A new report has highlighted the cities that were most prone to overcrowding with travellers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing attention to the issue of overtourism ahead of the 2023 European summer season.

The report, which utilises data from 2019, has found that Dubrovnik, Croatia was home to the biggest influx of travellers. Comparing the numbers of locals to visitors, the report finds that there were 36 tourists for every 1 inhabitant in 2019.

The report suggests that, along with the scenic attractions, the Old Town’s appearance in Game of Thrones might also have played a role in the high visitor numbers.

The other cities within the top five were Venice, Italy (21 tourists: 1 inhabitant), Bruges, Belgium (21:1), Rhodes, Greece (21:1) and Reykjavik, Iceland (16:1).

While the data utilised in this study comes from pre-pandemic travel, the report offers some insight into the European cities that may need to be managing the crowds throughout a busy summer season. Some of the top cities have reinstated tourist management strategies, as travellers have once again begun to crowd the streets.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik usually sees a major influx of visitors during the European summer months. Prior to the pandemic, the city was working to implement regulation methods for the high number and unruly behaviours of tourists. In 2017, a recommendation from UNESCO suggested that the Old Town of Dubrovnik should not be visited by more than 8000 people. This led to the installation of surveillance cameras and a regular count of visitors entering the Old Town.

The Grad Dubrovnik (City of Dubrovnik) more recently released a campaign video targeted at visitors, asking them to adjust their behaviours in the popular tourist spot. The animated video highlights key rules that visitors need to respect while traversing the city. The clip is a part of the ‘Respect the City’ campaign, which is restarting after a hiatus during the pandemic years.

Venice, Italy has long considered various tourist taxes to address affects of tourism. Photo / Carol Smith

Venice, Italy

The canal-lined streets of Venice have long been known to have an issue with overtourism, with visitor-tax systems often discussed as a potential solution. In 2022, officials unveiled rules for day trippers, which would see them make reservations and pay a fee to visit the city. This strategy was set to come into effect on January 16 of this year but has since been delayed. On the odd occasion, unruly tourists have also been fined for breaking rules within the city and residents of the city have spoken out about feeling ‘suffocated’ by the number of day-trippers to the city.

Bruges was set to introduce methods to address overtourism in 2019. Photo / Unsplash

Bruges, Belgium

Again with the canals. Before the pandemic began, the city of Bruges looked to reduce the number of visits from cruise excursions and revoke advertising campaigns promoting travel from nearby destinations. In 2023, Travel Tomorrow reported that the organisation behind Bruges’ urban museums, Musea Brugge, had seen a growing number of visitors after the pandemic. Nico Blontrock, Alderman for Culute, highlighted the 2022 numbers to the publication in a positive light, saying “We are gradually approaching the 900,000 of our record year in 2019. We can be very happy with that, especially when you know that until mid-February there were still travel restrictions and so the first quarter was still very calm.” It seems the city, once concern of flocking tourists, is happy to see the crowds back again.

The report was carried out by Holidu, a holiday home rental agency, utilising data from 2019 comparing the number of yearly tourists to a city’s population. The company utilised The Savvy Backpacker and Air Mundo’s most-visited cities lists to make the determinations.