tourism

A small town in Holland has the solution to mass tourism: to fool Google Maps

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Mass tourism has unable consequences for residents. Recently we talked about the Avalanche of tourists who go to the lavender fields in Brihuega. In the Parkbuurt neighborhood, located in a small coastal town in Holland, they also have problems with tourism. Specifically because, in the most influx days, it is impossible for them to park. The neighbors have got to work to solve it with a very ingenious method. Fed up neighbors. Parking in Parkbuurt was not a problem until tourists arrived. Especially on weekends, its streets are filled with cars and neighbors, fed up with not being able to park normally, as they say in NH News. What they did was start reporting street blockages on Google Maps so that the app sending visitors to other areas. Google Maps to Rescue. It is the navigation app most used in the world And its function to report incidents on the road makes it perfect for this type of actions. A single report would not take effect, but with neighbors organizing to send reports at the same time the thing changes. The streets of the neighborhood appear as cut in the app and that makes visitors go to other areas. Answer. The trick has worked for them, but it has had some unwanted effects. Gert-Jan Bluijs, councilor of the municipality, is not funny and ensures that this measure has generated more chaos in other adjacent neighborhoods. The neighbors defend themselves from criticism ensuring that it is a peaceful measure that only apply on weekends, during the week they were not applying it. They see it as a way of exerting pressure to do something from the City Council. At the moment, what the City Council has done is to place a sign at the entrance of the town asking visitors to deactivate Google Maps. More cases. It is not the first time that similar tactics are used to combat tourist saturation. A few months ago something similar also happened in Holland, near the area of the Keukenhof Tulipanes gardens. This same year, we knew that Barcelona had eliminated a Google Maps bus route so that tourists would not collapse it. The result was good in that bus line, but others collapsed. The other face. We have seen that navigation apps can be a tool to divert traffic, but they can also be the cause of the problem. Years ago we told you how Waze’s suggestions ruined the tranquility of some neighborhoods. The app, now GOOGLE PROPERTYsuggests faster routes and diverts traffic through streets that used to be little busy. In Xataka | Iceland is so tired of tourism that it has decided to stop it drastically: fringing its visitors Image | Rudi Arlt in Pixabay

The Valencian Community has a single inhabited island. And when summer comes tourism is the slightest of its problems

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Tabarca is a special island for many reasons. By its sizejust 1,800 meters long, a few hundred meters wide and an area of 0.3 km2. For its condition of Only inhabited island from the Valencian Community, although its census barely goes from half a hundred of neighbors. And for the particular situation that lives in the tourist stage of the Costa Blanca. Although in summer Tabarca receives thousands of visitors a day, its main problem with tourism is not the massification but The deficiencies suffering from the archipelago and worsens with the arrival of heat. Tabarca is a unique island. And not always for good. In a place in Alicante … Tabarca is a small island on the Alicante coast, located scarce Eight kilometers from the port of Santa Pola. And the “little” is more than justified. The island is around 0.3 km2 and the entire archipelago barely passes from 1,800 m long and 400 wide, which can travel from top to bottom in A small walk. Its size and their population, of just over fifty people (According to the INE There are 34 men and 25 women censored there) they make it an exceptional case. It often presents itself as The only one Populated Island of the Valencian Community and The smallest of the country with permanent population. Its location, beaches and landscapes also make it something else: a busy destination in summer. A figure: 10,000. One thing is the autumn tabarca, winter and the principle of spring and a very different summer tabarca. When the heat arrives, the island becomes a defendant destination. Both in fact that the transfer of bathers and families multiplies exponentially. Some estimates talk that in summer peak days exceed 5,000 visitors. Others raise it to 10,000. It is good for one or another figure, in October that translates into a tourist pressure that far exceeds its register. The figures handled by the local press do not always coincide, but are equally blunt. Some estimates point to more than 150,000 visitors during the summer months or even 230,000 Throughout the year. The influx of tourists also concentrates on a Very concrete season: The drip begins towards Holy Week, with the arrival of retirees of the Imserso, continues among the ends of spring and the beginning of summer with the schoolchildren and intensifies in the warmest months with visitors attracted by the beaches. Is it a problem? The tide of tourists has sneaked into the public debate of Alicante, with Voices in favor to control access to the island and apply “limits to the number of visitors” daily, a measure that already applies in other parts of the country, such as in the CIES, in Galicia. At least a year ago the Almeria City Council It was not shown However, too supportive of afor and restrictions. Others bet on DestationalizeThe demand for the bulk of tourism not to concentrate in the summer months. “The island needs a more balanced approach that considers not only beach tourism, but also ecotourism and cultural tourism, which can help distribute the load of visitors more uniformly during the year,” he said In 2024 Alejandro Triviño, from the University of Alicante, to Information. In his favor Tabarca has more than beaches. It is considered Marine reserve Since 1986 and enjoys an interesting story that links it to Berber pirates and Genoese fishermenin addition to A rich heritage which includes The wall or the Church of San Pedro and San Pablo. Something more than massification. However, the big problem of Tabarca is not the massive influx of visitors, but how they arrive and what they are once land. I explained it yesterday The country in An article Remember that the main challenge of the island in tourism is the deficiencies that it drags, a few deficiencies is that they become even more visible when the heat comes. “The problem is not tourists,” Recognize to the Diario Carmen Martí, president of the neighborhood association. “We need a comprehensive plan that condition the island for inhabitants and visitors.” The reason? In summer Tabarca receives a tide of travelers willing to spend the day on their coasts, but unlike what happens in other Arenales of Alicante, on the island –Martí complaint– They do not have some basic services. “Public toilets, shadow areas, tourist attractions such as the church or the vaults of the wall are closed, the tower is in ruins …” insists The neighborhood leader before adding one more task to the list: regulate displacements and a public transport service. “How 40 years ago”. Martí is not the only one who thinks like that. The owner of one of the island’s restaurants Recognize to The country That Tabarca has gone from being a small community that basically lived from fishing to a hyper tourist destination, but that transformation has not come accompanied by changes that make it more assumed for the locals. “Many people come and we are like 40 years ago,” Reflect. “We need a larger port, to separate the tourist from goods ships and more cultural activity so that the visit is not only sun and beach.” The list of resident requests is wide. They talk about transport, pricing disparity with which visitors are and the cost assumed by those who work on the island, of public services as basic as medical assistance or public spaces (picnic or even shadow areas) in which visitors can protect themselves during the warmer afternoons of the summer. Is it something new? No. It comes a quick search to verify that the complaints of the neighbors are not new. A year ago, during An interview In Onda Cero, Martín explained that the Island supports a tourist pressure similar to that of “any tourist area of ​​the Peninsula”. “The problem is that it is not prepared to welcome with guarantees the numerous visitors who agglomerate mainly during the months of July and August,” warns the representative of the neighbors, who regrets that “the impression that … Read more

Spain has its own Mykonos. And share with her something more than the coast and the wrapped houses: mass tourism

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Its wrapped houses, terraces, alleys and landscapes of the Mediterranean coast earned him Binibeca Vell The nickname “Mykonos Español”but over time this small town in Menorca has ended looking to the famous island of the cycles for another different reason: the Tourist saturation. As is the case in the Greek destiny, The town It fills every summer of thousands of visitors, an avalanche that is not always easy to fit in the routine of its neighbors. Hence they have decided to take action. A Spanish Mykonos? Yes. In fact, this informal title is disputed by several locations in the country, such as Frigilianain Malaga, or The Moorish Isletin Almería. Both stand out for their low houses of enchanted facades, narrow alleys, terraces and coastal landscapes bathed by the light of the Mediterranean. Exactly the same as Binibeca Vella small urbanization located in the south of Menorca, within the municipality of Sant Lluís. Its landscapes have made time win the nickname “Mykonos Menorquín” and a hole on the websites of the travel agencies, Blogs And even in The promotion of the Balearic institutions. What is its origin? Binibeca is not only known as “Mykonos de Baleares”. The locals also usually refer to it as “fishing village”, although in reality its origin has little to do with the people who make a living in the Mediterranean. The settlement is located in an old sailor shelter, but what we see today rose in the early 1960s as a residential urbanization driven by the rigger Antonio Sintes and the architect Corsini beardwho were inspired by Greece. The result is a picturesque populated with white houses glued to each other, 165 constructions distributed by an built surface of about 8,000 square meters located in a privileged environment, just in front of the sea. The Binibeca owners community stands out Another of its peculiarities: the settlement is “an urbanization”, “a private property” in which it is the residents themselves who are responsible for paying a fee for the maintenance of the area. And do tourists receive? Yes. Many. The community of owners ensures that in recent years visits “have increased significantly” to overcome the 800,000 annuallya considerable fact if one takes into account that in the area they reside just 200 people And during the winter months that figure is minimized. Maybe this disproportion between the number of residents and the great flow of visitors, but makes enough sense. To start with the tourist success of the Balearic Islands in General and Menorca in particular, which receives each year hundreds of thousands of tourists. Secondly, due to the visibility and promotion of the town, both in the networks and through Agencies, Forums And even Balearic institutions. “If you put the Menorca word on Instagram, of every 10 images that appear, three are from Binibeca Vell,” assured last year to The country Óscar Monge, president of the community of owners. What is coexistence like? If the neighbors of Mykonos island know something (the authentic, the one located in the cycles) is that living in a Mediterranean paradise is not always simple. On the website of the urbanization the residents themselves They recognize That the avalanche of tourists has a direct effect in its day to day, “complicating coexistence.” “Port adventure looks like, but they at least charge you the entrance,” summarize Monge. In practice that translates into dealing with tourists eager to achieve the best Selfie They do not hesitate to sneak into a private terrace to get it. “Tourists touch everything. One of our neighbors has many plants in pots and tourists move them to get a better photo. They sit in chairs in private porches,” explained a few months ago to The Telegraph one of the inhabitants of the urbanization. “They speak very high and the noise resonates because the town is small and closed. They sit on the stairs and, when the owner asks them to move, they refuse because they want to get the perfect photo.” And what have they done? Move token. That Binibeca is a private urbanization with a community of owners, not a real town of fishermen, makes its residents face tourist saturation with a different approach to that of other Balearic residents. Last year The community decreed that would allow visits only in a certain time slot, during the day. The rest of the time the space would remain closed with chains with notices. In The urbanization website A small plane can be consulted in which the visible areas, passage areas and the visiting schedule are detailed, restricted from 10.00 to 22.00 h. There are also certain guidelines for visitors: they are silent, keep the environment clean, not take photos for commercial purposes or inside the houses and, of course, that they do not enter into private homes or feel on the terraces. “When you visit us remember that you have entered a private property and you must respect the privacy of the neighbors,” They underline. Is there more? Yes. In 2023 the community and the Consell de Menorca reached a pact to lighten tourist pressure on the town, which passed among other issues to regulate the arrival of buses or help in the conservation of the area. The agreement It was not renewed However and a year ago the community threatened to go further and Vote the total closure From urbanization to tourism, a drastic measure because the flow of tourists is key to the businesses located in the area. “We pay expensive to be the most popular tourist attraction of Menorca”, Monge lamented. “Binibeca is promoted by the island administration and tourism companies, but what benefit do we get from it? We have nothing against tourism, but sometimes it seems that we live in Disneyland.” Their complaints of 2024 have served for the moment to promote a change in tourists, among which they appreciate (except exceptions) an attitude “a bit more moderate.” And what do they plan to do? A few days ago residents shared with … Read more

Spain has been an untouchable power of Mediterranean tourism for years. A country steps on your heels: Türkiye

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With tourism recovering (and even overcoming) the pulse I had before the pandemic, Spain is not the only country that seeks break records and crowned at the top of the podium of international destinations. About 2,500 kilometers from the Iberian Peninsula there is another country, also bathed in the Mediterranean, with a powerful offer of beaches, culture, heritage and gastronomy that struggles for Get a hole in it World top 3 of tourism, a select club now basically reserved to France, Spain and the US. Which? Türkiye. All this accompanied, of course, of a powerful flow of billions of dollars in income for the sector. A for the Top 3. Türkiye is determined to increase at the top of the world tourism ranking. He left it Of course in April his minister of the branch, Mehmet Nuri Ersoyduring a forum organized in Eruzurum, northwest of the country: “In 2024 we managed to become one of the four largest tourist economies in the world, but we will not stop there. Our goal is to be among the first three countries in tourism.” Same message He movedThese days Mehmet İşler, vice president of the Turkish Hotel Federation (Türofed), insisting that the “objective” of the sector is to turn the nation into “one of the three main” powers in the sector. “We have gone from being an affordable holiday destination to be a recognized tourist center,” He claimed in statements collected by Hürriyet Daily Newsthe oldest newspaper in Türkiye. How many tourists do they receive? According to The data Disseminated by his Ministry of Tourism and Culture, in 2024 Türkiye received 62.3 million visitors who translated into income from value of 61.1 billion of dollars. The figure however has a “but”: those 62.3 million include both the 52.6 million of international tourists who passed through the country during the year as the nearly 10 million Turks residing abroad and visited their homeland. The nuance does not mean that the trend of international tourism has been clearly positive in Türkiye. Those 52.6 million foreign visitors suppose A historical record and Improve 9% The result of 2023. The rise also moved to the money generated by the sector: the 61.1 billion dollars registered by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Tüik) reflect an year -on -year increase of 8.3%. And how is 2025? The year has also started with the occasional joy for the Turkish industry, although with nuances. The income flow grew 5.6% during the first quarter to place in 9,450 million Of dollars, but the general balance of visitors was not so good: it stayed at 6.7 million foreign tourists, 5% less than last year. The objectives for this year are ambitious, according to Hürriyet Daily: reach 65 million visitors and shoot the billing at 64,000 million dollars. Expanding the photo. To appreciate the growth of Turkish tourism, however, to take perspective and follow its evolution over the last years. He Historical record De Türsab show that in 2017 the country received around 32.4 million foreign visitors. In 2024 they were 52.6 millionso the increase was 62% in less than a decade. In cash and sound money, that boom resulted in an increase even greater of income Climbing in the ranking. Thanks to this growth Türkiye sneaked first in the Top 10 of the great international destinations and climbed positions in that table. The World Population Review website places it in The sixth place In 2024, behind France, Spain, USA, China and Italy. In other classifications (2023) occupies the fifth. It would actually be various criteria When ordering destinations, such as the flow of international travelers, the weight of the tourism sector or the volume of income. During Your intervention In Erzurum, Ersoy claimed that Turkey managed World Tourism Organizationhe trusted to be fourth in 2024. Important how much … and where. The growth of Turkish tourism does not respond only to the attractiveness of Istanbul or Capadocia, its landscape and gastronomy or the government’s commitment to boost the sector. 2024 data show that it has managed to become strong in certain key markets, such as Russian or Iranian. The first, who now see their flights to Europe for The answer From the West to the war in Ukraine, they grew 6% to add 6.7 million of travelers, almost 13% of the total. Iran received about 3.2 million tourists, 31% more than the previous year. Other key markets were the German, the second main issuing market, with 6.6 millionthe British (4.4 million) or the Bulgarians (2.9), also of course from the Turkish citizens who live outside the country and fly to visit their nation. In 2024 they touched the 10 million. In the first three months of the year the demand punctured in the Russian, German and Iranian markets, so Türsab trusts in alleviating its fall with China, Germany or the United Kingdom. The figures import (all). Turkey tourist emerge is interesting because it has not only translated into more visitors. That trend has come accompanied by greater income flow in a country that, Recognize Ersoyit has been proposed to “prioritize quality over quantity”. “The objective is not only to increase the number of visitors, but go to tourists with high expenses not related to accommodation.” For now, 2025 would have started with an increase in almost 5% In the average spending per traveler. And how does Spain affect? Spain and Türkiye may be separated by thousands of kilometers, but in a way they point to the same markets thanks to their heritage offer, Sun and beach. Although their sector drinks largely from Russian and Iranian markets, Turkish hotels have attracted an intense flow of German and British travelers, very relevant markets for Spanish tourism. Only in 2024 both countries added 20% of foreign demand. Turkish growth in those key points could threaten that of Spain, which It goes now Towards the barrier of 100 million of foreign travelers. In his favor Türkiye has another great asset: prices. Although the fees of their hotels … Read more

The US feared a boycott of its tourism sector. It already has a first calculation and shows a hole of 12.5 billion dollars

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He “Make America Great Again” promises get expensive To the American tourism industry. Fulfilled the first 100 days of Trump’s mandate and after a start of the year marked by the Tariff warthe aggressive immigration policy from Washington and his distancing from historical allies, such as Canada or the EU, US tourism faces turbulence. He last report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), based in London, predict that distrust From foreign travelers it will cost the country around 12.5 billion dollars. And the figure goes with a message included. “This is a US government attention call”, warns The WTTC. What happened? That the WTTC, a forum that brings together the private tourism industry, has just thrown a jug of cold water at the expectations of the sector in the US. And the reason is very simple: according to the forecasts of its technicians the travel, hotels, restaurants and other businesses that depend on tourism will enter much less dollars out of foreign pockets. To be more precise the WTTC talks about a loss of about $ 12.5 billion in foreign visitors spending, an “amazing sum”, Apostille. Where does that data come from? The organism does not clarify how it has calculated it, but it does contribute some context. According to your data In 2024 international visitors who arrived in the US spent about 181,000 million dollars. If its forecasts are fulfilled, in 2025 the figure will remain in “just under 169,000 million”. It is a forecast that could vary if the circumstances that have motivated that collapse of spending, but a priori leaves two bad readings. The first is an interannual fall of almost 7%. The second is that the US tourism industry moves away from the data it handled in 2019, before the pandemic. He WTTC calculates that during that year foreign visitors generated a revenue flow of about 217.4 billion euros that promoted job creation in the country. “Today that legacy is in danger,” warns the organism in A statement in which he sends a couple of errands to Donald Trump’s executive. Why is it important? For the weight of tourism in the American economy and the threats it faces. The US is one of the main destinations of the world. His trade department estimates that last year he received some 72.4 million of international visitors who contributed to the tourism and travel sector contributing, as a whole, 2.36 billion of dollars to the national economy and generate more than 20 million jobs. The administration itself benefits from this activity via tax revenues. The problem is that the vast majority of that tourist expense (almost 90%) It did not start with visitors from other countries but from the domestic market, of travelers who moved nationwide, within the country. For the WTTC that percentage is somewhat a challenge. “This strong dependence on local tourism masks a serious vulnerability: true growth resides in the international market, and the US is losing its leadership,” They warn. Spain leaves a good example: the flow of foreign tourists moves in record levels while falls The domestic. Is there anything else? Yes. WTTC forecasts contradict those who handled It is not so much The US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTOO), which expected the flow of international visitors to the US to increase 6.5% between 2024 and 2025 to reach 77.1 million. In 2026 he even trusted to reach 85 million, which would exceed the data prior to the pandemic. By 2027 it provided for an expense level of 279,000 million Of dollars, quite above what the WTTC now forecasts for this year. Are all forecasts? No. The study of the WTCC cites data from March of the US Department of Commerce that already reveal a contraction in the flow of international tourists. Specifically, it shows an interannual “prick” of 15% in the British market, of more than 28% in Germany, almost 15% in South Korea and between 24 and 33% in “other key markets”, such as Colombia or Spain. “As expected, the Canadian market is exhausted: reserves in early summer have dropped more than 20% compared to last year,” Add the WTTCwhich ensures that in general the country is receiving fewer visitors from both its neighbors and distant nations, “a clear indicator that the global attractiveness of the United States decreases.” The agency ensures that it is the only destination of the 184 analyzed that faces the 2025 exercise with a downward forecast. And what is the reason? The newspaper The New York Times remember That in 2024 the spending of travel in the US already remained below the values ​​prior to the health crisis, basically due to the strength of the dollar and its influence on the budgets of tourists from other countries. The situation is quite different today. Both in regard to The currency as to the geopolitical context, which explains for the WTTC what is happening to foreign tourism in the United States. “The world’s largest economy and tourism is on a bad way, not due to lack of demand, but action. While other nations extend the red welcome carpet, the US government hangs the ‘closed’ poster, closed ‘, Julia Simpson ditchExecutive Director of the WTTC. “If urgent measures are not taken to restore travelers’ confidence, the US could take several years to return to the expenditure levels of international visitors prior to the pandemic.” Is it something unforeseen? Not quite. The tariff war, Washington’s clash with Denmark, Canada or Mexico and especially arrests In the borders and the confusion with visas It has been affecting the flow of travelers to the United States for some time. In fact there is talk of A boycott that extends beyond tourism, industry and Commerce. The US International Trade Administration already registered in March that the number of European visitors who spent at least one night in the country had fallen 17% With respect to last year. The data could be explained in part for the effect of Holy Week … Read more

Mr. Beast has brought his extreme tourism videos inside the Mayan ruins in Mexico. That is a problem for ruins

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Mrbeast It is the most important youtuber and followed in the world, and virtually any idea it has to generate content in its channel becomes a trend. Millionaire contests, spectacular challenges, philanthropic maneuvers … and now, adventure tourism. One of his last adventures has been to pass One hundred hours in an old Mayan temple two thousand years old. It is an idea with a peculiar dark side. One night in the temple. In the video we can see how Mrbeast wanders inside several Mayan pyramids, among other Chichén Itzá. Accompanied by an native guide, which reinforces its promotional character for the powerful tourism business in Mexico, sleeps in the jungle, and can touch funeral masks of the kings buried in the area. A privilege that is not at the scope of any tourist. A superstar. With almost 400 million followers and more than 82,000 million visualizations, no one doubts that Mrbeast is The most important youtuber in the world. The average video display on its channel is about 100 million, although it already has many exceeding 200. The income of your channel They can exceed four million dollars, not counting sponsorships or agreements. An authentic icon of the platform that is largely responsible for the spectacularization of Influencers: Always looking for the most extreme challenge, the most shocking image and the most unexpected trip. The spectacularization of YouTube. This spectacularization of the content is very clear in the titles of its last videos: ‘Would you risk drowning for $ 500,000?‘, I survived 7 days in an abandoned city, I survived the 5 most mortal places on earth… It is a radicalization of the content that is not only in the subject, but in the visual: climbing assemblies, a lot of noise and screams, many careers, a dynamic that stuns and that Keep the spectator dopamine by the clouds. Extreme tourism. Mrbeast exploits a new form of telematic tourism that is hooking millions of viewers by making these trips to remote places, often giving them an adventurous narrative: these trips are often linked to extreme challenges or tests, and have turned tourism into an experience that can be digitally consumed. For example, a few months ago we talked about Fabio Belnome and his trip in a 1998 Fiat to Japan. But there are many more in different social networks: the mountaineer @Nimsdaithe urban explorer @Shieyfreedom or the traveler to high -risk countries @drew_binsky. Thanks to them, the hashtag #tikToktravel, for example, has More than 23,000 million views. The dark side. However, there is a dark side in videos such as Mrbaest Chichén Itzá. In 2024, the Secretariat of Tourist Development of Yucatán reported that he expected the arrival of 6.7 million tourists, more than double those that arrived in the last year pre-pandemic. It is an area to which tourism provides 90% of its income. The controversial Mayan train. To promote and facilitate tourism, projects such as Mayan traina transport that will travel relevant areas of the Mayan zone, with special attention to serve tourism, connecting airports in a space of 1500 kilometers. But the authorities are concerned about Environmental impact of the pharaonic López Obrador project. For example, the works have been arrested in the area of ​​the Riviera Maya, one of the most frequented by tourists. The impact is more than studied in what affects caves, temples and other protected areas, and Even Unesco has intervened. The double track. Mexico is, in this way, before a dilemma: the content of Mrbeast is sponsored, as the video credits affirm, by the Tourism Secretariat of Mexicoin collaboration with institutions such as the National Institute of Anthropology and History. But at the same time, the massification of tourism is eroding archaeological treasures such as these temples, in a dilemma of which perhaps the great travel and adventure youtubers will have to begin to take responsibility in the future. Header | Mrbeast In Xataka | The videos of AI have broken the Instagram and Tiktok algorithms. Welcome to the new “AI landscape”

Venice established a rate to combat tourism hordes. Japan has copied the strategy: the one that arrives, pays

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It happened recently with the arrival of the “Holy Week.” Venice enhanced a little more That pioneering toll years ago. The figures that threw the input rate had gone so well, that the city He folded his price. A measure for which Italy sought to restore the balance between the rights of residents and the massive arrival of visitors. A nation has followed the popular enclave: Japan. Mass tourism and fiscal burden. We have been telling: Japan does not stop Receive touristsand given the unstoppable increase, a growing number of Japanese municipalities It has begun To look at the rates used in other enclaves Like Venice: Implement specific taxes for foreigners, in an effort to compensate for the growing costs that tourism activity imposes on local communities. According to Nikkeithese measures mainly include accommodation taxes per night, but are also expanding towards more innovative taxation forms that seek to exclude local payment residents, applying the principle of “who causes, pays.” The objective is clear: preserve fiscal viability of towns and cities that face a reverse demographic pressure (populations in decline in front of booming tourism) and sustain fundamental public services without moving the burden to those who live there permanently. Accommodation tax. Since Tokyo pioneered a pioneer fixed tax per person And by night in the accommodations, others 11 locations They have joined, the most recent of them Atamiin the prefecture of Shizuoka, which began to collect a tribute from 200 yen per night April 1. This tax, which will generate about 600 million annual yen, will serve to finance the new Atami Tourism Office and local activities such as fireworks festivals. The model adopted by most cities consists of fixed rates, staggered depending on the price of accommodation, to facilitate their collection and minimize the administrative load on hotels and hosts. However, there is a unique case with Kutchanin Hokkaido, which since 2019 imposes A 2% tax On the cost of accommodation in its resort area, a pioneering measure that other municipalities, such as Rusutsuthey study to replicate. Miyajima and the model. One of the most significant developments has been the tax applied by Hatsukaichi for access the island of Miyajimathat since October 2023 gravel with 100 additional yen to each ferry passenger. The measure, inspired by the principle of the so -called as “cause pays”seeks that visitors (not residents) absorb the costs derived from their presence, such as waste management, traffic and water and sewerage services. Unlike other rates aimed at promoting tourism, this is a general tax that can be used for any area of ​​the local budget. With a population of just 1,400 people and 4.85 million visitors in 2024, Miyajima was has become a symbol how mass tourism can overflow the operational capacity of a heritage enclave without adequate corrective measures. Biei: Combined taxes. Another illustrative case occurs in Bieialso in Hokkaido, who proposed A double taxation to balance the impact of tourists: a 200 yen accommodation tax per night and a parking charge in the Shirogane Blue Parkone of its main tourist attractions. With 2.39 million visitors in 2023 but only 158,000 overnight stays, most tourists are one -day hikers, which motivated A mixed scheme For everyone to contribute. Both measures are expected to collect more than 239 million annual yenresources that will be used both to maintain services and to support agricultural policies, in an attempt to reinforce the local economy from multiple fronts. Challenges and risks. As both prefectures and municipalities adopt their own variants of these taxes, new challenges arise, including the double taxation risk in areas where regional and local rates coincide. In addition, given that the fiscal performance of these measures depends directly on the concentration of accommodation facilities, the regions with the highest proportion of visitors without prolonged stay can be at a disadvantage, accentuating territorial inequalities. Solution? Some local governments (such as Sadoin Niigata) have considered alternatives such as Input taxes generalized to the island, which would simplify the collection and guarantee a more equitable distribution of the tax burden between short and long -term visitors. Local response to a global phenomenon. In short, the backdrop of this proliferation of tourist rates is still A paradox Increasingly common: destinations of international fame that at the same time face the collapse of their resident population and the overload of their services for the massive influx of those tourists once longed for their economies. As He counted in Nikkei Mneaki AokiProfessor at the University of Kanagawa and advisor to the tax systems of Miyajima and Biei, the “cause pays” adapts well to places where tourists exceed largely in number to the permanent inhabitants. Faced with tourism as a blessing and burden, these mechanisms seek a more pragmatic solution: conserve hospitality without sacrificing tax sustainability (or local quality of life). In that sense, Japan, with its meticulous normative approach, becomes a RARE Av of policy laboratory that could inspire other countries under the same dilemma, going from “copying” Enclaves like Venice to become a pioneer with their own initiatives. Image | Pexels In Xataka | Venice has just activated his plan against mass tourism: an entry rate that doubles its price In Xataka | Japan has realized that to welcome 60 million tourists, something lacks: workers in the hotels

The north of Spain has been complaining about mass tourism for years. Asturias has discovered the bitter consequences of losing it

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The formula of nature, calm and good kitchen that for years promoted Rural tourism In Asturias It seems to lose bellows. AND clearly. Although the photo of recent years is distorted by COVID, the housing of the principality specialized in this type of tourism have seen how His activity descended until they were driving before the pandemic. At least according to INE data. It is not so much a “puncture” in the flow of travelers and in that of the rooms (They last less) and the loss of interest in the national market. The phenomenon is interesting because it coincides with another or even more media: complaints in a large part of the peninsular northern ( Galicia to Cantabria or in your own Asturias) For precisely the opposite, the effects of tourist massification. While in Cantabria they cry for not being “The North Ibiza” And Galicia complains about The “fodechinchos”inside and the Asturian mountain the hoteliers cry out for measures that avoid the slow decline of rural tourism. An icon in low hours. A quick search arrives on Google to verify that rural tourism does not go through its best moment in Asturias. TO The news of the Regional Press about The fall of activity those in the sector claiming are added “Specific aids” and those of the Principality trying to reassure him. In fact, in January Adrián Barbón He promised to “rethink” rural tourism of the region “to recover thrust.” Shortly after its executive announced a Bond program With discounts designed to encourage demand. That the situation of the sector arouses so much interest in the Principality is more than understandable. In the mid -80s, and thanks largely to your campaign “Asturias Paraíso Natural”the community managed to make a place in a sector in which until then the tourism of Sun and beach prevailed. Today Asturias adds hundreds of establishments with thousands of places (in August the INE computed almost 1,400 and 14,800respectively) and stands out for its volume of rural houses per capita. What do the data say? That the sector has known better times. The INE shows that last year the Rural Accommodations of Asturias received some 304,000 travelers who paid for 924,400 overnight stays. The first data is not exactly bad. It is a slight increase of 1.7% compared to 2023 and is online of 2019. The second worries. In a Growth scenario The number of hired nights fell 3.2% year -on -year and remains away from the almost 975,000 overnight stays that the sector managed in 2019. The 2025 start has not been especially good. During the first quarter the volume of travelers and overnight stays fell with respect to last year, although the data should be handled cautiously. First because in 2024 Holy Week, a period of strong tourist demand, fell in March and this year did so in April. Second because There may be variations important from one month to another. In fact the Principality He has checked already for the growth of February. “Very black winter”. The truth is that the sector is far from satisfied. Recently the president of the EO-Porcia association implied in An interview with eldiario.es that the balance has been of everything but good in recent months. “50% of the peoples that are still inhabited today are for rural tourism. Fixed population and allows you I recognized. In its own accommodations, three apartments and a house, it did not register any reserve between the Bridge of the Constitution and last Holy Week. Looking for the causes. The big question is … What are you due to these data from the sector, especially overnight stays? Why if in August 2001 the average stay In rural accommodations, was 6.13 days passed to 4.76 in 2019 and 4.24 last year? For Ana Llanoof the Fuentes del Narcea Association, one of the keys is the change in demand. Tourists are looking for different things today during their vacations. Or rather, it does so at a different rhythm and way. “Before people came to spend the summer, to spend a few days in nature, to enjoy the house themselves. Now people want regrets In eldiario.es. His comment is in tune with the data on the duration of the rooms and another key indicator: the overnight stays fall in the rural one, but grow in the set of Asturias. “They end rural tourism”. To that challenge others are added: the de -stationalization, the need to enrich the offer with packages or the competition of other types of accommodation, such as Tourist housing (VUT) or the “illegal establishments” that (precisely by acting outside the administration) also blur the balance of the sector. There are those who speak of tens only between Vegadeo and Navia and who focuses the focus on the VUT. “They are ending rural tourism,” they said recently From the sector to The voice. Foreign lifeguard. The general photo leaves another interesting nuance. Asturian rural accommodations may be invoiced today less overnight than before pandemic, but that fall is mainly due to domestic demand. The nights hired by Spaniards fall, but those reserved by tourists from outside the country have grown considerably. With that backdrop last autumn the Principality launched A campaign aimed above all to the Asturian themselves. His slogan: “Are you sure you know Asturias?” When tourism does not arrive. The case of Asturias is interesting for something else. Between record tourism data and with the open debate on the effect of the sector on the real estate market, over the last years in much of Spain they have happened The protests against tourist. Especially in points such as the Canary Islands or Balearic Islands, but also in areas of the North, including Galicia or Cantabria, where the saturation of certain points has become a matter of debate. The Asturian rural and interior situation leaves a key question: what happens when tourism stops arriving or comes less? What if the Fodechinchos Do they stop traveling or areas that have developed … Read more

The players of ‘Gran Tourism’ thought that the RUF were the Porsche de Hacendado. They were the opposite

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The fancy It is an essential element in video games. It can be the theme, such as medieval fantasy of a ‘Dark Souls‘, but it can also be the relative to the fantasy of power in a game like’God of War‘ either ‘Civilization VII‘. The cars games They satisfy our fantasies to pilot the car of our dreams, unless your dream was to pilot a Porsche at 250 km/h in the most famous simulator of its time. Because there what breaks fantasy is something as earthly as … money. Luckily for years a brand went to the rescue of lovers of German sportsmen: Ruf. The problem. You are a young car enthusiast, buy the driving simulator on duty and discover that you can drive a Lambo, a Ferrari and brands of brands you didn’t even know, but not the one you really want: a Porsche. With the naivety of childhood, you did not imagine that a more ‘cheap’ brand that others were not in your video game, but at least you could be content with RUF. RUF cars looked like a tuning Porsche and it wasn’t what you wanted, either had their shield, but it served you. You thought it was like the ‘Pro Evolution Soccer‘When they modified the names of the players whose license belonged to the’ FIFA ‘saga, but you kept wanting to drive a Porsche and did not understand that the’ Need for Speed ​​’had the brand and’ Gran Tourism ‘no. Blessed (and damn) licenses. Because in video games, licenses are a blessing, but also a problem. Let’s go back to football sagas. While in FIFA we had Cafu, Rivaldo Oa Ronaldinho, in PES we had Facu, Ravoldi Ya Naldorinho. His gestures and faces simulated real players, but their names were, as little, original. The reason? The Japanese football saga did not have the licenses of real players, competitions or teams. And it happens with everything, really. We recently told you how there are extremely similar weapons to the real in shooting games, but many times the names are invented because The corresponding license has not been paid. And if we get into the subject of Royal Group SongsIt is a curious eggplant. There are games that have been edited through a patch to eliminate songs whose license has expired (‘GTA IV‘, for example) and others that have completely disappeared (‘Spec Ops The Line‘). Electronic Arts. It is as simple as, if you want to show a real person, a song, a weapon or whatever in a video game, those responsible for it must pay the brand. And this is something very juicy for companies, since they can promote their video game, precisely, with that license they have paid. In the case of cars, all brands included in a video game receive money for your rightsbut with Porsche he went one step further. At the beginning of the century, Electronic Arts was very strong in the field of driving with its saga ‘Need for Speed’. Before launching at night street races and cars modifications, in 2000 ‘Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed 2000’, a video game in which it should not be explained what Marca was the protagonist. The problem (for the rest of the companies)? That EA and Porsche signed an exclusivity agreement that lasted 15 years. Porsche 911 Carrera to the left, Ruf ‘YellowBird’ on the right RUF. Since then, the EA saga had Porsche cars that we could even modify, but in simulators like ‘Gran Turismo 2‘The mythical firm was not. In others like ‘PROJECT GOTHAM RACING‘ either ‘Forza Motorsport‘We also had Porsche, but this was the result of an agreement between Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Porsche herself. Now, why do you remember that you could conduct a Porsche 911 career in the ‘Grantu’? Very easy, because the Porsche 911 Carrera was in the ‘Grantu’. Well, more or less. The one that was Ruf, and a mythical model of ‘Gran Turismo 2’ was the RUF CRT YellowBird of 1987. Aesthetically, it was a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 and, precisely, what Ruf does in reality, outside Gran Turismo, is to modify Porsche cars in such a deep way that it is considered a totally independent brand. Porsche was created in 1931 and RUF In 1936 and what they do is build their cars on a bare chassis of Porsche, but using their own engines, suspensions, gearbox or body elements. In short: it is not a Porsche with steroids, it is something else At the legal level. The work is so deep that they are legally considered Ruf cars, not Porsche, and that is the reason why some games without Porsche’s license could have cars like the Porsche of our dreams, but without the shield or name of Porsche. What would happen to me and you will think that that YellowBird was the 911 race of ‘Gran Turismo 2’ with a different name and slightly different body because they could not have the Porsche brand, but as I explain, we were wrong: it was not a false car, but totally real. Happy end. That is why the RUF brand was in games like the ‘Gran Turismo’ or ‘Driveclub‘Instead of a Porsche that appeared in other sagas, next to RUF in case of’Forza Horizon 4‘. However, in 2016 the license agreement between the German firm and Electronic Arts expired, which allowed other racing games to incorporate the mythical German house. And a sample of the desire that ‘Gran Tourism’ had to have Porsche in its catalog is that the brand itself detailed The dozens of models in the latest installment of the saga … and that on the cover of ‘Gran Turismo 7‘Porsche VGT appears next to Mazda Rx Vision GT3. Now, we can pilot a 911 in almost any game, but those of us who grew up with RUF and ‘Gran Tourism’, we will never forget the mythical YellowBird. Images | Xataka, Porsche, Norbert Aepli, Gran Tourism In Xataka | It seemed an impossible enemy, it … Read more

Europe’s boycott to the United States is real and is being noticed in one of its most profitable sectors: tourism

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David Pereira is 53 years old, Reside in France And like others thousands Millions of Europeans have been raised under the influence of the US culture. The songs he listened to, the series he saw as a child, the films they threw in the cinema of his city or the cars he dreamed of driving: all ‘made in use’. Hence, when Pereira saw enough money, he decided to make his bags and meet the country in person. And he has done it conscientiously. He has been there almost a dozen times. Two years ago the national parks of the west coast was toured. His idea was to return this summer with his family to Yellowstone. But after two months of Trump administration, Pereira has changed plans. A few days ago I recognized To the CNN that has decided, in conscience, to cancel the trip. Your case connects with A trend which begins to be received in the powerful US tourism industry. A percentage: 17%. That the change of harmony between the US and Europe is taking its toll on American tourism is not a novelty. Weeks ago than the sector emits signals In that direction. And from both banks of the Atlantic. In Europe there are agencies that They find a loss of interest In the US. And on the other side of the ocean there are organisms that They start talking of a puncture in the demand. The clearest track of what is happening, especially in the flow of Europe-Use tourists, it gave it however Financial Times (Ft) a few days ago in An article with A holder that leaves little margin to interpretations: “European tourists cancel their trips to the US for Trump’s policies.” What are they based on? Basically in A percentage: according to international trade administration data (Itafor its acronym in English) visitors from Western Europe who spent at least one night in the US over March 17% collapsed with respect to 2024. It is a considerable fact. Especially if the relevance of the tourism industry is taken into account as an economic engine: represents about 2.5% of the country’s GDP. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Are there more indicators? Yes. Trump does not have not been at the head of the White House for three months, so there is still a perspective, but throughout the last weeks they have been published figures and testimonies that suggest that something is changing in US tourism. And not for good. FT He has prepared graphics They show that the flow of travelers with destiny has collapsed from Austria, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Norway or Spain, sometimes with setbacks that exceed 20%. There is also a puncture on the flights of different regions. “Something is happening”. In general Ita has found that in March they traveled to the US 12% less of foreign visitors who during the same month of 2024. And that the percentage excludes the arrivals from the residents of Canada and Mexico, two markets that do not seem to look with too much enthusiasm American tourist destinations. You have to go back to 2021, when the sector still suffered the pandemic hangover, to find a more dire March. Probably in that percentage has influenced the fact that last year Holy Week fell in March and in 2025 it will do so in April, but the sector acknowledges that there is a background trend that goes much further. “It is clear that something is happening … and it is a reaction to Trump”, Recognize Tourism Economics. Fall of reservations. They are not the only ones to point in that direction. In early April the French hotel group Accor SA, behind several brands and highlighted accommodations in the USA, confessed to Bloomberg TV that European reserves to visit this summer the country of bars and stars have collapsed 25%. Simply, tourists seem to opt for Canada, South America or Egypt. In Spain the Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV) also recognized A few days ago that perceives a loss of attractiveness of the US for tourists. With those data as a backdrop, Tourism Economics He has rethink down its forecasts this year for the US sector. If in February it foresee a fall of around 5%, that percentage has worsened until 9.4%already around. The French Voyageurs Du Monde has also recognized the CNN chain that since Trump’s investiture the reserves to the US have fallen by 20%. But … why? “It is probably anxious to enter an unknown territory,” He reflected the executive director of Accor when talking about the trend with Bloomberg. The truth is that the change in tendency in the sector coincides with a complex geopolitical framework: the distancing Between Washington and Brussels after Trump’s return to the White House, the escalation in the Commercial Warthe recession drumsthe speech about the European rear and, in Paul English opinionKayak co -founder, a change in the reputational image of the US. Throughout the last months several European countries They have updated Their recommendations for travelers who move to the US or have shown concern about changes in migratory and border control policies, including guidelines that affect trans people. Denmark ha issued an alert and in Spain exterior has updated Its guidelines. In the US attraction they also influence The news about arrests at the borders. Beyond Europe. The phenomenon goes beyond Europe. China He has issued Warnings on the “deterioration of economic and commercial relations” with the US and warns its citizens: “completely evaluate the risks of traveling to the US and travel with caution.” In Canada the Statistics Office registered in February A 23% drop on car trips to the US. In air traffic the descent was somewhat lower, but also stood at 13%. Those percentages and those of Ita coincide with another phenomenon that has been found for months, especially in Europe and Canada: The boycott of USA products in favor of domestic goods and services or other countries. In fact there … Read more

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