at labour, environment and stability of the place as well as the visitor forecast for the time period of 2017-2027. If the city ranks low on infrastructure and has a high visitor forecast, then it is at risk of overcrowding and overtourism, reported The Independent.

The cities right at the top of the list include Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, Manila, Jakarta, Cairo and Delhi. Other countries whose tourism boom is expected to surpass its readiness is Bangkok, Bogota, Mumbai, Moscow and Ho Chi Minh City.

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 10.4 per cent of the global GDP is accounted for by travel and tourism. If the cities don’t update their infrastructure to accommodate the burgeoning number of tourists, it is at risk of losing that percentage of its GDP.

“For a city to truly thrive and for travel and tourism to develop in a sustainable manner, city planning authorities, developers, investors, legislators and community groups need to understand how ready the city is for future expected growth in tourism and the resulting challenges and opportunities that it may face,” stated the report.

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