Do Travel Advisors Have a Responsibility to Help Curb Overtourism?

When Barcelona locals sprayed water guns at tourists in July, it sent a clear message: residents are sick of overtourism. From rising rent prices to stifling crowds, quality of life in Barcelona – and several other hot tourist spots around the world – is diminishing.  

“They feel overwhelmed,” Paul Barry, CEO of Avanti Destinations, which has an office in Barcelona, told TMR. “They’re unhappy that the cost of housing has skyrocketed, and they believe it’s related to the growth of short-term rentals in the tourism sector. The unwelcomeness of the impact it’s had on their daily living, they don’t feel they have their fair say in it.” 

Destinations facing overtourism concerns, such as Venice, Lisbon, and Barcelona, have tried implementing tourism taxes to curb the volume of visitors and raise funds for sustainability initiatives, but many say more must be done. 

While tourism is a vital component to many of these cities’ economies, too much of it does threaten the sustainability of those places. Knowing this, the question arises: Do travel advisors have a responsibility to curb overtourism? 

For more, see All the Most Recent Tourist Taxes Announced for 2024

Weighing sales and sustainability

Jessica Parker, owner and travel advisor of Trip Whisperer, had clients visiting Pamplona and Barcelona just one week after the anti-tourism incidents there. She said they did not face any animosity from locals, and Barcelona was the highlight of the Spain trip. 

Sustainability is always top of mind when Parker is selling trips. At the same time, she noted that many of the overtourism issues facing cities can only truly be solved by targeted government policies. Examples of these are Amsterdam’s new cruise ship passenger limits, or New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb rentals. 

“If people can sell it, they’re going to,” Parker told TMR. “We can’t fault people for trying to make a living in tourism, and we don’t want to penalize people trying to do good work in tourism either.”   

“There are a lot of protocols that need to come from the top down,” Parker added. “You don’t want to stop tourism; you just want to do it more mindfully.” 

Ultimately, the onus is not only on travel advisors. But there are also ways they can help ease the burdens of overtourism: 1) working with responsible suppliers and DMCs and 2) suggesting dupe destinations and shoulder seasons to their clients. 

Advocating for responsible supplier practices

Parker says that working with DMCs gives travel advisors a closer connection with what’s going on in a destination – they are the ones living there and have a strong sense of local attitudes toward tourism. A reliable DMC can help steer advisors toward itineraries that benefit locals as opposed to doing more harm. 

This is often done by booking with suppliers that funnel money back into the community where they operate, pay fair wages to workers, and implement sustainable practices. Parker noted that the more advisors push for these things, the more they will be applied throughout the industry. 

“Our role is to put pressure on the companies themselves because we have a lot of influence on where the dollars are spent,” she said. 

A little extra research on tour operators, hotels, and cruise lines can make all the difference. Annie Jones, owner and luxury travel advisor of Telos Travel, says she works mainly with locally owned and operating tour companies and accommodations that prioritize sustainability. 

“There are enough options out there, that I feel it’s relatively easy to make this the only choice, while still meeting the client’s style and experience expectations, without sacrificing the luxury they love,” she said. 

Sending clients to dupe destinations

It’s a travel advisor’s job to send clients where they want to go, and many times, those will be the popular destinations. However, advisors can also be the ones to convince clients to go elsewhere when certain places are facing overtourism. 

Parker says it’s a “push and pull.” There is nowhere else but Rome to see the Coliseum, but there may be other Greek islands other than Mykonos and Santorini that can deliver the experience clients are looking for. 

“Since I’ve worked in tourism, a lot of clients have been into sustainability and it’s always been on my radar,” she said. “It’s becoming part of my initial conversation with clients, asking what’s driving them to go to a certain destination.” 

Jones agreed, noting that those discussions should highlight how traveling to lesser-known destinations will enhance the trip. 

“Travel advisors have a responsibility to help direct our clients away from destinations that are experiencing an abundance of tourism,” she said. “While we certainly can’t force someone to travel to a different destination, it’s a significant part of my job to highlight off-the-beaten path destinations that offer alternatives.” 

Another solution, Parker noted, is sending a client to a popular city only for one or two nights, and then adding another less-crowded nearby city to the itinerary. 

Championing the shoulder season

Steering clients away from peak season is another way advisors can do their part in managing overtourism. The off season is less crowded, and, in Europe, less hot, which can be selling points for clients who have flexibility for when they can travel. 

Avanti Destinations, which sells exclusively through travel advisors, runs its Go365 campaign each year to encourage shoulder season trips. That is just one example of a supplier who works with DMCs and practices sustainability. 

“Avanti has always worked with DMCs around the world because they’re the most capable of handling our business and employ locals who have the greatest insight,” Barry said.   

By presenting clients with the most local, sustainable options, travel advisors can take responsibility and be part of a solution for overtourism, rather than contributing to the problem. 

“The less hurdles to do good with your dollars, the more people will do it,” Parker said. “People are inherently good and want to do right by the places they visit.”