Why Visitors Should Travel To Europe With Overtourism Insurance

Tourist caps and entry fees are now commonly used across Europe to control tourist numbers, and ad campaigns to dissuade tourists from visiting are the norm. But the jury is out on whether these policies are currently working, and it’s more than likely that in the battle to reclaim European places by the locals who live there, holidaymakers can expect to be targeted more by campaigners in 2025. This makes Overtourism Insurance a vital component of vacation planning for any traveler.

Europe’s Must-See Destinations Were Overrun This Summer

In mid-August, the German cruise liner Vasco de Gama and its 1,258 passengers sailed into Fowey in Cornwall in southern England. This small village of just 2,315 inhabitants increased its population by more than 50% overnight. Some see the arrival of such cruise ships as a boon for local tourism, while detractors complain that it’s simply too big for its surroundings, blighting the local countryside and causing pollution.

Not far away, St Ives in Cornwall is known for its artsy vibe, housing painters, craftspeople and fishermen. In the winter, these days, it is empty, but in the summer, wall-to-wall tourists overwhelm the town. It is somewhere, The Guardian reports, that has lost its seasonal balance.

Like many towns across Europe, St Ives is full of Airbnbs; house prices have risen, and so have the rents, and locals can’t afford accommodation. In 2010, the food bank used to feed four families in summer and 12 in winter, but now it feeds 30 families in summer and 60 in winter.

Just over a four-hour drive away, Bannau Brycheiniog, formerly known as the Brecon Beacons, used to be a sleepy beauty spot in the Welsh countryside, busier with sheep than content creators.

However, The New York Times marked the national park, 30 miles north of the Welsh capital, Cardiff, as one of the best places to visit in 2024. The park has been overrun with visitors, to the point that extra buses and tour guides were put in place to cope on weekends with the 4 million annual visitors.

Moreover, many arrive in inappropriate footwear and clothing, turning up in flip flops for a forty-minute hike and without proper clothing to deal with the changeable weather. Park officials would like content creators to adhere to “countryside morals” and not strip down in the waterfalls to film content and take selfies or treat the park like a beach. Most of all, they pleaded with influencers not to visit on weekends, and they may need to limit car access next summer.

This imbalance and misbehavior has fed disdain for tourists across Europe over the past few years, culminating in drastic measures from city authorities and locals alike.

European Tourist Destinations Are Increasingly Limiting Access

From the use of QR codes on the streets of Venice to timed entry to visit the Acropolis in Athens, and now the news that Rome’s Trevi fountain will sell tickets to control crowd numbers, some of Europe’s most-visited destinations are regulating access.

Greece will start taxing its cruise ships to Santorini and Mykonos at $22 (€20). Barcelona is banning vacation rentals from 2028 onward and increasing its tourist tax from €3 to €4 per night. France also has a policy to reduce overtourism.

Other places are looking for a different sort of tourist, ones who are better behaved and treat destinations in a more sustainable fashion. Spain has introduced a campaign to ask British tourists, in particular, to behave better and keep their clothes on. The Dutch tourism board asked large groups of men, particularly British, not to come party in Amsterdam.

Tourist Taxes And Caps May Not Have Large Impact

Afar reports that the policy didn’t deter groups of men from staying in Amsterdam. They still came for a good time. Likewise, when Miami recently introduced its “Break Up With Spring Break” campaign, it saw a decrease in felony arrests and gun violence, one of its main aims, but it also saw a rise in visitor numbers more generally.

These caps and policies aren’t decisions that governments take lightly, as 10% of Europe’s GDP comes from tourism. However, it’s also debatable how far tourist taxes and bans diminish a destination’s appeal. As The Washington Post explains, if you want to see St Mark’s in Venice, you’ll go, no matter what.

Caps on visitor numbers often work better in places where the natural environment is at stake, in more rural areas. Ciés Islands, part of Galicia’s Atlantic Islands National Park in Spain, introduced a daily tourist cap from May to September seven years ago. The results have benefited the wildlife, and visitors report experiencing a more exclusive, enjoyable trip.

However, experts debate whether these measures work in cities or whether they turn places into theme parks. As The Guardian states, many of these local protests are not anti-tourism as much as anti-touristification of their homes. Tourism has often become conflated with social ills and perceived local injustices.

Only a rise in airfares or a considerable increase in admission fees might deter tourists from coming. In that sense, that probably means that campaigners are increasingly likely to turn their frustration on the tourists who arrive.

When Limits Didn’t Work, Campaigners Turned On Tourists Instead

Dynamics have shifted and locals are increasingly fed up with the seemingly endless influx of new visitors. With many populations desensitized to protests, campaigners realize that a better way to gain attention is not to protest local authorities but to target tourists themselves.

This summer saw tourists pelted with water guns in Barcelona, and more recently, 80 residents repeatedly walking up and down a pedestrian crossing in Hio, Galicia, to stop tourists from reaching the beach.

And this will have an impact. Tourists go places to feel happy, and if they don’t experience that because of protests, bad feelings from locals and delays on their way to the beaches and bars, it will have an impact on visitor numbers. For that reason, travel insurance is key.

Insurance company Squaremouth, for instance, outlines how travel insurance can help protect travelers from issues arising from overtourism. Some policies give money back if overtourism forces city planners to close access once you’re en route, and some will cover travel delays if you get caught up in overtourism crowds. Other insurance policies cover non-medical evacuations if you get caught in demonstrations and some have a Cancel For Any Reason clause if you’re apprehensive after less-than-happy news coverage of your intended destination for any reason to do with overtourism.

MORE FROM FORBES