European cities seek sustainable tourism

European cities are pushing for a new tourism model that weighs environmental, economic, and social impacts equally by 2050, last week's Global Tourism Forum, in Brussels, Belgium, was told.

"In some cities, like Venice and Barcelona, we see a sort of monoculturalisation of economic activities in the city center that tend to maybe serve more marketing interests for tourists or cater for food habits of tourists rather than residents," said Eleonora Orso, of Eurocities, a Brussels-based coalition of more than 200 major European cities.

The region attracted nearly 340 million international visitors in the first six months of 2025, a 4 percent increase year-on-year and 7 percent above 2019 levels, United Nations Tourism figures show.

The world's most-visited destinations cluster in Europe, which shows no sign of losing its status as the global leader for tourism, with France and Spain leading the way, reported Euronews. Spain is expected to eclipse France by 2034, with estimates suggesting it will reach 3.75 million annual visitors.

Yet city leaders are rethinking the growth-at-all-costs playbook.

Patrick Bontinck, CEO of visit.brussels, told attendees cities need long-term tourism strategies focused on quality over volume.

"Choose which you want to attract and decide your infrastructure for those people," he said.

Mass tourism has become a year-round crisis, with cities including Venice and Barcelona buckling under record visitor numbers, driving up living costs, pricing out residents, and sparking protests across the continent.

Officials from Lisbon to Athens warn the surge is overwhelming infrastructure, fueling pollution, and eroding quality of life for those who call these cities home.

"The product in tourism is the destination itself," said Sabine Wendt, CEO of visitBerlin, the city's official tourism organization. "If we destroy the city socially or environmentally, no one will come anymore."

Wendt stressed that protecting destinations is a shared duty among all stakeholders — tourists included.

Orso argued that reconciling sustainability with profitability requires weaving tourism policy into wider urban strategies.

"It needs to be part of an integrated urban agenda, related to transport, housing, business support strategies and so on," she said.

High transport and accommodation costs are the biggest headwinds for tourism in 2025, according to the UN Tourism Confidence Index released in September.

Tourism inflation is forecast to ease to 6.8 percent this year from 8 percent in 2024, but remains well above the global inflation rate of 4.3 percent.

Industry observers say economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions are weighing on travel demand, prompting calls for a shift away from mass tourism toward more sustainable, quality-focused models.

"Every city has a different way of thinking, so you cannot establish a standard approach, (but) it's absolutely important that the private and public sector work together," said Jose Ramon Bauza, founder of the Aviation and Tourism Forum and former president of the Balearic Islands.