Overtouristified cities: an online news media narrative analysis

The controversial and multifaceted phenomenon of overtourism has been increasingly discussed and problematized by scholars. Although international media paid significant attention to overtourism contributing to raising concerns for local tourism impacts, limited efforts were made to explore the media's representation of the phenomenon and its role in shaping the understanding of overtourism in public opinion and amongst policymakers. This paper contributes to the academic debate on overtourism by adopting a narrative approach to the analysis of how online news media represented it, stated its causes and effects, and suggested the actions to be taken for addressing it. The research provides novel interpretative perspectives on urban overtourism. It identifies the coexistence of factual, behavioural and perceptual overtourism effects and the role of passive and active urban stakeholders in overtouristified cities, suggesting further research on the local origin of the phenomenon. A set of managerial tools, including smart technologies, sheds light on the approaches to addressing overtourism in the city, suggesting the importance of transcending conservative managerial views and moving towards inclusive and sustainable tourism development. The paper points towards new streams of research in tourism impact management and proves the value of the online news media narrative analysis in tourism studies.