A way forward exists in the effort to better manage tourism and improve quality of life for locals, businesses and tourists in destinations where tourism success can create unintended negative consequences.
But that path, experts say, requires lawmakers and destination management companies to more accurately identify and effectively treat tourism-related issues at the short-term, midterm and long-term levels.
And residents should be involved often and early in the tourism-management process.
"Research shows if residents and workers are not content, then the tourists won't be," said Simon Hudson, a tourism professor at the University of South Carolina. "There's a definite link to that, particularly in destinations that have become over-reliant on tourism."
Marketing -- particularly how a destination markets itself and to what types of tourists -- is one of the first areas that experts say tourism authorities should evaluate when tourism success has created negative impacts for residents.
"De-marketing," said Cevat Tosun, professor of tourism studies and management at George Washington University, is a short-term strategy that can be effective in tourism dispersal.
"De-marketing doesn't mean negative marketing or not accepting tourists; it simply means directing tourism demand to alternative destinations," Tosun said, suggesting that Spanish tourism authorities, for example, could direct tourists to cities outside of Barcelona, where anti-tourism protests have recently made headlines.
In an overt example of changing a marketing target, earlier this year Miami Beach famously "broke up" with spring break. In a video that went viral, the city told the set of notoriously rowdy travelers, one the beach destination has attracted for decades, to stay home. Miami Beach enforced curfews, banned alcohol consumption and loud music on beaches, reiterated its ban on short-term rentals and implemented strict traffic regulations during peak travel days in March.
Another short-term strategy is to raise tourist taxes and prices during the peak season when demand is highest, Tosun said. But he admitted that while likely effective, the tactic does punish tourists, potentially limiting the ability of people to travel.
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Hudson, however, said higher taxes would be better embraced if there was more transparency in how that revenue directly benefits residents, tourists and the communities in question.
"Aruba's putting another $20 tax as you come through the airport -- they're calling it a sustainability fee -- and that's fine if it's used visibly for sustainability and benefits the residents and gives them a better lifestyle," Hudson said.
But unfortunately, he added, in many destinations those taxes "disappear to pay for something else."
Developing strategies
Short-term strategies need to work in conjunction with midterm and long-term ones, Tosun said, in order to comprehensively manage tourism in any destination.
A midterm strategy might involve school systems changing holiday break schedules to better diversify when families travel together, he said. Educating travelers on lesser-traveled destinations, or "dupes," is another example.
Long-term strategies, Tosun said, aim to alter a society's systemic behaviors that may contribute to and exacerbate the challenges stemming from a destination's tourism success. Education plays a huge role in how attitudes toward travel and tourism are shaped and later adopted by travelers.
"Long-term strategies change the mindset of the 'mass-consumption society'; we need to prepare the younger generations to avoid overconsumption and be responsible," Tosun said, adding that if more people "consume less, waste less, pay more and share more," it could provide a new model and direction for the next generation of travelers.
Research indicates that currently, there is more intention than action on that front. A Kantar market research study this year revealed that 82% of travelers said sustainability is important to them, but only 22% have actually changed their behavior.
Wonderful Copenhagen, the Danish capital's tourism arm, is bridging that gap through a new program called CopenPay, which will reward tourists for green behavior when visiting the city, such as biking or taking the train. The point is to change the mindset of tourists and encourage sustainable behavior, which officials there say they've recognized as a missing link.
"Is it easy to change your mindset?" Tosun said. "No, but it's not impossible."