Special trip

Today the world celebrates tourism, and cities open their museums, streets and facades to visitors. But in other places, residents face a completely different scene: crowded streets, apartments turned into tourist rentals, full buses, and historical centers that can no longer handle more visitors in the same hour.
And from here begins the real question in 2026: How does the city receive millions of tourists without becoming a stranger to its people?

Venice...a more beautiful city than you can bear

In Venice, the problem is no longer attracting visitors, but managing the huge number of them.
Therefore, in 2026, the city applied an entrance fee ranging between 5 and 10 euros for one-day visitors during specific days between April and July, depending on the timing of the reservation.

The idea seems simple: Anyone who wants to see Venice is welcome, but the city wants to know when he will come, how long he will stay, and how to relieve pressure on streets created by centuries of history, not millions of feet every day.

Barcelona.. When vacation becomes a housing crisis

In Barcelona, the debate has become more sensitive, as the problem is no longer just queues in front of landmarks or crowding in the old neighborhoods, but has moved to the place where people themselves live: the home.
The city is moving to reduce the impact of tourist apartments and relieve pressure in the most visited areas, while it plans to terminate the licenses of a large number of tourist apartments by 2028.

As visitor numbers continue to grow, the question for residents has become clear: Can the city remain a place to live and a place to visit at the same time?

Amsterdam.. We do not want a larger number.. We want a better visit

As for Amsterdam, it has reached a different stage. The city is not only talking about increasing visitors, but about the type of tourism it wants. Therefore, it is working to reduce some forms of trips, limit hotel expansion, and encourage the visitor to move away from the historical center and discover other areas.

The message here is not “don’t come,” but rather: come in a way that does not make the residents’ lives more difficult.

Japan.. When success becomes a beautiful problem

In Japan, tourism has achieved what any destination would hope for: increased global interest and a strong return of visitors, but this success has created a new challenge.

In some locations, crowds are affecting residents and the tourist experience, so authorities are working to manage flows, improve facilities, and encourage visitors to discover less crowded areas.
The irony is that the destination you want everyone to see, sometimes you need to tell them: There are other places worth seeing as well.

Greece...the island cannot receive everyone at once

In Santorini and Mykonos, the challenge is very clear. Thousands of passengers can disembark from cruise ships within a few hours to small islands with limited roads and services.

That's why Greece imposes a fee of up to 20 euros on cruise passengers who disembark on some islands during high season.

The goal is not to close the door, but to try to keep the island beautiful and viable after the last ship has left.

Who lives in the city is more important than who visits it for a day

All these experiences say one thing: tourism is no longer just a numbers game.

An additional million visitors may seem like great news, but it is not a real success if the residents feel that their city is no longer theirs, or if the tourist leaves exhausted from the crowds and sees nothing but queues.

What can the Arab world learn?

For Arab cities that are witnessing rapid tourism growth, these experiences may be a learning opportunity before arriving at the problem itself.
Distributing visitors to new neighborhoods and regions, encouraging travel outside peak seasons, linking tourism to local communities, and managing transportation and housing from the beginning, all of which may be more important in the future than simply chasing a new record in the number of visitors.

On World Tourism Day, the equation seems clearer than ever:

The city needs the tourist, and the tourist needs the city...but both lose if the population disappears from the picture.