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OVERTOURISM AND IT’S MANAGEMENT IN SAMARKAND
Shodikulova Mokhigul Ulugbekovna
Teacher of Silk Road International University of T
ourism and Cultural Heritage
Kurbanova Asiyat Maratovna
Student of Silk Road International University of
Tourism and Cultural Heritage
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15689673
Annotation:
This article is mostly focused on the overtourism itself, effects
of overcrowding of touristic destinations, as well as the ways to manage big
amount of foreigners in gentle, not-toxic way, taking as an example experienced
countries. Particularly it is going to review the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Because while tourism strengthens economy and cultural diversification,
overtourism leads to challenges such as environmental stain and resentment of
locals. Hence overcrowding management strategies are important to balance
between visitors and locals satisfaction.
Key words:
overtourism, effects of overtourism, sustainable development ,
management strategies, overtourism solutions, stable development
Introduction
Nowadays most of the top touristic destinations all over the world are
suffering because of overtourism. According to Oxford dictionary the term
“overtourism” means “ a situation in which a place of interest is visited by too
many tourists”. In the case of overtourism the situation has two contrary sides.
Undoubtedly enormous number of foreigners leads to significant benefits for
economic sphere of the state and development of country in general, however ,
simultaneously, it affects sustainability, wellbeing of local citizens and
infrastructure. Venice, Barcelona, Mecca, Istanbul, Paris and etc are cities, which
are attracting the most number of international tourists last few years and the
problem of overtourism is affecting that destinations full around.
Furthermore disadvantageous influence of tourism is relevant not only to
top world’s 10 touristic locations, but to the countries, which are not as
successful in development of tourism, or just at the starting point of the path in
attracting more tourists, therefore the situation requires adequate methods to
prevent or alleviate consequences.
If reviewing overtourism as a process of having increasing numbers of
tourists every year, it gets more common over the world today. There are some
reasons contributing to it, several of them were listed by Izat Chopieva: “The
increasing availability of low-cost airlines, budget accommodations, and travel
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deals has made it easier for more people to travel, contributing to overtourism”
(n.d). Therefore in XXI century more and more people are interested in
travelling, causing overtourism condition. While tourism considered to be
beneficial for both state and citizens, it can have significant drawbacks is case of
uneffective management.”
Overtourism occurs when too many visitors flock to a destination,
exceeding its ability to manage them sustainably and leading to negative impacts
such as overcrowding, environmental degradation, strained infrastructure,
reduced quality of life for residents, and a diminished visitor experience” (Bra K.,
2024).
On the basis of a wider geographical definition, Higgins-Desbiolles
understand overtourism in the context of exceeding carrying capacity limits, by
declaring that “overtourism describes a situation in which a tourism destination
exceeds its carrying capacity—in physical and/or psychological terms”, which
leads to “deterioration of the tourism experience for either visitors or locals or
both”.
Even the concept of sustainable tourism, which is part of the prevalent
paradigm governing our understanding of tourism development, while
“intellectually appealing”, fails to a large extent to be put into effect [
22
,
23
].
Despite the hype surrounding the idea of sustainability, the measures
implemented “allow essentially the same behavior as before”.
Sustainable tourism serves keep balance of tourism industry in some
difficult situations, because systematically working and tourism infrastructure
reduces affect of overtourism.
Challenges of overcrowding mostly observed in European countries. The
reason is constantly visit of a lot of people from different parts of the world in
one period and it will lead to overcrowding in most times.Tourism industry one
of the leader and economical profitable sphere in Uzbekistan. Several famous
and ancient cities Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva welcome high touristic visit in
tourism season. Especially, Samarkand city very well known city and for some
touristic resources every year too many travelers come in order to explore this
awesome place.
Despite of high season also Samarkand already became permanent place
for tourists. Samarkand experiences significant tourism, there is no evidence to
suggest it's facing the same level of overtourism as some other destinations.
Many ancient places located very close to each other and city totally faces with
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overcrowding because of narrow roads and ways which leads to historical
monuments.
In this case, sometimes overcrowding in touristic destinations and waiting
in front of ticket zone also takes time of people. For that reason special
responsible departments and organisations should give solution of
overcrowding.
Some detailed facts that can predict near future of
overdcrowding situations in Samarkand :
- Samarkand's tourism potential is far from being exhausted, with room
for continued expansion.
- Uzbekistan is actively working to improve its tourism infrastructure and
promote sustainable tourism practices to accommodate increased visitor
numbers.
- there is an awareness of the need to balance the benefits of tourism with
the well-being of local residents and the preservation of cultural heritage.
-
rise level in tourism, it's not currently suffering from the negative impacts
of overtourism that some other destinations are facing. The city is actively
working to manage the growth in a sustainable way, with a focus on balancing
the needs of tourists and local residents.
Tourism industry,and many destinations that were obsessed with growing
tourist
Numbers at any cost, had simply turned a blind eye to it all over the world.
Academics
And forward thinking destinations have been establishing solutions for
decades.
The problems has not been lack of ways to solve this issue, but an
unwillingness to accept there is a problem or to commit to deal with it. Here is
very brief solutions of overtourism: responsible tourism, sustainability
accounting, cheap flights, carrying capacity, limits of acceptable change, de-
marketing, reducing demand in peak periods.
Perspective of sustainibility in tourism industry and stable tourism
infrastructure via connected with some suitable solutions can cope with
overtourism.
Reference:
1.
Bra, K. (2024a, August 16). What Is Overtourism and Why Is It a Problem?.
Sustainable travel. https://sustainabletravel.org/what-is-overtourism/
2.
Chopieva, I. (n.d.-a). The “Overtourism” Effect: How to Manage Mass
Tourism in Popular Destinations
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3.
Dodds, R.; Butler, R.W. Introduction. In Overtourism: Issues, Realities and
Solutions; Dodds, R., Butler, R.W., Eds.; De Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, 2019.
4.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016073832030169
9
5.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357775280_Pre-
Emptively_Managing_Overtourism_by_Promoting_Rural_Tourism_in_Low-
Density_Areas_Lessons_from_Madeira
6.
https://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/overtourism-solutions
7.
https://eurasianet.org/uzbekistan-changing-the-face-of-tourism
