Work Together for Responsible Tourism

Over-tourism describes destinations where hosts or guests, locals or visitors, feel that there are too many visitors and that the quality of life in the area or the quality of the experience has deteriorated unacceptably. It is the opposite of responsible tourism, which is about using tourism to make better places to live in and better places to visit. Over-tourism is the antithesis of Responsible Tourism; it is the consequence of paying little more than lip service to sustainability and assuming that there are no limits to growth. Tourism is what we make it: hosts and guests, the industry and government, we can make it different. We can make it better and counter over-tourism but we need to acknowledge that there are limits to growth. Our city needs to tread carefully and be mindful in its decisions to maintain the Island's attractiveness. We need our tourism dollars but if we are not proactive those dollars will dry up as Marco Island loses its luster due to over-tourism. Can we not come together and do better? Sustainability is key to success. I love it here and so do our visitors! Let's work together.