Policy responses to overtourism
Insights from Italy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24147682 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicola Bellini (0000-0003-2155-1365) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Oñati Socio-legal Series (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2079-5971 • E-ISSN: 2079-5971 |
| Publisher | Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law (PUBLISHER • ES) |
| DOI | 10.35295/osls.iisl.2645 |
| OpenAlex | W7213532304 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 60 |
Overtourism has emerged as one of the most debated challenges affecting major tourist destinations, with Italy frequently cited as a prominent case. This paper examines the policy responses to overtourism in Italy, focusing on how institutional arrangements, interest groups, and public discourse shape the management of tourism growth. Drawing on existing literature and emblematic cases - most notably Venice and Florence - the study argues that overtourism cannot be understood solely as the outcome of excessive visitor numbers. Instead, it results from long-term structural transformations, including demographic decline in historic centers, real estate dynamics, and policy choices that have reshaped urban economies around tourism. The paper analyzes the policy “toolbox” available to public authorities, ranging from regulatory measures to demarketing and nudging, and discusses the challenges of implementing them within complex systems of multi-level governance. Attention is given to conflicts among stakeholders and to the political incentives that often hinder effective intervention. The paper concludes by outlining different paths of evolution of the overtourism debate.
Incentive · Politics · Public policy · Real estate · Tourism · Visitor pattern · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Wine Industry and Tourism
Overtourism
Assessing social carrying capacity of tourists in protected natural areas
Dealing with uncertainty, from overtourism to overcapacity
Crowding-in and (temporary) crowding-out in Venice. The effect of cultural events on residents
Competitiveness in the visitor economy
Economic And Environmental Impact Of The Tourism Carrying Capacity
Overtourism and online short-term rental platforms in Italian cities
Social Resistance and Spatial Knowledge
Smart Tourism Destinations Enhancing Tourism Experience Through Personalisation of Services
Overtourism
Overcoming Overtourism
‘Overtourism’? – Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions
Sustainability-oriented Innovation in Smart Tourism
Overtourism and Tourismphobia
Enterprise-mediated social value creation through tourist-resident interaction in regenerative tourism experiences
Reimagining urban destinations
Reframing urban overtourism through the Smart-City Lens
To regulate or not to regulate
Tourism models
Using adaptive cycles and panarchy to understand processes of touristification and gentrification in Valencia, Spain
Challenges and effects of short-term rentals regulation
Reframing carrying capacity
Capacity to absorb tourism
Theorizing wounded destinations
A proposal for an overtourism index
Positive and Negative Urban Tourist Crowding
Anti-tourism activism and the inconvenient truths about mass tourism, touristification and overtourism
Bridging (over)tourism geographies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |