Could tourism quotas help preserve endangered local environments?

**Bababam** (0:04)
Could tourism quotas help preserve endangered local environments?
Thanks for asking! The summer holiday period is upon us, but when planning our holidays, it's worth bearing in mind that over tourism has become a real nuisance. As tourists, it's not exactly fun being in a highly overcrowded area, but it's even worse for the natural environment. Could tourism quotas be one way of addressing the problem? In mid-June 2022, the island of Corsica brought in quotas for three iconic sites, the Bavella Needles, the Restonica Valley and the Lavezzi Islands. 180,000 tourists visit these sites each year, a figure which is expected to rise to 200,000 by 2026
Tourists will now need to make advanced reservations online in order to visit them, with parking spots also limited. The Lavezzi Islands will have a particularly strict tourism quota of 2,000 outside visitors per day.
Are there similar examples elsewhere in the world? In 2021, Venice took a first step towards regulating tourism by banning cruise ships from entering the city's historic center. The local population was just 50,000 in 2021, but annual tourism figures are as high as 5.5 million. From 2023 onwards, tourists will be discouraged from making day trips to the city. Any visitors not making an overnight stay will have to pay an entrance fee of up to 10 euros depending on the time of year.
Other parts of Italy are also affected by over-tourism. In early summer 2022, authorities decided to reduce car access to the coastal route between Sorrenti and Salerno on the Amalfi Coast. A new system will be put in place, whereby drivers will only be able to use their car every other day depending on whether their license plate ends in an odd or even number. Meanwhile in Peru, a reservation system has been in place for those visiting Machu Picchu for a number of years now. You need to book your trip online and can't stay any longer than four hours at a time. Entry is limited to a few thousand people per day. Bhutan has only been allowing outside visitors to enter the country since the 1970s and brought in a quota 20 years ago. Will tourism quotas start spreading everywhere now? They can come in a number of forms. Some sites like Bhutan have paid entry, while other destinations have taken it a step further by limiting tourist visitors or banning them all together. Before reopening in early 2022, the Maya Bay Beach in Thailand had remained closed for three years to protect the coral reef. Prior to the closure, it saw 5,000 people visit every day. It's also a problem for local residents who want to visit sites just like tourists too. The most important thing is to be aware of the danger that overcrowding poses to biodiversity and take care of natural spaces. Regulating mass tourism will no doubt continue to be a subject of discussion in coming years. There you have it.
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Bababam.