One-Minute Explainer: Undertourism

As anti-tourism protests continue to break out in overcrowded hotspots globally, the travel industry is looking for solutions to the growing overtourism crisis.

One such tactic is to divert tourists from regions with high concentrations of travellers to those with tourism potential that attract fewer visitors and benefit less from the travel boom - those that are experiencing ‘undertourism’ – by utilising creative solutions.

For example, tourism board Visit Faroe Island’s Auto Odyssey: Self-Navigating Car Adventures constitutes 30 mystery self-drive road-trip itineraries dispersing tourists from crowded sites to hidden spots, like small fjord villages, turf-roofed wooden churches and locally run roadside fish and chip stands.

Elsewhere, in an effort to alleviate Mount Everest’s overcrowding issues, the Nepalese government has designated 97 of its more remote mountains as free to climb until 2027. Sixty-eight of these mountains haven't been climbed for two years plus, whilst 421 permits were granted for Mount Everest in 2024 alone.

Another approach to ease overcrowding is to promote travel during undertouristed seasons. Tasmania’s Winternships encouraged Australians to visit the island during the cold season by offering ‘winter internship’ activities like baby-sitting Tasmanian devils or working on a sauna boat.

The overtourism issue is complex and encouraging travellers to go elsewhere is a potential solution if done responsibly. Ensuring local residents are primed and ready for an incoming tourism influx is key to ensuring long-term success instead of simply shifting the overtourism problem elsewhere.