Before airports became small cities and low cost will multiply filling the sky of Europe, fly it was a privilege reserved for a few. Today, however, the global and mass tourism grows without brakes, pushes airlines to multiply routes and planes, and threatens to overflow not only the most iconic destinations, but also the capacity itself of the planet to sustain it.
An infinite curve. commercial aviation directly reflects the evolution of the world economy. Every time global GDP increases, so does the number of passengers that fly and, with it, the demand for new aircraft to replace old ones or expand fleets.
Crises (from the technology bubble to the 2008 recession, through the 9/11 attacks, the COVID pandemic or the war in Ukraine) have only managed to temporarily stop air traffic. After each stoppage, the curve has resumed its growth trend, which is around at 4% annually. The so-called Revenue Passenger Miles they have already recovered at pre-pandemic levelsconsolidating the idea that flying is one of the most resilient industries of globalization.
The “bleirure”. Although the vast majority of air kilometers correspond to tourists (it is estimated that 85% of the total) are business passengers, barely 12-15% of the volume, who generate up to three quarters of the benefits. These clients they pay premium seatsmake last minute changes and purchase additional services.
However, the pandemic introduced a new pattern: the “bleisure”trips that combine work and leisure thanks to the flexibility of teleworking. Airlines have reacted by multiplying cabin categories and seeking to capture the traveler who is no longer satisfied with the traditional binomial between low-cost tourist and first-class executive. The proliferation of intermediate classes reflects a market in which the boundaries between work and pleasure are increasingly blurred.
The hordes and the cities. They remembered in Forbes that the reopening after the pandemic caused the phenomenon from “revenge travel”: Millions of travelers took out their lists of dream places and set out to visit the most iconic destinations. France, which has led world tourism for three decades, exceeded 100 million of annual visitors, Spain, Italy, Türkiye and the United States complete the top five.
The problem? That this avalanche has had a cost: the Coliseumthe Eiffel Tower or the Louvre They are experiencing days of extreme saturation, while other emblematic places have had to impose restrictions. Notre Dame requires tickets with schedule, the Parthenon limits accessMachu Picchu temporarily closed and Mount Fuji has established quotas and fees. The list of “A” destinations does not grow at the pace of demand, and the pressure on the same spaces threatens to make them uninhabitable.
Saturation. The concept of “overtourism”or also “tourism”, has become the biggest nightmare of the most popular destinations. Cities like Venice, Barcelona either Florence They have had to impose limits on tourist accommodation, prohibitions on rental apartments or access fees to try to regain the lost balance.
The phenomenon not only erodes the quality of life of residents, but also puts one’s own health at risk. cultural and natural attraction that attracts visitors. Summer saturation, furthermore, already does not concentrate alone in July and August: travelers, pushed by extreme heat waves like those in Europe in 2025, move towards fall or springspreading the pressure throughout the year. What was considered a temporary relief has become another twist.
Climate impact. Aerial growth not only puts stress on cities and monuments, it also puts stress on the planet against the ropes. Recent studies estimate that tourism is responsible for 8.8% of global emissions, and aviation accounts for up to three quarters of that footprint if indirect effects such as contrails are included.
The problem is that technological efficiency advances too slowly: barely 0.3% annually compared to 3.8% increase in traffic. Sustainable fuels, hydrogen or electrification still They are incipient projectsunable to cover long-haul flights. Thus, each new aircraft delivered guarantees growth in emissionsdespite the fact that the planet’s carbon budgets are already practically exhausted.
A planet on the limit. The expansion of air tourism generates a triple limit: physical, social and climatic. Physical, because airports, airplanes and cities cannot absorb unlimited volumes of travelers. Social, because local communities cthey start to rebel against massive tourism that makes housing more expensive and degrades common spaces. and climatebecause the sector’s carbon footprint threatens to neutralize any progress towards global sustainability goals.
The paradox is that, while the aeronautical industry accumulates an order book of more than seven years and defends that there is still room to grow, experts in sustainability and governance insist that only with limits (quotas, environmental taxes, diversification of destinations) an irreversible collapse can be avoided.
The dilemma of tourism. Thus, mass tourism, as we have known it, faces a historical crossroads. The industry accelerates towards expansion and consumers maintain the desire to travel further and more often, but the reality is that there is not enough physical space, nor cities capable of absorbing so many visitors, no climatic margin to sustain a sector of infinite growth.
The question, therefore, is no longer just how we will travel in the future, but whether the planet can afford that we all do it, at all hours and all the time. If you also want, the myth of unchecked global tourism seems to be breaking down: because there is no place, there are no planes, and there is no planet that can withstand so much tourism.
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