Tourist hotspot Florence, Italy has implemented additional measures to limit mass tourism. The latest developments in the city’s campaign against mass tourism include the banning of lock boxes most commonly utilized by residents renting out their properties on short-term rental platforms, and a heaven-sent ban on tour guide loudspeakers.
The lock boxes, which allow tourists easy access to short-term rentals without the middleman have been subject to vandalism recently, being taped closed with red Xs by locals, according to CNN.
These sentiments have been echoed in various hotspot destinations. Many cities are fed up with short term rentals driving up rent and reducing housing for actual locals. Already this year in Florence, new laws have prevented any new short-term rentals from being leased in the city center; what’s more, those who switch their short-term rentals to ordinary leases are offered tax breaks.
In Greece, public officials have capped the amount of cruise ship passengers allowed to 8,000 per day on some islands. Earlier this year, Barcelona residents protested over-tourism on the city streets by spraying water at tourists with water pistols and marching through the streets chanting “tourists go home” and the trend continues on the Spanish island of Mallorca this month, though maybe more effective and less aggressive.
Reports from CNN indicate that thousands of locals gathered for a march through the streets of Palma de Mallorca, calling on lawmakers to provide an “alternative tourism model” and to increase access to housing, improve public servicesm and increase conservation and regeneration of natural areas.
Florence will also see additional restrictions for “atypical vehicles” including golf carts used to transport tour guides where car traffic is restricted in the historic city center.
