Residents’ Attitudes towards Overtourism from the Perspective of Tourism Impacts and Cooperation–The Case of Ljubljana

Abstract

Increasing worldwide evidence on disruptive unsustainable impacts, caused by growing overtourism, is shaking tourism research agendas and destination management styles. Monitoring the risks of overtourism is becoming a relevant issue for every destination. This paper combines the existing sustainability–responsibility tourism framework from academic research with current industry research on overtourism in order to propose a sustainable tourism impact and stakeholder cooperation based on the overtourism risk monitoring model. Data-based social science statistical methodology and tools were used to identify the residents’ attitudes about tourism impacts and cooperation in the destination of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Ljubljana represents a case of a fast-growing tourism destination, which might lead to overtourism. Research has confirmed some impact factors that negatively influence the satisfaction of local residents with tourism presence. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that increased cooperation mitigates the negative perceptions of residents on tourism presence. In its present form, the proposed monitoring model can be used to examine the overtourism situation and to inform sustainable tourism policy and management for every destination.