Overtourism has been the key word of the summer for many holidaymakers and residents in Europe. July saw protests against tourists in Barcelona and Mallorca, with some angry locals even squirting water on visiting diners.
The term overtourism is when so many people visit a place on holiday, it causes damage to the location and makes life difficult for those who live there.
"Overtourism is not an objective category, it's more that people experience it's too much, it's subjective," Lars Fuglsang, Professor of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University, told The Local.
"The risks of overtourism are that it's difficult to get an apartment in the city because AirBnB take over the market and house prices increase. Tourists take up public space and noise increases, as well as garbage in the city, so there can be a lot of problems and I think the attention on this is growing also in Copenhagen," Fuglsang explained.
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"Specifically you might have problems with bikes that tourists are renting and not always knowing traffic rules. Often tourists are more noisy, maybe they drink more alcohol than residents do and so on. So some people think it's too much, even in Copenhagen and we need to reduce or spread the tourists more. It's about wanting to control it, it's not about not wanting tourists," Fuglsang added.
Tourism has increased in Denmark over recent years. Latest figures from Visit Denmark show there were 6.2 million overnight stays from tourists in Denmark in May 2024, which is 4.5 percent higher than in May 2023.
The total number of overnight stays from tourists in Denmark in 2023 was 63 million. This is an increase of 12.4 percent from 2019 and 0.2 percent compared to 2022. The overnight stays cover hotels, rented holiday homes, campsites, marinas, hostels and holiday centres.
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The most popular destination in 2023 according to Visit Denmark, unsurprisingly was Copenhagen. This was followed by Vesterhavet, the west coast region which includes Varde and Ringkøbing-Skjern. Third was the north-west coast, which includes Hjørring, Holstebro, Jammerbugt, Lemvig, Thisted. The places with the fewest amount of tourists in 2023 were Herning and Ikast-Brande.
"I think it's a divided situation that of course some businesses are happy about it, they invest a lot of effort into tourism but if you go to central Copenhagen you can find people who are opposed to tourism," Fuglsang said.
"During the summer there have been situations with festivals, where attitudes have been mixed whether the residents want to have the tourism that comes with them, for example with the festival Musik i Lejet in Tisvildeleje. There's scepticism from some people who have lived there a long time but others want to bring life to their community, so it's a divided situation."
Musik i Lejet is a festival that started with 700 festival goers in 2009 and now has around 10,000 across its four days in July. The small town where it's located, in Gribskov Municipality on the north-west coast of Zealand, only has 1,400 residents and some have complained about the negative consequences on their lives and local businesses during the festival season.
There has also been a rise in complaints from local residents about motorhome tourists blocking scenic views and littering. Danish authorities are now implementing regulations to limit or ban parking in certain areas.
Copenhagen announced this month it will reward visitors and locals for green good deeds - like picking up rubbish or taking the bus - with free food, coffee or cultural activities, to promote eco-friendly tourism, which will also ease tensions between locals and tourists.
What hasn't yet happened but is being debated is an introduction of tourism tax to Denmark's capital. The Copenhagen Municipality city council is in favour of tourism tax but so far the government's business minister is not.
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The increase in people visiting Denmark has been linked to the popularity of "coolcations". This is where travellers seek cooler climates for their holiday due to the global rise in temperatures.
"I don't think we've really tapped into it but there is great potential there and for other Nordic countries which can absorb more nature tourism than Denmark, where it's mainly beaches. A few years ago everyone wanted Southern European beaches, now people think it's too hot and want to come to Denmark, which is also a friendly tourist nation generally. We take good care of tourists and it's a peaceful country," Fuglsang told The Local.
Danes have been recently happy with the current levels of tourism: eight out of 10 Danes in both 2021 and 2022 thought tourism had more positive than negative consequences for Denmark, especially its contribution to the local economy and atmosphere in local areas.
But with visitor numbers ever-increasing and residents protective over their home; overtourism is never far away and Denmark is having to adapt its tourism strategy to avoid it.
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