Strategies for Mitigating Mass Tourism: A Detailed Case Study

This case study examines the multifaceted impacts of mass tourism, delving into its economic, environmental, and cultural consequences. It begins by defining mass tourism and highlighting its global prevalence, citing examples like Barcelona and Thailand, while acknowledging its contributions to job creation and infrastructure development. However, it emphasizes the detrimental effects, such as pollution, resource depletion, and cultural erosion, using examples like the Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary in India and the Manavgat region in Turkey. The analysis then proposes various mitigation strategies, including sustainable tourism planning, eco-tourism initiatives, responsible tourism marketing, and the promotion of local businesses with eco-friendly approaches. The case study provides examples of successful implementations, such as the Feynan Ecolodge in Jordan, limitations on tourist numbers in Sardinia, and eco-tourism in Bangladesh's Sundarban area. The paper concludes by advocating for a holistic approach to tourism, emphasizing the importance of long-term sustainability and the need for responsible tourism practices to preserve the beauty and resources of tourist destinations. The study suggests that overtourism is not sustainable for long-term sustenance of any place or community.

Running head: TOURISM
MIGATING MASS TOURISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Sörensson (2010) states mass tourism contributes to about $735 billion in world tourism
income. Sörensson (2010) suggest that tourism is necessary of the growth of the economy of the
country, in fact many developing nations have benefitted from the tourism industry remarkably.
However, some of the main economic gain has been brought from mass tourism. Mass tourism
has been described as the type of tourism that promotes mass travelers to go to a certain
destination, this includes the package deals that encourages groups of people to take holiday
together by providing accommodation and travel discounts. The following essay explore the
effects of mass tourism and possible migrating solutions.
Studies state that there is direct relation between the destination’s image and tourism
success. Researchers have shown that when there is a higher tourist influx it is often associated
with the positive aspect of the place such the safety, the food, the culture, wildlife and others
(Heinrich, 2018). Mass tourism is highest in France, followed by other countries such as Spain,
USA, China, Italy and others. To illustrate, Barcelona is attached with art, music good food and
the Spanish culture draws in tourists all over the world making it one of the most popular place
(Heinrich, 2018). Studies indicate that mass tourism is a major factor that contributes to creating
job market through various, hotels, resorts, and other tourism related industries, this helps to
strengthen the local economy and helps in its growth and development (Baranowski, 2007).
Mass tourism also encourages the growth of infrastructure in the area, such building or roads,
railways and other facilities. Baranowski (2007) states that due to mass tourism local
communities and government is benefitted a lot through the revenue generated. Most importantly
mass tourism encourages cross cultural communication and helps to build better understanding
of different cultures.
With so many benefits however, mass tourism has its disadvantages as well. Akis (2011)
indicates that there is a serious issue of pollution, increased stress on the natural resources of the
place which can be difficult for the locals. Tourism also needs a lot of development strategies
that promotes building infrastructure to support the increasing tourists, meaning that there is a
rapid loss of farming lands meaning loss of resources. The rapid urbanization and expansion of
living facilities and infrastructure to accommodate more tourist is pushing the natural resources
and altering the lives of the wildlife and the people significantly.
Issues of mass tourism is very apparent and even drastic, case in point, the Kaziranga
wildlife sanctuary in Assam, India is facing severe floods owing to the rapidly changing weather
conditions that has resulted in the displacement of several species and killed some of the
endangered species such as the one horned rhino. The stress of global climate change is raising
the water levels and is especially problematic in the tourist regions (Borah et al, 2018). On the
other hand there are cases where mass tourism has promoted the local government to take action
to promote environmental positive behaviour. For example, in Thailand which has banned
tourists smoking in their beaches due to excessive pollution of cigarette butts and issued a fine if
found committing the act of smoking in beaches. This has reduced the pollution significantly.
Additionally, Thailand has issued a ban on all single use plastic which has promoted a more
ethical and conscious use of plastic which is one the largest pollutants in the world (Chanin,
2016).
Mass tourism also pollutes the indigenous culture of the place which means that culture
can be lost through mass tourism. The tourism industry has recognized the trend of mass tourism
and its long term effect on the place (Lai et al, 2017). To illustrate, a case study conducted in

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Turkey shows that the Manavgat, located in Antalya has suffered the consequences of mass
tourism. This little county has benefitted from the government ventures which has enabled it to
become one of the most popular places to visit while in Turkey (Akis, 2011).
On the other hand, adopting sustainable tourism planning has allowed to ensure the
preservation of biodiversity and culture. The city of Gijon in Spain has been awarded as
"Biosphere World Urban Destination" the optimum use of natural resources and use of
ecofriendly commute and other policies by the local government has allowed the preservation of
the local culture which has preserved more than 85% of the rural area and reduced the stress on
the resources significantly. This shows that it is important to stress on use of sustainable tourism
plan along with the local government to implement and enforce policies and laws that protects
the natural resources and protects the harmful effect of mass tourism (BiosphereTourism.com.
2020).
While, the tourism industry has helped in collecting the local revenue and enhanced its
development it has also caused immense changes to the small county. Firstly, one of the major
effects of mass tourism has been on the immigration to Manavgat, as more people from the
neighboring places some to settle in this place there is a huge rise in the urban population and
rise of buildings accompanied by rapid deforestation (Akis, 2011). Another case study also
shows that more local people are adopting the urban lifestyle to suit the interest of the tourist and
hence there is loss of cultural heritage (Lai et al, 2017). There is pressure among the lower
income group to move to cheaper areas so as to maintain the image of the changing
neighborhood that is more affluent (Lai et al, 2017). The area had semi nomadic people who
after the effect of mass tourism are surrendering their traditional customs and participating in the
tourism activities. The most major issue that the place faces is the environmental pollution which
has led to pollution of fresh water lake called Lake Titreyen affecting the local flora and fauna
also the pollution in the beaches is a major concern (Akis, 2011).
There is an urgency to address the deterioration caused by the mass tourism. The advent
of globalisation has led to global exposure and the cross communication is almost impossible to
avoid. Some of the ways that we can mitigate the effects of mass tourism is developing a
sustainable tourism plan. The Feynan Ecolodge situated in Jordan is one of the best example of
sustainable tourism. The hotel integrates conservation of the natural resources as well as helps
the socio-economic condition of the local area. They use 100% of renewal sources of energy and
offers a unique experience to their customers (BiosphereTourism.com. 2020). Sustainability is
also cost effective of the government in the long run. A case study of the government in
Barcelona showed that focusing better standard of life for the citizens of the place will help to
automatically uplift the ecological standards of the area and promote tourism as well as
sustainability (Heinrich, 2018).
Sustainable tourism helps to balance the stress that mass tourism causes on the area
(Gabarda-Mallorquí et al, 2017). Case in point, a limitation has been imposed on the number of
tourists entering Sardinia one of the most popular tourist destination in Italy, they have also
issued tickets for visiting the beaches so that the tourist population can be controlled (Romolini
et al. 2017). They have also imposed a fine on the tourist who cause pollution. Another method
that can help mitigate the rapid building plans is to encourage eco-tourism through ventures like
homestays that can help to empower the local community and reduce stress of building more
infrastructure at the cost of land resources. This particular venture also helps to encourage and

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preserve local heritage and culture as tourists are drawn to its traditional practices. For example,
Bangladesh has developed very good eco-tourism in the Sundarban area known for its forests
and royal Bengal tiger is one of the most unique. Eco-tourism has helped the local economy to
preserve their culture and also enables them to offer an authentic experience to the tourists
without disturbing the natural resources (Sarker & Huibin, 2018).
Another method that can help to mitigate the issue is promoting responsible tourism.
Studies state that the marketing of destination tourism is focused on increasing the influx of
tourism and therefore the marketing is aggressive and does not consider the impact. Akis (2011)
suggests that there is a need to consider the impact of such irresponsible marketing and an urgent
need for responsible tourism strategy that includes educating the tourist about the place and its
relevance and also educating them of their responsibility to maintain certain behaviours while
visiting a tourist place. Akis (2011) is of the opinion that reducing the demand in peak season
through reduction in the number of beds can help to combat the situation.
Educating and focusing on alternate sources of energy can help to create a more
sustainable tourism plan. In Maldives, the Finolhu Villas of Club Méditerranée uses educative
method to instil positive practices among the tourist. They have eliminated the use of plastic in
their villas and installed solar panels that provide clean energy for the functioning of the hotel.
They also have undertaken a wide range of sensitization programmes where they educate the
tourists about the local culture through folklore and other cultural practices. This has helped to
eliminate the negative effects of mass tourism in the area significantly (BiosphereTourism.com.
2020).
Supporting local business that promote eco-friendly approaches can help to minimise the
effect of pollution that is caused by commute from the mass tourism. A start-up from Austria has
started a company called the Gentle mobility which is known as Sanfte Mobilität or SAMO in
German, the primary objective of the company was to reduce the carbon emission that is caused
by vehicles in tourism. The company arranges sustainable mobility for their tourists by providing
connection to local commute by the use of electric cars, horse drawn carriages, ELOIS and other
eco-friendly cars. These companies should be promoted by the government as it helps to
eliminate the car emission and helps to conserve the local ecosystem. Statistics shows, that
between the year of 1995 to 2013 the tourist chose to come by more sustainable means of
transport (BiosphereTourism.com. 2020).
In conclusion, over tourism is not sustainable for the long term sustenance of the place or
community. There needs to be holistic approach towards the tourism, over tourism has been
pointed one of the main causative agent in destroying the beauty of many tourist place. It has
also been found that over tourism is not cost-effective for the government and can incur constant
expenditure. The discussion above states the various issue and the possible solution that can be
useful to practice.

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