Too much tourism? A new interactive map offers a detailed analysis of the Italian destinations most at risk of overtourism. The Overall Index of Tourism Overtourism (Icst), uses five indicators to assess the impact of tourism on several Italian cities and regions, revealing how excessive tourism can negatively affect local communities and the environment.

The research focused on major Italian cities and tourist destinations such as Venice, Florence, Rome and Milan, while also highlighting risks to destinations such as Bolzano, Livorno, Trento and Verona. According to the analysis, many of these cities fall into the Icst “very high” level, with concerns for local quality of life and tourism sustainability.

The Icst is based on five main indicators: tourist density, accommodation density, tourist intensity, facility occupancy and share of waste generated. Cities have been classified into three levels of risk:

Very high level: Rimini, Venice, Bolzano, Livorno, Trento, Verona, Naples.
High level: Milan, Savona, Ravenna, Rome, Trieste, Imperia, La Spezia, Grosseto, Florence, Gorizia, Aosta, Forlì-Cesena.
Moderate level: Siena, Monza della Brianza, Brescia, Padua, Genoa, Sassari, Vibo Valentia (including Tropea), Lucca, Pistoia, Como, Bologna, Pisa, Pesaro and Urbino.

Overtourism poses a threat both to the sustainability of tourist destinations and to the quality of the experience of visitors and residents. We speak of overtourism when we exceed the simple physical or ecological hosting capacity of a location, but also when mass tourism makes certain areas economically and socially unlivable.