Letter from Barcelona: Rebalancing tourism in the age of protest

On the weekend after Phocuswright Europe, thousands of protestors across southern Europe took to the streets to demonstrate their unhappiness over overtourism. “Your holidays, my misery,” they chanted in Barcelona, as they held up slogans such as “mass tourism kills the city” and “their greed brings us ruin”.

I didn’t see all that as I had already left to spend the weekend in Stockholm, but you couldn’t escape the headlines that emblazoned the media in Europe.

While in Barcelona, I certainly didn’t feel or experience any local resentment personally other than being constantly warned by taxi drivers to watch my belongings while in the Old Town – which I thought was considerate rather than hostile – but I have to confess to having a sense of unease visiting a city where residents have publicly declared their unhappiness with tourism.

I thus listened to the panel discussion, “Beyond the Bucket List: Redirecting Demand for a Healthier Planet”, with great interest.

Moderator Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator, set the stage with an image from Santorini. Shot at 6 am, the photographer had to clear over 100 people out of the frame to capture the “perfect” sunrise moment – a common phenomenon at popular tourist sites across the world, from Mount Fuji to Big Ben, and a visceral reminder that tourism in some places has tipped into something unmagical.

From marketers to curators

For most destinations, it’s become more than a numbers game and Spain, with 94 million visitors a year, spending its 200 million Euros marketing budget to get the right visitors to the right places has become ever more critical.

Miguel Sanz Castedo, Director General of Turespaña, put it simply: “We are not just marketeers of tourism. We are curators of tourism.”

Miguel Sanz Castedo, Director General Turespaña: “90% of visitors to Europe go to just five countries,” said Sanz. “We need to grow more equitably.”

That new philosophy underpins Spain’s upcoming tourism campaign – significant not just for what it includes, but for what it leaves out. “For the first time ever,” said Sanz, “there will be no beaches, no Mediterranean islands. Out of the 60 locations in our campaign, even I didn’t know 30 of them.”

The message is clear: Spain wants to disperse its 94 million annual visitors beyond the usual hotspots, six of which currently receive 92% of all inbound travellers.

And the imbalance is not just Spain’s problem. “90% of visitors to Europe go to just five countries,” said Sanz. “We need to grow more equitably.”

Behavior, not just volume

For Ewout Versloot of the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions, over-tourism is as much about how people travel as how many.

“It’s not only a numbers game,” he said. “It’s about behaviour. Who are your visitors? What are their values? Are they adding value to the destination or subtracting it?”

In a playful yet effective move, the Netherlands has even started marketing destinations around Amsterdam as “Amsterdam” to help redistribute demand. “Tourists want to go to Amsterdam, so we meet them where they are,” said Versloot. “It works.”

But he warned: “It doesn’t relieve pressure on central Amsterdam. It helps satellite towns, but it’s not the whole solution.”

Data as a catalyst

Esther Villena, Global Head of Social Sustainability, Amadeus reminded the audience of one powerful tool the industry has yet to fully leverage: data.

“Data can help identify pressure points, manage flows, and even flatten the seasonality curve,” she said. “It’s not just about filling flights in February; it’s about supporting local economies year-round.”

Villena highlighted Amadeus’ new initiative to bridge the “intention-action gap” among travellers who care about sustainability but don’t know how to act on it. “Purpose-driven experiences are hard to find and book. We’re working to change that.”

Esther Villena, Global Head of Social Sustainability Amadeus (left): “Data can help identify pressure points, manage flows, and even flatten the seasonality curve. It’s not just about filling flights in February; it’s about supporting local economies year-round.”

Sustainability as strategy, not altruism

Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation, didn’t sugarcoat it: “Sustainability used to be about altruism. Now it’s about business risk.”

Whether it’s heat waves in Europe shifting travel from July to October, or quality concerns in overrun destinations, the challenges are real. “Guests in overtouristed areas face poor experiences, and that damages the long-term brand,” said Guihan. “Our job is to mitigate risk. This is not about being ‘nice.’ It’s operational survival.”

She called for tighter collaboration between businesses and destinations. “Too many destinations come to us saying, ‘Here’s €100,000 – can you build a marketing campaign?’ But we want to help you operationalize your net-zero goals. Give us hotels with renewable energy, ground transport that runs on biofuel. Help us decarbonize.”

Shifting the mindset of growth

The tension between growth and sustainability loomed large throughout the session. As Versloot noted, “There’s a lot of opportunity for growth but maybe not in the most accessible places. Growth shouldn’t mean more of the same.”

Sanz echoed that sentiment: “Tourism has transformed towns, sometimes for the worse. Short-term rentals pushed locals out of housing. It’s not that tourism happened too fast – it’s that the urban planning didn’t keep up.”

And for destinations like Ibiza, known for volume-driven party travel, even the definition of “value” is evolving. “If it’s five of us alone in a club in Ibiza, it’s not fun,” said Sanz. “Some places are meant to have people, but we still need to protect housing, services, and social infrastructure for residents.”

Ewout Versloot, Strategist The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions: “It’s not only a numbers game,” he said. “It’s about behaviour. Who are your visitors? What are their values? Are they adding value to the destination or subtracting it?”

Moving the industry from rhetoric to reality

Perhaps the most pointed comment came from Guihan: “There’s a disconnect. You’ve got switched-on destinations doing great work. But most still just want a marketing campaign. We need to shift the narrative.”

That narrative shift – from volume to value, from visitation to stewardship – is taking place in most destination boardrooms around the world. At WiT Japan & North Asia last month, a panel unpacked the same issues affecting Japan, which is targeting 60 million visitors by 2030.

At heart is the reality that Japan needs the visitors – as Tomotaka Hirabayashi, Partner, Strategic Impact of EY Japan, said, “Japan’s population is shrinking. Tourism is needed to sustain local economies. We can’t avoid overtourism, but we can manage it with better balance between numbers and quality.”

It won’t happen overnight. But as the panel at Phocuswright Europe shared, the tools are in place – smarter marketing, behavioural targeting, local partnerships and better data – what’s needed now is a mindset shift and collaborative action by all in the industry to execute.

Otherwise, tourism will become the target as we saw across southern Europe last week.

Header image partial credit: The Guardian