Abstract:

Overtourism is a new word that was coined and popularized by journalists. The popularity of the word in the mass-media was triggered by R. Ali, journalist and founder of “skift.com” (an information platform for the travel industry), who used it in 2016 to describe the hazards brought by the global travel boom to destinations. As studies on tourism have a long tradition among geographers, economists and business scholars the problem of the negative impact of tourism on the destination has been noticed decades ago. The relevant literature includes many “older” notions and concepts that describe the contemporary world, thus overtourism has been preceded by many antecedents and thus some scholars may question its usefulness and call it only a buzzword. In order to avoid this the discussion on overtourism should focus on the impact of contemporary tourism on territories, including frameworks for monitoring the impact. At the same time it is vital to understand the determinants of the contemporary tourism growth. The ultimate goal for the scholars should be the concentration on providing the possible solutions to policymakers on all levels of governance.