Many travellers now wish to keep away from contributing to issues of overtourism and are in search of various locations the place they nonetheless carry advantages.
Overtourism has been plaguing European locations since journey rebounded post-pandemic, exacerbated by low-cost flights and a surging cruise business.
As soon as hailed as a golden alternative, the recognition of digital nomad visas has additionally turned bitter as overseas employees worth out native residents, drive gentrification and put a pressure onnative providers.
This yr has seen a slew of recent rules to mitigate the results of out-of-control customer numbers, from vacationer taxes to selfie bans.
Some locations that when welcomed digital nomads have eliminated incentives – Portugal not affords its non-habitual tax residency (NHR), which facilitated a flat earnings tax charge of 20 per cent.
In lots of locations, overtourism measures haven’t been deemed efficient sufficient. This yr has seen residents throughout Europe from the Balearics to Venice protesting in opposition to unsustainable vacationer numbers.
In response, many travellers now wish to keep away from contributing to overtourism by in search of various locations the place they nonetheless carry advantages to the economic system and residents.
Listed below are locations in Europe which are enthusiastically welcoming vacationers and digital nomads.
Extremadura lures digital nomads with €15,000 grants
Extremadura, an autonomous neighborhood bordering Portugal, is one in every of Spain’s lesser visited areas regardless of being house to lush nature reserves, wild mountain ranges and a capital scattered with Roman ruins.
The regional authorities started providing digital nomads as much as €15,000 this yr to maneuver to the realm.
The autonomous neighborhood has one of many lowest populations in Spain and is without doubt one of the least-developed areas. It has one of many nation’s lowest GDPs per capita and one of many highest charges of unemployment at 17.6 per cent in comparison with the nationwide common of 11.9 per cent.
To bolster each the inhabitants and the economic system, authorities in Extremadura have earmarked €2 million that might be used to assist the relocation of 200 distant employees and digital nomads to the area.
Discover out extra on who’s eligible and tips on how to apply right here.
Spain’s rural communities are ‘reinvigorated’ by digital nomads
Depopulation is threatening the survival of many small villages and cities in Spain, as youthful generations particularly migrate to bigger cities.
“Spain is without doubt one of the nations in Europe with the largest demographic hole,” founding father of co-living expertise Rooral Juan Barbed advised Euronews Journey. “Half our villages are dying, like within the terminal stage.”
He and co-founder Ana Amrein created an affiliation that companions with small villages affected by inhabitants decline to welcome distant employees.
Rooral now has a everlasting base within the Andalucian village of Benarrabá and residents say they’re delighted by the newcomers.
Spain’s villages wish to lure vacationers away from the cities
Spain’s rural villages are additionally eager to tempt vacationers away from hotspot cities and the busy shoreline.
Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España is an affiliation of 116 of Spain’s most lovely villages and cities celebrated for his or her structure, cultural heritage and inexperienced areas.
Amongst them is Anento, mendacity in a limestone valley within the province of Zaragoza.
A decade in the past, the village had simply 100 inhabitants and welcomed 2,000 guests a yr. Now some 45,000 vacationers arrive yearly drawn by its cobalt-coloured pure spring and putting Gothic church.
The 114-resident-strong village of Libros is leveraging its title – that means books – to rebrand itself because the literary capital of Spain.
A social media publish from a Spanish author asking why the neighborhood had no library prompted greater than 50,000 books to be donated from everywhere in the world to Libros.
There are actually plans to assemble a hotel-library and redevelop the previous mining district that halted work in 1956.
Streets within the city have additionally been renamed after well-known writers, and there are plans to create a literary avenue with lampposts bearing quotes from books.
Greenland opens new airport to spice up tourism
Greenland is seeking to welcome an growing variety of vacationers by opening a brand new airport within the capital.
Nuuk airport, which opened on 1 December, affords routes connecting town with practically all cities within the nation and a few worldwide locations.
There are additionally plans for a second worldwide touchdown strip to be constructed within the widespread northern metropolis of Ilulissat in 2026.
Greenland is looking for to spice up year-round tourism. Whereas guests flock to the nation in the summertime months to get pleasure from journey sports activities and nature tourism, it’s more durable to encourage journeys in the course of the chilly, darkish winter.
Amenities like aurora cabins and igloos are popping as much as tempt guests to lesser-trod northern areas searching for spectacular astronomical experiences.
‘In some cities they don’t need you, however in Romania we love you’
Romania turned a part of the Schengen Zone this yr, making arrivals from inside the free journey space smoother and swifter.
It coincides with a push by the nation and its tourism operators to spice up customer numbers.
A number of campaigns have been launched to place the nation on travellers’ radars. TouristGo.ro is an initiative that’s calling on music lovers to attend the Electrical Fort pageant in July 2025.
In a promotional video, the occasion organisers say they’re making an attempt to assist Spain’s combat in opposition to overtourism by sending vacationers to Romania as a substitute.
Slogans on their web site learn “In some cities they don’t need you, however in Romania we love you” and “Whereas some locations battle with too many guests, others would love the eye”.
As a part of the marketing campaign, the web site additionally shares a number of recommendations on what to see, do and eat in Romania.
