Overtourism: the root of the problem and solutions

Overtourism is a phenomenon faced by most of the main tourist destinations around the world. From one side, the development of new technologies, transport infrastructure, population growth, fashion trends and the emergence of lowcost air carriers have increased the availability of travel and contributed to the growth of the tourism industry, including in developing economies. From other side, uncontrolled demand, along with the concentration of tourists in certain directions, adversely affects both the territories and local communities. The continued uncontrolled increase in the number of tourists in some tourist destinations and the uneven distribution of demand for tourist flows have had negative consequences and created a problem of overtourism, which is becoming increasingly important on a global scale. According to data provided by The World Travel & Tourism Council, of the 1.4 billion international tourist trips in 2018, more than 36% were associated with a visit to one of the 300 most popular cities in the world, and this trend will continue. This article discusses various approaches to understanding the essence of overturism, its consequences and prospects, as well as the way of solving this problem: the need to manage tourist flows in the interests of both guests and residents; the development of successful strategies for sustainable tourism, etc.