Archetypes of Locals in Destinations Victim of Overtourism

Abstract

This research note addresses overtourism from locals’ perspective. The main contribution of this research note is that locals, as volatile groups have also proven to be resilient in some cases. This resilience has been developed through an ambidextrous approach, which is the balance between exploitation (using a negative situation) and exploration (turning it into something positive). The paper identified four archetypes of locals in regard to their attitudes towards tourists in an overtourism context: victims, peaceful activists, vandals, and resilient locals.

Keywords: Overtourism, Authenticity, Tourismphobia, Empowerment, Visitors, Locals