Overtourism, destruction of habitat and exploitation of communities have indeed created backlash, and a growing number of tourism-related companies are taking proactive steps to get the target off their backs.
A year’s increase of tourism in Spain ends with Madrid activating a black level measure for the influx of visitors to the city over the festive season.
France has announced it is banning smoking on beaches as part of a wider campaign to help people quit. By the first half of 2024, the four-year 'plan anti-tabac' will also see lighting up prohibited outside of schools and in government-owned forests and green areas.
Amsterdam has desperately been trying to shake off its ‘party capital’ image - with limited success. After its 2023 campaign urging drunken British tourists to ‘stay away’ failed, the city is trialling a softer approach.
