Rabat – A poll, by the French travel agency Comptoir des Voyages, has shown that overcrowding in popular tourist destination is putting off travelers.9, 63% of people surveyed said that would not visit a city if it is too crowded. .
The survey also pinpointed specific cities where travelers see overcrowding as a problem, nearly 25% said that they would not visit Marrakech because it is too crowded.
Dubai, (UAE) was identified as the most overcrowded with 28% saying they would not visit the city.
Bangkok (Thailand) (24% say the city is overcrowded , Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), (21%), New York (United States) (20%), Istanbul (Turkey) (18%), Mexico City (Mexico) (15,94%), and Kyoto (Japan) (15,64%) were all also named as destinations which tourists are beginning to avoid due to ‘over-tourism’.
French magazine, Tendance Hotellerie reported that overcrowding was also an issue for tourists in European cities. “In Europe, Venice, Italy came in first (21%), followed by Barcelona (20%), Madrid (11%) and Rome (10%).” .
Comptoir des Voyages asked participants to propose solutions to “over-tourism”. 42% of those surveyed suggest avoiding peak months when travelling, 22% suggest imposing a visitor quota to manage the flow of tourists, and 15% said they would go off the beaten track to avoid overcrowding.
The statistics from the survey do not seem to have affected rates of travel to Marrakech, which has seen an increase in overnight stays in 2019.
Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism has released data showing that “Marrakech and Agadir led the way in terms of overnight stays with +10% and +5% respectively, followed by Tangier (+12%), Essaouira (+8%) and Fez (+3%). The number of overnight stays in Casablanca and Rabat, however, fell by 6% and 7% respectively in February 2019.”
