Essay

In a growing number of historic cities, residents have become extras in someone else's holiday. Short-term rentals have pushed rents beyond the reach of local families, cruise ships release thousands of day-trippers into narrow streets at once, and the shops that once sold bread and hardware now sell souvenirs. Entry fees, caps on visitor numbers and limits on holiday lets are sometimes dismissed as elitist, but the alternative is a city that survives only as a stage set. Managing demand is not hostility to visitors; it is the only way to keep alive the very places they have come to see.

Restricting visitor numbers is a blunt response to what is largely a problem of distribution. Most crowding is concentrated in a few streets at a few hours of the day, while neighbouring districts and quieter seasons remain under-visited. Caps and fees risk turning travel into a privilege of the wealthy, and they threaten the livelihoods of the many residents employed in hotels, restaurants and guiding. Better data, timed entry to the busiest sites, improved public transport and promotion of lesser-known areas can spread the benefits of tourism more widely without shutting the door on anyone.