Technological Solutions to Overtourism: Potential and Limits

Abstract

Overtourism is a pressing issue for tourism destinations, including those whose attractiveness and experiential offerings are based on natural resources. The relationship between overtourism and technology is complicated, but technological solutions are generally seen as critical for overcoming or at least mitigating overtourism and its negative consequences for destinations. This chapter discusses a variety of smart technologies and illustrates how they can support smart tourism initiatives aimed at avoiding or solving overtourism issues and increasing overall sustainability at the destination. In addition to highlighting various solution potentials, this chapter also discusses the possible drawbacks of smart technology use in light of the specific characteristics of nature-based destinations. It concludes that comprehensive and holistic strategies based on a combination of technological and governance-related solutions are needed to combat the potentially detrimental effects of overtourism in nature-based destinations.