Tourism as a Prompt for Democracy (again!): Grassroots Movements against Overtourism and Sustainable Models for the Right to Travel

Once relegated to a tool for economic wealth in developing countries - according to the paradigm of ‘”growth without development” – tourism has, over the past few decades, become a central component of economic policy even in capitalist States, as a consequence of ongoing deindustrialization and the tertiarization of the economy. As a matter of fact, tourism became even the field of a political battle, as shown by the slogan “Travel: the Perfect Freedom” designed by the now defunct US Travel and Tourism Administration, in order to enhance the openness of American society in contrast with dictatorships.
More recently, growing attention to the environmental crisis has highlighted the role of mass tourism in the unsustainable consumption of territory and non-renewable resources. The response adopted by several tourist destinations, particularly in Italy, has nevertheless consisted in raising prices and transforming travel into an increasingly elitist experience, reminiscent in some respects of the era of the Grand Tour. By contrast, the contemporary debate on sustainable tourism has brought to the fore to a number of interesting and liberal trends at different levels. On the one hand, protest movements have emerged in several Western cities – including Barcelona, Berlin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and, more recently, cities across Italy – challenging and, at times, disrupting infrastructures such as key-boxes, which have become emblematic of anonymous touristification and of the extraction of surplus value through territorial rent rather than labour. On the other hand, many local communities, particularly those located in inner areas and mountain regions, are developing sustainable tourism initiatives and promoting new ways of relating to and engaging with nature.
From this perspective, the democratisation of territory can once again be assessed, at least in part, through the benchmark of the right to travel and voluntary mobility.
If accepted, the panel would welcome both theoretical and empirical contributions examining mobilisations against overtourism, as well as analysis of good practices through which local committees and public administrations seek to address the undertourism affecting non-mainstream destinations. We also welcome papers dealing with the issue of “poor labour” in the tourism sector, including temporary and underpaid employment, jobs lacking formal contracts, and the widespread use of involuntary and pseudo-part-time arrangements. These conditions being characteristic of a macro-sector that remains largely affected by low value added.