Overtourism and degrowth: a social movements perspective. Issue 12 (2nd December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Milano, Claudio; Novelli, Marina; Cheer, Joseph M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of sustainable tourism. Volume 27:Issue 12(2019)
• Page Start: 1857
• Page End: 1875
• Publication Date: 2019-12-02
• Subjects: Degrowth -- urban tourism -- overtourism -- social movements -- Barcelona; Tourism -- Periodicals; Sustainable development -- Periodicals; 338.479105
• DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1650054
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0966-9582

Abstract

Abstract: Overtourism is a contemporary phenomenon, rapidly evolving and underlined by what is evidently excessive visitation to tourist destinations. This is obvious in the seemingly uncontrolled and unplanned occurrence of urban overtourism in popular destinations and arguably a consequence of unregulated capital accumulation and growth strategies heavily associated with selling cities as tourism commodities. The vested interests of social movements has converged into growing protests against overtourism and associated degrowth campaigns have emerged out of this activism that calls for alternative governance and management measures that eschew touristic monoculture and simplistic economic growth-oriented models. Accordingly, we explore the evolution of the tourism degrowth discourse among social movement activists in Barcelona, and in particular, where this is related to claims associated with overtourism and the extent to which this might be influencing a paradigm shift from 'tourism growth' to 'tourism degrowth'. Methodologically, we draw from an overarching framework that leverages long-term ethnographic research in Barcelona. Here, we employ in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observations, informal conversations and retrospective evaluation of field diary entries.