Are business travellers contributing to over tourism? The Meeting Room Episode 4

Overtourism has made the headlines in recent months, with residents in popular holiday hotspots like Majorca, Barcelona, Rome and Greece, uniting to tackle the problem. Whether spraying tourists with water pistols, blocking entry to beaches, or marching behind placards urging tourists to ‘go home' locals are making their disgruntlement clear.

While overtourism is often associated with leisure tourists, in episode four of The Meeting Room James and Paul ask whether business travellers – those attending conferences, meeting, exhibitions and incentives – are also contributing to the congestion crisis?

If so, how can a destination ensure its infrastructure doesn’t creak under the weight of extra visitors or divert vital resources from residents? And importantly, how can a destination help shift the narrative from ‘there’s too many visitors’ to ‘we’re proud people want to visit our home’, also known as tapping into the ‘psychic income’.

In this episode of The Meeting Room, James and Paul provide their hot take on over tourism, business tourism and the psychic income, and how, if any, are these themes link.