Protests in Europe over tourism

[Rogar]

My evening news last night featured protests in Europe due to an overload of tourists. Part of the story was around the re-location of the Mona Lisa, possibly to take the tourist load off of the Louvre? The news reported protests in a dozen European countries and showed locals with water guns spraying tourists in popular cafes. The story went that there have been so many tourists in popular tourists towns and destinations, that the local flavor for residents has been ruined.

I have no plans to travel over seas, but the question I had was, why the big increase? A prospering global economy, social media, or? One photo showed a crowd around the Mona Lisa all holding cell photos over head for some sort of selfie. I suppose everyone wants something for one of their favorite social media sights just to show off?

Nothing especially informative, but some documentation.

https://apnews.com/article/spain-tourism-housing-airbnb-protest-46250dd17afbfcd270e4f951865ae667

[iris lilies]

I know that there have been discussions about reducing Prague’s tourist population during certain times of the year because they are overrun. I don’t know how that would be accomplished.

Too many tourists are a pain in the rear end though, that’s for sure. Every tourist town does lose its local flavor for the people who live there year-round. That’s too bad. my tourist town has its problems, namely, in unavailable real estate for locals. All the small old houses are bought up to be Airbnb establishments at high prices and that price is out of range for the locals.

[catherine]

Meanwhile, our international tourist economy is suffering so far this summer. Our area usually hosts tons of people from Quebec and other parts of Canada and it's crickets this summer. Hmmm.. I wonder why?

[bae]

I know that there have been discussions about reducing Prague’s tourist population during certain times of the year because they are overrun. I don’t know how that would be accomplished.

Too many tourists are a pain in the rear end though, that’s for sure. Every tourist town does lose its local flavor for the people who live there year-round. That’s too bad. my tourist town has its problems, namely, in unavailable real estate for locals. All the small old houses are bought up to be Airbnb establishments at high prices and that price is out of range for the locals.

My island has ~5500 year-round residents.

We get ~ 1 million tourist visitors a year.

Real estate is totally unaffordable for anyone who works here. The rental market is in tatters, as year-round renters to full-time residents is far less profitable than AirBnB'ing for a few months.

The village in the summer is avoided by locals almost entirely.

[SiouzQ.]

It's high tourist season in my little New Mexican village. On weekends the two-lane state highway through town is clogged with vehicles and pedestrians who have to walk on the wonky gravel shoulders of the highway to get from one gallery to another. Then when a car wants to back out of a coveted parking space all traffic stops dead and it's a real mess for a few minutes. It is kind of a pain in the ass when one lives here but we rely HEAVILY on tourists spending money. Luckily our house is on a ridge above the fray in the valley - I just putz around my yard and listen to the bands playing outside at the tavern down below.

Don't even get me started on housing affordability here - all I can say is that we are really, really lucky we bought our house right before the pandemic. My real estate agent friend a few years ago casually quoted me a listing price that was 4x what we paid for it...

[bae]

Don't even get me started on housing affordability here - all I can say is that we are really, really lucky we bought our house right before the pandemic. My real estate agent friend a few years ago casually quoted me a listing price that was 4x what we paid for it...

The small house on the beach here that I bought for my mother for ~$400k is now > $2.5 million. Thank goodness Washington State has the interesting property tax rules it has, or I'd be toast. (The County is only allowed to collect a certain total amount of $$$ each year, and that money comes from dividing up the amount proportionally by the property value, so, if every property on the island doubles in value, the tax remains identical. They are allowed to increase the total amount only 1% a year)

[iris lilies]

We bought our house a couple of years before the pandemic, too. But it was on the market dor at least 5 months,so anyone n town had a shot at a $79,000 house that was entirely liveable. See, we normally buy houses that are uninhabitable. Sure it had an original 1941 kitchen and etc but it had some cute features. People are too picky.

on the other hand, two houses just down the hill from me have been for sale for months. One is outdated interior but a solid brick structure, the other seems pretty ok to me. Perhaps the prices are too high?

[Rogar]

Meanwhile, our international tourist economy is suffering so far this summer. Our area usually hosts tons of people from Quebec and other parts of Canada and it's crickets this summer. Hmmm.. I wonder why?

So could be that all the Canadians and other countries are going to Europe instead of the US this year, for obvious reasons. Could be?

My front range home is basically unaffected by tourism, but mountain tourism especially anywhere near a ski area town, even if it's summer, is almost intolerable. I don't expect any of that to change regardless of politics.

[iris lilies]

Meanwhile, our international tourist economy is suffering so far this summer. Our area usually hosts tons of people from Quebec and other parts of Canada and it's crickets this summer. Hmmm.. I wonder why?

The Canadians aren’t coming because we dont have a King like they do. They like their kings.

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[nswef]

Our county just did a survey on opinions toward tourism and how it affects our county. We live about 30 minutes from the main attraction, Frederick Maryland, that is turning into Georgetown. We never go to town, anymore. But the economy is booming. It is just not good for people looking to buy a house or rent.The problem though is not so much tourism as a planning commission that feels it can build and all will be well... All of them build big, expensive homes, none affordable.
We've experienced that when we go to Ocean City, MD as well, as it has become all high rises and no little condos or individual homes at reasonable prices. Our little one bedroom condo there was bought in 1984 for $52,000 and now would sell for $250,000- same with our little 2 bedroom rancher we bought in 1973 would now sell for $300,000. I don't know how young people do it.

[catherine]

The Canadians aren’t coming because we dont have a King like they do. They like their kings.

��

They like our Presidents. They just don't like our self-appointed king.

https://vtdigger.org/2025/06/18/as-canadians-stay-home-vermonts-tourism-industry-is-paying-the-price-for-trumps-rhetoric/

[frugal-one]

The Canadians aren’t coming because we dont have a King like they do. They like their kings.

��

*snark*

[frugal-one]

They like our Presidents. They just don't like our self-appointed king.

https://vtdigger.org/2025/06/18/as-canadians-stay-home-vermonts-tourism-industry-is-paying-the-price-for-trumps-rhetoric/

Canadians from our park sold their really nice mobile home simply because of trump and his stupid remarks. I thought that was a dumb move because trump will, hopefully, be gone .