**2. Literature Review**

Overtourism is an issue of interest for politicians, managers, researchers, and tourists. It is typically discussed in the context of sustainable development, and, specifically, sustainable tourism. Although the concept of sustainable development remains fairly ambiguous [7], it has been gradually implemented in various economic sectors, including tourism industry, where it has led to the idea of sustainable tourism.

The issue of sustainable tourism has been analysed by many researchers, both in the theoretical field [8–15] and in case studies aimed at illustrating its practical dimension [16–19]. Butler [10] presented sustainable tourism as "tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community, environment) in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an infinite period and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a degree that it prohibits the successful development and well-being of other activities and processes". Sustainable tourism is a way of organizing and managing the tourism industry [14,20,21] in which determining the acceptable level of tourist traffic growth is a very important assumption [14].

Having that in mind, one can observe not only an intensification of the effects of classical tourism dysfunctions but also the emergence of new, unfavourable consequences of tourist traffic mismanagement, including what is known as overtourism.

Though not a new phenomenon [22–27], overtourism has recently become a "buzzword", appearing in quite numerous scientific discourses, popular scientific presentations, or mass media, including news. Along with the growth of tourism popularity and hypermobility, the burning issue of "tourism saturation" [25] has emerged. This phenomenon is often discussed as it pertains to large urban agglomerations, such as Barcelona, Venice, or Berlin, whose residents openly protest against what they call "tourism flooding", "tourism invasion", or even "tourism pollution". In some tourist destinations, an unflattering atmosphere has aroused around tourists, which is referred to in scientific literature as "tourismophobia" [25,27,28].

Overtourism, now constituting a global problem [25], has been defined as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitors experiences in a negative way" [29]. Milano et al. [26] define it as "the excessive growth of visitors leading to overcrowding in areas where residents suffer the consequences of temporary and seasonal tourism peaks, which have caused permanent changes to their lifestyles, denied access to amenities and damaged their general well-being".

Despite a quite agreed-upon approach to the definition framework, overtourism is a complex phenomenon [26] and it does not simply stand for the number of tourists visiting a particular destination but for the issue of tourist capacity [24]. Since the phenomenon of "overloved cities" results from short-sighted tourism policy and poor management focused on generating maximum possible income [30], it causes a number of annoying consequences, e.g., overcrowding, degradation of both cultural and nature sites, low quality of tourists' experience, residents' dissatisfaction due to the increase in the prices of services, apartments, and real estate, and gentrification of the cities [24].

In the scientific literature, the problem of overtourism has been described many times in the context of big cities and well-known tourist destinations. Besides the flagship examples of Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Amsterdam, and Berlin, the following cases have also been mentioned:


Implementing potential solutions for the consequences of overtourism is a complex task that requires long-term strategic planning. It has been noted that "there is a pressing need to set a sustainable roadmap for urban tourism and position the sector in the wider urban agenda" [29]. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) [29] has proposed 11 strategies that may help limit the overtourism consequences:


The elements of the strategies limiting the negative impact of overtourism indicated by UNWTO [29] are included in the conceptual assumptions of tourism development in Wrocław up to 2023 [1] in the following aspects: the city tourist mission, strategic areas of tourism development and expectations of stakeholders, as well as the adopted strategic and operational objectives together with selected activities.

According to Séraphin et al. [27], branding is a very important tool to prevent the effects of overtourism by creating the desired image of a given tourist destination, e.g., by "appealing to target audience's emotional aspirations" or educating tourists [27]. The question arises as to how many destination marketing organisations use this educative function of branding to induce desired behaviours in tourists. What exactly would its efficiency depend on [34–40]?

Kruczek [24] indicates that overtourism is a "side effect" of mass tourism, affecting mostly (but not only) local communities and the natural environment. The need to move away from traditional mass tourism has been reflected in the demands for a paradigm change from the so-called 3S tourism (Sun, Sand, Sea) to 3E tourism (Entertainment, Excitement, Education) (e.g., [41]), bringing about sustainable tourism (e.g., [8,14]), various forms of alternative tourism [42,43], or ecotourism [44,45].

The greening of mass tourism [46,47] and the large-scale promotion of sustainable forms of travelling can prove to be effective ways not only to avoid the effects of overtourism but also to implement a more sustainable policy in cities, to improve the quality of life of host communities, and to raise the quality of the tourism experience.

The approach selection and strategy clarification require determination of whether overtourism is only a potential threat to a given area (destination) or a reality already. In the former case, preventive strategies should be pursued to inhibit any imbalances; in the latter situation, strategies to mitigate or eliminate the adverse effects of overtourism are essential. In any case, it is necessary to provide a diagnosis, preferably through repeated direct research in a particular location. This requires ongoing research and observation in places at risk of or already affected by overtourism, especially from the perspective of parties concerned with the phenomenon. The aim is to properly recognize the expectations and feedback of residents, the tourist industry, local authorities, and tourists themselves.

The presented paper is based on such research, which reveals the opinions of key experts, people working for the benefit of tourism, and residents, i.e., important groups of stakeholders in tourism development.

Wrocław is conveniently located in terms of tourist traffic routes and transport connections, has an interesting past, a wealth of unique monuments of history, and recognized tourist attractions. It is also a place of important events and meetings. These are among the reasons why Wrocław is one of the Polish centres attracting tourists from various countries; it is estimated that the city is visited by more than 5 million people each year [2]. It should be noted that no studies on threats of overtourism have been carried out in Wrocław so far; therefore, the survey undertaken here (limited to a specific group of respondents, treated as experts) may be considered as the first approach to diagnosing the overtourism problem.
