CTV News Canada: Anti-tourist protests are a wake-up call that needs to be addressed: UN
Nov. 9, 2017
Diversifying tourist activities, reducing seasonality and highlighting lesser-known destinations could help address the problems of overtourism which set off a wave of protests throughout Europe this summer, industry leaders noted at a travel summit this week.
Calling the anti-tourist movement a "wake-up call," the UN World Tourism Organization's Taleb Rifai said the industry must acknowledge the discontent of fed-up locals and create a more balanced tourism economy, cites a report out of the World Travel Market (WTM) in London.
"Growth is not the enemy. Numbers are not the enemy," the Secretary General said during the summer.
"The key is to manage the growth sustainably, responsibly and intelligently and use the power of growth to our advantage . . . We cannot continue to build five-star hotels in three-star communities."
