It's that time of year again when social media feeds become flooded with "Euro summer" holiday content.
Search volumes for European countries in 2023 were up by 28 per cent on the previous year, with Greece, France, Italy and Spain among the most popular.Landing in an overtourism crisis And summer is bringing two major sporting events to the continent — the Paris Olympics and the UEFA European Football Championship in Germany.Parisians have been staging protests and strikes, calling out the social impact the Games will have on their city, which is already the most-visited destination in the world.
"The recent activism in the Canary Islands, where tens of thousands of people came out in a relatively small community, indicates just how angry people are," she told the ABC. There's also been more confronting backlash with reports of rentals cars, bikes and tourist buses being vandalised or their tires slashed.
A lot of frustration stems from outside entities profiting while locals suffer, Professor Higgins-Desbiolles said. But Professor Higgins-Desbiolles says we need to consider slowing down — not just for the wellbeing of the local communities, but for the environment."We need to get more considered in our consumption."
This also applies to "commodifying travels", and the lengths people will take to get the perfect social media shot.