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This paper aims to assess the value of impact perceptions as an indicator of social carrying capacity in the heritage town of Besalú, Spain. Additionally, it assesses the impact tourism dependence and other socio-demographic variables have on this indicator.

A literature review on social exchange theory (SET) and carrying capacity related to impact perceptions is presented. The method was a survey, with a questionnaire based on the literature review and in-depth interviews. The results have been analyzed statistically to determine the links between perceptions and socio-demographic variables. Using statistical tools, perceptions are compared to three indicators that have been used to determine capacity in literature: willingness to accept more tourism, tourism pressure and the tourist function index.

The willingness of residents to enter into, and remain, in an exchange relationship is affected primarily by tourism dependence, and to a lesser extent by gender and education. Additionally, impact perceptions do not correspond to a willingness to accept more tourists. The impacts of tourism on conservation show greater consensus, while impacts on the availability of space for residents show links to other capacity indicators.

This study enhances the body of knowledge on social carrying capacity in heritage towns, by focusing on a regionally prominent day-tripper heritage town facing high tourism pressure which is Besalú. From a theoretical perspective, this study attempts to merge carrying capacity and SET, thus linking sustainability to social exchange. It also highlights the importance of a gender-based perspective in sustainability.

Whether a human body has a healthy carrying capacity is calculated by body mass index (BMI). The BMI is found by dividing body weight in kilograms by the square of body length. If the person's body weight is more than the heaviness that the body can carry healthily, it is called obesity. Destinations have a specific area, just like a human body. Therefore, any destination whose carrying capacity is exceeded can be called an “obese destination”. This study's primary purpose is to reveal the importance of destination carrying capacity through the concept of obesity.

Content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was employed, and graffiti reflecting the feelings of the local people toward tourists were used as data. Graffiti was considered as a social carrying capacity indicator to identify obese destination symptoms. Fifty graffiti obtained from search engines about destinations with obesity problems were analyzed.

The study's findings reveal that anti-tourist graffiti indicates obese destination symptoms. Furthermore, when the content analysis of graffiti is examined, it is seen that the obese destination's local people have intense anger toward tourists. This is a clear manifestation of the destination's health deterioration.

This study, in which the concept of obese destination is used for the first time, suggests that destinations' health may worsen just like people. If destinations with over-tourism are called obese, a more expansive awareness will be created about the destinations' problems. The study suggests that nonecolabel can be used as a mandatory diet tool for obese destinations. Anti-tourist graffiti has been addressed as an obese destination symptom.

While the number of tourists worldwide is expected to reach 1.8 billion people by 2030, tourism destinations try to meet demand for increasing tourism. However, some tourism destinations are experiencing a maturity period of destination life cycle intensively. During these mature periods, while they meet the demand above their tourism carrying capacity, they encounter some problematic issues. In tourist destinations such as Venice, Barcelona and Paris, the negative feelings developed by the local people towards overtourism or tourists result in serious problems like negative destination images, tourism phobia, etc. In these destinations, to prevent the negative consequences of overtourism, destination stakeholders should develop solutions to these problems. There are many solution techniques for the problems which cause overtourism. One of them is the different tourism types which have been developed as an alternative to mass tourism. These alternative tourism types can be handled as a method for solving problems revealed through excess demand in tourism destinations at risk. For example, some tourism destinations which have both beach tourism and nature-based tourism types can bring nature-based tourism activities to the forefront with promotion and marketing activities and therefore, the tourism demand could be balanced between these tourism types. In this context, firstly, comprehensive literature review of overtourism and alternative tourism will be conducted in this study. And then the different types of tourism such as ecotourism, cultural tourism and responsible tourism will be discussed in detail and their relation in reducing the negative consequences of overtourism will be investigated theoretically via secondary data. Therefore, alternative tourism potentials will be investigated and tried to present the managerial suggestions for the development of different alternative types of tourism. As a result, it has been seen that, alternative tourism not only contributes to the growth of tourism in both popular and remote destinations but also makes sure that destinations get their fair share in income distribution of the country.

The purpose of this study is to propose a destination-level framework incorporating subjective and overall assessments of residents’ quality of life (QOL) and visitors’ quality of experience (QOE) as a means for managing optimum levels of visitor volume at destinations.

The proposed framework is empirically tested and applied using a large-scale survey of residents and visitors across a four-year time span in Macao, a Special Administrative Region of China that counts among the smallest and densest city-states in the world and which has borne the full force of extraordinary rapid tourism growth in recent years.

The study’s findings suggest that subjective assessments of residents’ QOL and visitors’ QOE interact and must be considered together when assessing sustainable levels of tourism at the level of a destination.

The study’s value lies in its use of a large-scale survey across a four-year time span to empirically validate theorized maximal values of QOL assessments from the point of view of residents as well as quality of visiting experience from the point of view of visitors. This finding lays future groundwork for more robust management of tourism growth in destinations.

The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the effects of excessive tourism growth on public health, local people and the ecosystem. The secondary purpose of the study is to link excessive tourism growth to social exchange theory, in terms of interchanging key resources of tourism destinations.

This is an exploratory study where qualitative research methods are employed. Telephone interview technique is used to obtain data from academicians who work at various universities in Turkey. Content analysis and thematic analysis with an inductive approach are made by use of MAXQDA software program.

Findings reveal that the satisfaction of local people is an important gain in terms of the economy, but the destruction of the ecosystem due to the excessive crowd, in a sense, overtourism, garbage and too much waste is striking disadvantage based on the responses. Risk of contagious disease, effects on the natural environment and wastes are stated to have huge impacts on the public health and ecosystem.

The study identifies some implications in terms of imbalance and unfairness among the locals who face with excessive crowds. Managing the effects of excessive tourism growth on vulnerable destinations and local people, controlling the carrying capacity in destinations with anxiety, fear, depression, health problems and low living standards should be taken under consideration. Additionally, finding ways to get rid of infectious diseases (such as increasing health checkpoints at borders, investigating the carrying capacity of destinations) is important for tourism spots.

As a major theoretical contribution, this study links excessive tourism growth to social exchange theory and reveals that the degree of exchanging valuable resources in the destination and the level of interaction between locals and tourists are the most critical points for the well-being of the local community and ecosystem.

This paper aims to present a model to survey if effective destination management can manage (unsustainable) overtourism from the perspective of residents’ quality of life (QOL).

A constructivist approach, based on factors taken from conceptual overtourism model (Mihalic, 2020), was used to propose an overtourism QOL management model. Relationships among the factors were analysed with a path analyses model with two second-order latent factors. The model was tested in a real setting, the city of Ljubljana.

The proposed theoretical model is comprised of five factors: positive tourism impacts, negative tourism impacts, irritation with overtourism, residents’ QOL and destination management. Empirical tests confirmed the model. Positive tourism impacts positively affected residents’ QOL via destination management. Negative tourism impacts created overtourism-based resident irritation and negatively impacted their QOL.

The model was limited to one group of sustainable tourism stakeholders: residents of a destination. The sustainability performance of tourism was only assessed based on residents’ QOL.

The proposed model adds to the conceptual knowledge of tourism and may be useful for (sustainable) destination managers to monitor the existence and causes of overtourism and may help to focus efforts to manage the causes of overtourism irritation and improve residents’ QOL.

Overtourism is a concern for residents of tourism destinations who become irritated by unsustainable tourism impacts on community resources and their QOL. The suggested model is the first to address destination management’s ability to manage unsustainable overtourism.

本文采用建构主义的方法, 基于概念性的过度旅游模型（Mihalic, 2020年）中的因素, 提出了过度旅游中居民生活质量（QOL）管理模型。这些因子之间的关系是通过对包含两个二阶潜在因子的模型的路径分析得到的。该模型在卢布尔雅那市的真实情况中进行了测试。

本文提出了这样一个模型, 从居民的生活质量（QOL）角度出发, 调查有效的目的地管理是否可以管理（不可持续的）过度旅游。

理论模型由五部分组成：正面的旅游影响, 负面的旅游影响, 过度旅游带来的恼怒, 居民的生活质量和目的地管理。实证检验证实了该模型。积极的旅游业通过目的地管理对居民的生活质量产生了积极影响。负面的旅游影响造成了基于过度旅游的居民恼怒情绪, 并对其生活质量产生了负面影响。

该模型仅基于一个可持续的旅游业利益相关者：目的地居民。旅游业的可持续发展绩效仅根据居民的生活质量来评估。

社会和实际意义： 提出的模型增加了旅游的概念性知识, 并且可能有助于（可持续）目的地管理者监督过度旅游的存在和原因, 并且集中精力管理过度旅游引起的居民恼怒情绪, 并改善居民的生活质量。

对于旅游目的地的居民来说, 过度旅游是一个令人担忧的问题, 他们因不可持续的旅游业对社区资源及其生活质量的影响而感到不快。本模型是第一个解决目的地管理机构管理不可持续的过度旅游的能力的模型。

Para proponer un modelo de gestión del sobreturismo QOL, se utilizó un enfoque constructivista, basado en factores tomados del modelo conceptual de sobreturismo (Mihalic, 2020). Las relaciones entre los factores se analizaron con un modelo de análisis de rutas con dos factores latentes de segundo orden. El modelo se probó en un escenario real, la ciudad de Ljubljana.

En este documento se presenta un modelo para estudiar si una gestión eficaz del destino puede gestionar el exceso de turismo (insostenible) desde la perspectiva de la calidad de vida de los residentes (QOL).

El modelo teórico propuesto comprende cinco factores: impactos positivos del turismo, impactos negativos del turismo, irritación por el exceso de turismo, calidad de vida de los residentes y gestión del destino. Las pruebas empíricas confirmaron el modelo. Los impactos positivos del turismo afectaron positivamente la calidad de vida de los residentes a través de la gestión del destino. Los impactos negativos del turismo crearon una irritación de los residentes basada en el exceso de turismo y tuvieron un impacto negativo en su calidad de vida.

El modelo se limitaba a un grupo de interesados en el turismo sostenible: los residentes de un destino. El desempeño de la sostenibilidad del turismo sólo se evaluó en base a la calidad de vida de los residentes.

Implicaciones sociales y prácticas: El modelo propuesto contribuye al conocimiento conceptual del turismo y puede ser útil para que los gestores de destinos (sostenibles) vigilen la existencia y las causas del exceso de turismo y pueda ayudar a centrar los esfuerzos en la gestión de las causas de la irritación del exceso de turismo y mejorar la calidad de vida de los residentes.

El exceso de turismo es una preocupación para los residentes de los destinos turísticos que se irritan por los impactos insostenibles del turismo en los recursos de la comunidad y su QOL. El modelo sugerido es el primero que aborda la capacidad de la gestión del destino para gestionar el sobreturismo insostenible.

Overtourism is a problem of social and psychological perspective which is aggravated by the mismanagement of the destination. It can also be understood as an umbrella term which incorporates the unfavourable conditions created by means of several tourism activities. The present scenario of overcrowding by tourists, displacement of local population and loss of authenticity can be assumed that overtourism is a consequence of increasing volume of tourism industry in the twenty-first century. There are strong uncorroborated beliefs around overtourism formed by media and literature which are not concrete and need to be busted. Several impressions have been generated around the phenomenon of overtourism and overcrowding which has hampered the administration of a destination. This chapter identifies 11 myths of overtourism with the help of literature review and supporting examples have been given with each myth. The authors attempt to decipher the underlying stereotypes of overtourism in context of it being a recent phenomenon, its existence in the popular part of the cities and the realities of the solutions and perceptions of the concept.

With the expansion in the tourism-related activities, the issue of overtourism has gained impetus rapidly in media and academic discourses. Many scholars believe that the concept is not novel and is rather associated with the familiar concept of carrying capacity of a tourist destination. The carrying capacity concerns have been raised earlier in recreational studies. These studies have focused on determining the maximum number of tourists that could be accommodated without any deterioration in the social, environmental and physical environment, and unacceptable decline in the tourist experience. However, as the tourism development projects expanded to attract more tourists, the host community reacted to the excessive tourism activities which hamper their lives. Consequently, overtourism or excessive tourism led to conflicts between the local community and tourists. The concerns aggravated as locals raised their voices against the unmanageable growth of tourism and irresponsible behaviour of tourists. This chapter presents a descriptive analysis of various conflicts that have taken place at tourist destination reported of overtourism. The authors have attempted to categorise the conflicts based on the capacity thresholds and suggested several management strategies that could be undertaken by respective destinations to resolve the conflicts. The major conflict categories are socio-cultural, socio-demographic, infrastructural, eco-spatial and economic. The authors expect that identification and categorisation of conflicts with related solutions would lead to better management of destinations. Furthermore, the destinations would adopt preventive measures to nip a potential conflict in the bud.

Due to both the new quality and intensity overtourism discussions have received, it is time to examine the question concerning the consequences this development has on destination level and how destinations can adjust their strategies for future development. This is especially important to consider, since overtourism can be seen as a fundamental issue for tourism development. First measures taken within destinations show that reactions are taking place, e.g. through access restrictions of frequently visited places. The purpose of this paper is to identify future-oriented strategies and to derive concrete measures in order to deal with overtourism on a destination level.

In total, 19 qualitative interviews with European destination managers were conducted and evaluated via the qualitative analysis method GABEK® with WinRelan® software.

The results show that various stakeholders are involved in overtourism, with the destination management organization being the central actor to deal with issues. It is challenging to choose between different strategies and measures, which always have to be considered in relation to the specific conditions of a destination and the perception level of overtourism. In order to face current developments, the initiation of a stakeholder dialog can be seen as a promising factor, but also as a challenging task.

Currently, a “wait-and-see-attitude” exists, where well-known destinations are cited as negative examples, but a serious examination related to one’s own destination has not yet been developed. This consideration should be seen as a prerequisite for future-oriented destination development, which takes the local population into account.