Travel tip #148: The problem is not overtourism, but tourism mismanagement

I hope you are doing well today.

I am already in Japan, I arrived yesterday and I will be meeting all the guests who are joining our first tour to the country tomorrow.

Almost all of them have traveled with us before, and I personally know many of them, so it will be fun to reunite with old friends.

I am exciting to see our guide Mari, plus the pretty sakura cherry blossom, and meet again with the many Japanese women I met last year who will share their knowledge, their art and their world with us 🌸⛩️🗻🥟🍱🍣🥢🍵🍶🎋🏮

If you want to join us in Japan, check out our June and October tours here. Few spots are left. Pro tip: October's fall season and Japanese people's favorite time of the year and I think it will be as pretty as cherry blossom if not more, especially in the countryside where we spend a few days.

Not sure yt if Japan is for you or want to see what we will be up to? Go follow us in Instagram for the daily stories of this tour and the look behind the scenes.

Did you miss our Swedish Arctic 2027 tour announcement? See all the details of the tour here.

This week I wanted to share a reflection / travel tip.

A friend the other day shared that she felt bad about visiting a really popular place because she had read that locals were fed up with tourists and it was struggling with over tourism.

It had been her dream to go, and she felt like she was too late and had missed her chance. As if she had lost the right to visit.

It made me think about this version of over tourism headlines we hear about all the time "avoid XYZ destination" or the "No travel" lists and how dangerous and damaging they can be.

It also made me wonder, why can't she visit? Who decides who can or cannot visit a place?

I too have felt in similar situations before, when I knew I was going somewhere probably not at the best of times, but I had no choice because of limited vacation over a certain time of the year. I wanted to avoid traveling in the peak summer months, but I couldn't.

So I wanted to share a though on over tourism vs tourism mismanagement.

Everyone has the right to their own vacation choices, but we also all have the obligation to be mindful, to research and to be respectful. Traveling is a privilege most of the world can't afford, but for many it is also a reward worth saving months or years for.

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It's not over tourism, but tourism mismanagement

The media loves to talk about over tourism because it makes people click. It makes some angry, others curious, but everyone wants to read about it.

Some 200 people bring out some water guns and spray a few dozen people and suddenly, all the residents of Barcelona hate tourists.

The headline and the image sells.

Over tourism is a problem, especially in some destinations whose popularity has grown dramatically overnight and where infrastructure cannot cope. I am talking about Japan, Bali, Rome, Ibiza, Tenerife, Santorini, etc.

But it is an extremely, and I mean extremely, complicated topic to untangle and understand.

Plus I do not like the word "over" tourism, I much prefer to frame it as "mismanaged" tourism, because this is what it really is.

The issue is one of distribution of visitors, of timing and type of tourism, and of the local government's regulation and protections, more than it is of too many visitors.

Take the case of Barcelona, which I know well.

I read a very in-depth study commissioned by the local government to the faculty of tourism that detailed the root causes of the city's over tourism problem. And it was not what everyone thinks.

The city received 16 million overnight visitors in 2025, that is 10 times more than the number of people who live in it, and about 16 million additional day trippers. That is a total of 32 million people visiting the city a year.

1.Daily commuters and day trippers

While only 1,6 million people live Barcelona, as many live in the periphery and many of those work in the city and take the bus or train daily. My sister did that for many years, and we both went to university in Barcelona and took the train and bus every day.

In the weekend, many come for the vast cultural offer, for shopping, to enjoy the museums, etc. I have spent the day in the city to attend a sushi workshop, go to the theatre, meet friends and go out, go shopping, check out a new museum opening, etc.

2. Cruise ships

Almost 4 million people (of the 16 million international visitors) came on or embarked on a cruise ship in Barcelona, the largest port in the Mediterranean.

These tourists may spend a few hours in the city, go on a walking tour with their cruise guide, crowd the street in large groups, but rarely spend, since they paid for the tours directly to the cruise company and have meals onboard.

This money goes directly to the cruise company and little trickles down to the local economy, which is why the city council imposes a tourist tax like they do for hotel stays.

3. Local visitors

Around 4 million overnight visitors to Barcelona are Catalan or Spanish.

They seek experiences beyond the typical Spanish tours, may favor different areas and take advantage of the lesser popular museums. To illustrate, 40% of the museum goers are Spanish or Catalan.

4. International tourists

The city receives 12 million international tourists, out of the 32 million visitors, these are what we think of when we talk about "tourists".

The city can handle this influx; it has enough public transportation, restaurants, bars and attractions. The hotels are only at 70% capacity.

But, at peak times, it is crowded. If they were spread across the city, and the hours of the day, it would be ok.

The issue is that everyone wants to see the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo and La Rambla.

Everyone wants to go on a walking tour of the tiny Gothic Quarter.

Everyone wants to eat at one of the terraces and people watch.

Everyone wants to sleep in (the city center is empty at 8am).

And everyone walks on the same streets to get around, because those are the ones Google Maps suggests and those are the historical ones.

And all they have is 3 to 5 days to do all the highlights, the must-see and do. They have no time to go deeper into the city's culture.

Barcelona has done an incredible effort to spread out the number of visitors throughout the year, I know because I collaborated with the tourism board over 10 yeas ago and that was already their main goal. So the peak season is consistent from April to October, and November to March sees only a very small decrease.

My mum lives right by the cathedral, she knows how to avoid the umbrella wielding tour groups, so her complaints are towards tourists who yell at 3am, or vomit at her doorstep.

She owns her place, so rental isn't an issue like it is for many other locals who are pushed out of the city by short term rentals.

What is rarely talked about is the huge influx of expats and digital nomads who have moved to the city. About half of the residents in the city old quarter are foreigners now. But it is much easier to blame tourists.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because the problem of over tourism isn't as simple as the media makes it be. And because you can still visit popular places without contributing to tourism mismanagement.

What I am describing for Barcelona applies to so many other over touristed places, and it is typically much worse because Barcelona has been working comprehensibly for decades to manage the number of visitors, spread them out, bring professional conventions, reduce Airbnb and other short term rental options, and so on. And has many other industries, start-ups and sources of income, tourism is only 12% of the GDP of the city.

Other destinations haven't been so well organized, and cannot manage the number of visitors in the same way.

Take Bali which I also know very well. The popular places are crowded, but about 75% of the island is quiet, with very few hotels and tourists. Go north, or west, or east, and you'll be alone at the beach, the rice paddies, the local warung eateries.

There are many impressive waterfalls, stunning black sand beaches, volcano calderas that look like they are on Mars, and the same Balinese food, traditions and culture that made the island popular in the first place.

What you won't find? Spots for Instagram photos and social media influencers or content creators using it as a background for their posts. These parts of Bali need tourists, the crowded, digital nomad forward areas of Kuta, Canggu and Ubud do not.

It is perfectly doable to spend 10 days in Bali and see almost n tourists. We do that on our tour. We sleep 3 nights in Ubud, but spend the days around the city, foraging in the wild forests, participating in a water purification ritual with a priestess at a local temple, and visiting lesser popular sites. We then move north and east to areas without foreigners around.

The same applies to Japan, which is seeing a sudden surge in popularity since the pandemic driven by the Government goals of increasing tourism.

The difference is that this was planned for, what wasn't anticipated is the level of visitor concentration. Most tourists go to the same 3 cities and disrespect the local etiquette and culture, creating a very warranted backlash from the Japanese that results in visitor restrictions, attraction closures and cancellations of events.

Everyone wants to see the same 10 spots and they do so while not respecting a culture that is very strongly focused on being considerate of others.

They trample private property, litter and drag suitcases on streets making noise and taking up public transportation space at peak hours. They eat in the metro and the streets, speak loudly and do not respect lanes and queueing systems.

But step outside of Kyoto, Mount Fuji and some of the most popular sites in Tokyo and you are going to learn about Japanese culture without contributing to crowds.

Again, I know because we spend 11 days in the country away from most must-see spots favoring Japanese traditions and culture instead of Instagrammable spots.

I also saw this in Hoi An, in Central Vietnam. The city center is absolutely packed to the brim in the afternoon and evenings, we were stuck in a crowd once and couldn't even move.

All the day trippers from nearby Danang come then, but the Anciet city center is empty in the morning until 11am, when only those staying in the city enjoy it. So we simply went farther from the city center in the late afternoon.

In Santorini, thousands of tourists arrive on a cruise ship every day. They typically have 2 hours to spend in the pretty blue-domed village of Oia taking photos.

They came on an excursion booked and sold by the cruise company and return to the ship for lunch and dinner. At most, they use the public bathrooms.

We spend a full day on the island, have lunch, wine tasting and visit at a local winery, take the cable car, give free time for shopping and to enjoy an iced coffee. We try to do the opposite of the cruise ships, going to Oia when they are not there, and leaving when they arrive.

I think I have illustrated my point. The real problem isn't over tourism, it is tourism mismanagement.

This is a very winded way of saying that instead of completely avoiding places that the media called "over touristed", and publishing No travel lists, like some media outlets have done, which harm the thousands of people living of tourism who are ready to welcome you with open arms, I prefer to rethink the type of vacation I am planning to have and look for ways minimise the negative impact of my trip, and maximise my contribution to the local economy, and the meaning of my trip, instead of skipping a destination all together.

Everyone deserves the right to see a place, not because many others have seen it, have they lost their chance.

Popular places are famous for a reason, and for some travelers, visiting is their life long dream.

But,...

• Can you skip the high season to visit when it is quieter? Bali is full in July and August when Europeans descend on the island, but quiet from April to June and September to November, when the weather is still dry. Barcelona is quieter in January and February (except for the week the Mobile World Congress is held) and Japan is less popular outside of cherry blossom season. May is a fantastic month to visit with good weather and fewer crowds and fall season is popular but nowhere near sakura season.
• Do you need to see what social media calls "the must-see places" or are there others that YOU would personally enjoy more? Are you contributing to a degradation of the local culture or a commoditisation for social media? Are you treating the destination as background for your photos? Do you enjoy what social media or To-10 lists say are the best things to do /see? Bali's social media spots aren't even significant to the Balinese, many were created purely for aesthetic feeds and not to learn about the rich local culture. We make a conscious effort to avoid all this on our tours to Barcelona, Japan and Bali.
• Are you mindful of the resources you use as a traveler? Do you enjoy long baths in your hotel room despite water shortages? Do you try to minimise your contribution to waste or plastic? Are you respectful of the local culture and etiquette and follow local customs? Do you act as a guest or as an entitled tourist?
• Can you extend your stay and venture beyond the main sites? There is so much to see within 2 hours drive from Barcelona, those who stay longer get rewarded with memorable experiences. In Japan, can you spend time in the countryside, where traditions are more alive than ever? A lot of Japan's culture is found in the rural areas where you can meet the Ama divers who free dive to fish with their hands, learn about medicinal cuisine healing the mind and body, or visit the core spiritual centers of the country.
• Can you support smaller, minority or women-owned business that aren't as favored by large tour companies or cruises? Just because a destination is popular and busy, it does not mean that the benefits of tourism are reaching everyone, the faster the growth, the higher the chance tourism investment came from international companies who also repatriate their profits with little staying locally because there wasn't enough time for locals to gather the funds to build the hotels, so foreign investment accelerated that.
• Can you organize your day to avoid the busiest hours? Everyone wants to see the sunset from Oia's castle and they stand there like sardines. But the sunset is over the sea and equally beautiful from many other places. Better yet, can you visit from 1pm to 4pm when it is quieter, the cruise ship visitors have left and the local tourists haven't arrived yet? Can you visit Barcelona's Gothic Quarter at 8am? The experience will be better for you and for the people living there. Can you visit all of Egypt's temples at 7am when it is not hot and you will be alone, or 2 hours before closing? We do that on our tours and have consistently been at the Sphinx or the Pyramids alone.

I am not suggesting you now rehaul all your holidays to practice this.

Every trip does not have to be perfect, and like me in the past, you probably have limited vacation time and restrictions about when you can take it. I am simply advocating for awareness of the impact your decisions have, and perhaps small changes that can make a big difference.

Tourism is the greatest economic equaliser, a fantastic wealth redistribution channel and the most powerful tool to fight racism, intolerance and narrow-mindedness, but it can also backfire if not managed properly.

Institutions and governments can help and have a role to play, but so do tourists. Just because something isn't illegal, it does not mean it is right. Just because you can do something, it does not mean you should do it.

We offer tours to popular destinations, like Barcelona, Bali, Egypt, Japan or Greece, because everyone deserves to visit them. But we put a lot of effort into making sure we visit places when they are quieter, often designing our itinerary around the times when there are fewer people, spending time away from major hot spots and primarily supporting local women-owned businesses and not international corporations.

We also offer tours to places very few people visit like Ecuador, Madagascar, some of the Caribbean islands, Georgia or Armenia. And we are working on new tours to other rarely visited destinations such as French Polynesia, Uzbekistan, or Cambodia.

What are your thoughts? Let me know by replying to this email.

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2026 / 2027 Full calendar of tours More 2027 tour dates will be announced soon, so stay tuned to the weekly emails for new dates to Morocco, Tanzania, Tuscany and Kilimanjaro. Did you miss the launch of our 2027 Swedish Arctic and our Ecuador and Galapagos tours? Plus, 1 spot opened up on our October Egypt tour, we have 1 spot left for Morocco in November, Tanzania Luxe in November and Madagascar in 2027. ✅ = Trip is confirmed ☑️ = SOLD OUT 💃 = I or Meg will co-host these trips 2026 trips 🚗 Cuba: 29 Dec 2026 to 4 Jan, 2027 (New Year's Eve) >> Book here​ 🧘‍♀️ Bali: ✅ 20 to 28 Jun || 29 Aug to 6 Sep [Photographer onboard] || ✅ 3 to 11 Oct >> Book here​ 🌮 Oaxaca: 11 to 17 Oct || 8 – 14 Nov || 29 Dec 2026 to 4 Jan 2027 >> Book here​ ⛩️ Japan: 💃 ☑️ 28 Mar to 7 Apr [Photographer onboard] || ✅ 13 to 23 Jun || ✅ 13 to 23 Oct (Fall colors) >> Book here​ 🐑 Iceland: ✅ 11 to 18 Oct || ✅ 25 Oct to 1 Nov >> Book here​ 🍝 Tuscany: ✅ 13 to 20 Jun [1 SPOT LEFT] || ☑️ 5 to 12 Sep >> Book here​ 🎄 Xmas markets: ✅ 21 to 29 Nov || 5 to 13 Dec >> Book here​ 🍷 Georgia: ✅ 5 to 13 Sep >> Book here​ 🇦🇲 Armenia: 💃 ✅ 13 to 19 Sep >> Book here (200 EUR off if you book Georgia + Armenia) 🇦🇶 Antarctica: 💃 ✅ 13 to 27 Dec [3 SPOTS LEFT] >> Book here​ 🦪 Croatia & Montenegro: ✅ 31 May to 6 Jun >> Book here​ 🏰 Scotland: ✅ 10 to 18 Oct >> Book here​ 🦘 Australia: 💃 ✅ 11 to 22 Oct >> Book here [Meg will host this trip] 🥘 Barcelona & Beyond: ✅ 20 to 28 Jun >> Book here​ ⛵ Greek islands sailing trip: 💃 ☑️ 29 May to 5 Jun >> Book here [Meg will host this trip, Photographer onboard]​​ 🐪 Morocco: ✅ 2 to 12 Oct [Photographer onboard] || ✅ 6 to 16 Nov [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here​ 🦁 Tanzania Value safari + Zanzibar: 28 Aug to 7 Sep (Great Migration) || ☑️ 11 to 21 Sep (Great Migration) || 23 Dec to 2 Jan, 2027 (Xmas + NYE) >> Book here​ 🇹🇿 Tanzania Luxe safari + Zanzibar: ☑️ 25 Sep to 5 Oct, 2026 (Great Migration) || ✅ 1 to 10 Nov, 2026 >> Book here​ 🦭 Galapagos sailing: ☑️ 5 to 12 Dec >> Book here [Photographer onboard] 🇪🇬 Egypt: ☑️ 3 to 12 Apr || ✅ 30 Oct to 8 Nov [1 SPOT LEFT] || 4 to 13 Dec >> Book here​ ❄️ Swedish Arctic: ☑️ 28 Mar to 3 Apr >> Book here 🐬 Ecuador & The Galapagos: 💃 ☑️ 5 to 17 May >> Join the waitlist 2027 trips 🌴 Caribbean island hopping: 💃 💃 ✅ 13 to 20 Feb, 2027 [Photographers onboard, both Meg and I will host this trip] >> Book here​ ❄️ Swedish Arctic: ✅ 20 to 26 Mar, 2027 >> Book here 🐬 Ecuador & The Galapagos: 13 to 25 May >> Join the waitlist 🐒 Madagascar: ✅ 💃 20 Sep to 3 Oct, 2027 [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here​ SEE THE FULL CALENDAR OF TOURS

I hope you have an amazing weekend ahead!

Solo Female Travelers Co-Founders