Managing tourist congestion: insights from Chinese package tours to the UK and Ireland

Abstract

The UNWTO notes that the successful management of tourist congestion is highly dependent on controlling travel demand. It is surprising, therefore, that demand management has been largely overlooked in the tourism literature, as have the roles of both tour operators and package tours in contributing to congestion or overtourism. Tour operators wield considerable power in ‘channelling’ customers to certain destinations and consequently play a major role in contributing to unsustainable mass tourist congestion. This research visualizes the spatial patterns of People’s Republic of China package tour itineraries at peak season to the UK, which is then confirmed by statistical tests. The study confirms the important role of tour operators and package tours in distributing tourists in the UK and in confirming and accentuating its ‘hotspots’. It highlights the power relationships and the spatial dynamism in the formation of overtourism. The study makes recommendations for managing tourist congestion in the post-pandemic world in the UK and elsewhere, largely related to encouraging tour operators and travel agencies to diversify their tourist product offerings.