Participation Matters: A Comparative Assessment of Urban Governance Responses to Overtourism

Efthymia Sarantakou (), Panagiota Moschopoulidou and Kyriaki Giannoulatou
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Efthymia Sarantakou: Department of Tourism Management, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Panagiota Moschopoulidou: Department of Tourism Management, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Kyriaki Giannoulatou: Department of Tourism Management, Hellenic Open University, 26331 Patras, Greece

Tourism and Hospitality, 2025, vol. 6, issue 5, 1-29

Abstract: This article explores participatory planning as a key tool for addressing the challenges of overtourism, a phenomenon that exerts complex pressures on the environment, social cohesion, and the cultural identity of cities, despite its contribution to economic growth. Through a comparative analysis of six European urban destinations with high tourism intensity, the study presents different forms of participatory processes as strategies for the sustainable management of tourism. The findings show that the active involvement of stakeholders—local authorities, professional associations, civil society organizations, and residents—strengthens the legitimacy and social acceptance of policies, while improving their overall effectiveness. The article examines whether existing strategies address the structural conditions that generate overtourism or are limited to managing its symptoms, and how the level of community engagement influences the sustainability of these policies. It also highlights that the concept of overtourism, while useful, is often overused in both public and academic discourse, which makes evidence-based analysis even more crucial. The study concludes that there is a pressing need for a more inclusive and strategically oriented model of tourism governance, one that goes beyond symptom management and targets the deeper causes of the phenomenon.

Keywords: overtourism; participatory planning; urban destinations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z3 Z30 Z31 Z32 Z33 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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