Spatial manifestations of overtourism: global experience and Ukrainian realities

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to examine overtourism as a contemporary phenomenon by defining its criteria and indicators, analyzing global cases of its manifestation, and identifying the specific features of overtourism development in Ukraine in order to justify approaches to balanced management of tourist flows.

The main material. Overtourism is a situation in which the number of tourists exceeds the ecological, cultural, social, or economic carrying capacity of a destination, causing negative impacts on local residents, infrastructure, the natural environment, and the overall quality of the tourist experience. The concept of overtourism is linked to the idea of carrying capacity of destinations, which includes physical, ecological, social, and psychological limits. According to international standards, overtourism indicators are divided into four main categories: economic, sociocultural, environmental, and governance (institutional) indicators. Each category includes both quantitative and qualitative indicators that capturedifferent aspects of tourism’s impact on a destination.

The phenomenon of overtourism now affects almost all major tourist regions of the world. In international practice, the problem of overtourism has long acquired a pronounced character, as evidenced by the examples of Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, the Mediterranean islands, and other popular tourist centers. In these destinations, the excessive number of tourists has led to increased social tensions, the commercialization of the urban environment, environmental degradation, and the need to implement specific tools for regulating tourist flows.

For Ukraine, the problem of overtourism has not yet reached the same scale as in leading European tourist countries. However, its local manifestations are already observable in certain destinations. The developed map “Tax Revenues from Tourism in Ukraine in 2024” illustrates the spatial features of the tourism sector’s development and the dynamics of its economic contribution. The spatial analysis of Ukraine’s tourist destinations indicates a high concentration of recreational flows in the western region, along the Black Sea coast, and in major cultural centers.

Conclusions. Addressing the problem of overtourism requires comprehensive management of tourist flows, which includes the spatial redistribution of visitors, regulation of short-term rentals, the use of digital monitoring, the development of alternative routes, and the involvement of local communities in decision-making processes.