The term “tourism” originated in Great Britain in the early 19th century. It dates back to the practice of the “Grand Tour“: from about 1720, young British aristocrats went on voyages of cultural exploration and self-discovery, and the practice later spread across Europe more widely.
The concept of tourism has evolved ever since: from Grand Tours to paid annual leave, via the proliferation of air travel and globalisation of the 20th century. Now, tourism has become a mass operation, driven by social media, a performance mentality (doing things to be able to say you’ve done them) and overconsumption. This is what we call “overtourism”.
A new form of tourism in Europe
Overtourismis defined as “a level of visitation to a site […] deemed excessive for at least one of the following three reasons: damage caused to the environment, to biodiversity or to the natural and/or historic heritage of a destination or site; degradation of the quality of life of the local population […]; or the conditions of the visit being harmful to the quality of the tourist experience”, according to the Directorate General for Enterprise (2024).\
This phenomenon, which has been going on in Europe since the second half of the 20th century, has only intensified in the past 20 years: the number of international tourists has grown from 416 million in 2005 to 747 million in 2024 (+180%), according to UN Tourism. This rise has been driven by social media, increased mobility (aided by budget travel companies like Ryanair and Flixbus), and the gradual thinning of the boundaries between everyday life and vacations.
While tourism benefits certain regions of Europe economically, the other side of this coin is not as shiny as the millions of photos shared on social media every year would suggest. Indeed, for several years now, the volume of tourists has been causing visible and worsening damage to the environment, society and culture around European tourist sites. This is reported every summer by the mainstream media, social media posts and warnings from residents or local authorities.
Overtourism is therefore not only about how tourists transform places and societies, but also how we, as tourists, conceptualise and consider a place, a monument, etc. when we visit it.
Understanding overtourism in Europe: from culture to consumption
If you ask your friends if they’ve recently seen tourism content on social media, the answer will certainly be yes. There are countless formats for it: it may be an organisation’s own campaign, sponsored content or an influencer sharing travel recommendations.
However, not all content gets the same reach: the many adverts for the Haute-Marne at the Gare de l’Est in Paris are struggling to gain anyone’s interest, while others can set off an tidal wave of tourism. This constant exposure to travel content is particularly visible on Instagram, where the hashtag #travel is among the top ten most used in the world, with more than 781 million posts. In 2024, around 2 million aestheticising photos of tourist sites were shared on the platform, further enhancing this effect. TikTok is following the same trend, thanks to its viral videos and its increasing use as a search engine for anyone organising a trip.
From a broader perspective, streaming platforms are also indirectly contributing to mass tourism. At Giverny, the filming of a Chinese reality TV show provoked anxiety among the staff of Monet’s house, who worried it would provoke a sharp rise in visitor numbers. They feared the site would meet the same fate as the Swiss village of Iseltwald, which was forced to charge tourists to visit its local lakeside dock after its appearance in a Korean drama rocketed it to fame. A huge influx of visitors, who are often poorly informed about local restrictions, can rapidly overwhelm fragile spaces and detract from their historic or artistic value.
This new tourism, fueled by algorithms, aesthetics and the pursuit of visibility, does not stop at the screens. It is profoundly altering towns, landscapes, and the lives of those who live in them. The consequences of this viral phenomenon, which we will discuss in the second part of this series, are now visible at every level.
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