Recently , I read an article in one of the travel magazines that some countries were going to limit the number of tourists due to overcrowding . Some cities have even seen violence against tourists , telling them to ” Go Home ” , or even being physical with some of the tourists .
Rome has limited the number of visitors to some sites in the city , such as St. Mark’s Square and Trevi Fountain because some of them have waded into the water , rather than throwing coins in the fountain like you’re supposed to do .
There have been street protests in cities like Venice , Florence , Rome , Dubrovnik , and Barcelona most notably .
This fact not only saddens me, but it also has me thinking .
Could this happen here or in Canada ?
What would it be like to not be able to do a 30 Plus Teams Tour of New York City due to overcrowding ?
OK , I get it.
New York City is a bad example because if 8 million plus of us can live together in five boroughs , what’s a million or so visitors trying to pour into Yankee Stadium , the Empire State Building or One World Observatory ?
But let’s say that New York City Mayor DiBlasio suddenly said that Central Park would be closed due to overcrowding by tourists ?
Or that only a certain amount of people would be allowed in Times Square on New Years Eve ?
What about two somewhat “smaller ” cities like Miami and Las Vegas ?
Suppose the mayor of Miami said that they were going to limit the number of tourists that go into South Beach , Little Havana or Petite Haiti ?
Could you imagine the uproar if the mayor of Las Vegas were to limit the number of tourists on the Las Vegas Strip due to overcrowding ?
Could this even be a possibility here in this country or even in Canada?
Too many tourists in Montreal or Toronto ?
Is there really such a thing as too much tourism and too many tourists ?
Could it be due to some other reason that some these countries are taking such drastic measures ?
Could it be that maybe in spite of all that money that’s brought into certain countries , the local people aren’t really that fond of foreign tourists taking way too many pictures of things that they shouldn’t be taking pictures of ?
The tourists might even be taking selfies of places that are sacred and therefore basically interrupting the day to day lives of the locals .
Maybe these tourists aren’t even respecting the customs of the locals .
( See my two blog posts , sportsandtravelblog.wordpress.com / 2017/03/09 please-act-like-you’ve-been-there-before and sportsandtravelblog.wordpress.com / 2017/ 03/ 06 Capital -Journey -please – respect -the – monuments – and – memorials -when – you – visit -Washington -DC)
What’s really fueling this suddenly new phenomenon of “overcrowding by tourism “?
In defense of the local people , I can understand why you would want to limit the number of tourists just a little bit .
Some people just don’t know how to conduct themselves when they’re out of their own country .
That’s right , it’s the case of ” not acting like you’ve been there before “.
Why are you wading through Trevi Fountain like you’ve lost your fool mind?
Are you for real ?
That’s not only disrespectful , it’s wicked rude and it shows a lack of training on your part .
Everyone should be able to see the sights of a place whether they’re going to London to see Big Ben , Buckingham Palace , or the London Eye .
This also applies to Spain if people want to experience Flamenco dancing where it originated .
This even holds true if you’re going to see all those monuments , memorials , and museums on that 30 Plus Teams Tour of Washington DC .
There should be some kind of happy medium between tourists , locals , and the city you’re going to .
No tourist 
sites in a city should be off limits due to overcrowding .
How do you feel about some countries limiting the number of tourists visiting ?
Do you think this could happen in your own country ?
Why?
Tell me what you think by dropping me a line in the comments section .
Thanks
