Why overtourism could ruin your next vacation | Suresh Subudhi

0:00There are many podcasts you can turn to for work advice, but on our show, Fixable, we help real people just like you tackle real workplace challenges fast. I'm CEO and bestselling author, Anne Morris. And I'm Harvard Business School professor, Frances Fry, and we are the hosts of the TED podcast, Fixable. Whether you're lacking confidence at your new job, feeling burned out, or struggling to lead your team through a big change, we won't shy away from any problem. We bring our clear thinking, honest opinions, and expertise to solve your toughest workplace issues through practical solutions. Hear new episodes of Fixable every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts.

0:38This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire can cost you time, money, and momentum. A good hire, they can help grow your business. But finding great talent isn't easy, especially when you don't have the time or resources to sift through piles of resumes to find the right fit. That's why LinkedIn built HiringPro, your new hiring partner that screens candidates for you, so instead of sorting through applications, you can spend your time talking to candidates who are actually a good fit. With HiringPro, you can hire with confidence knowing you're getting the best talent for your business.

1:20In fact, according to LinkedIn, those hiring with LinkedIn are 24 % less likely to need to reopen a role within 12 months compared to the leading competitor. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash tedbiz, spelled B-I-Z. Terms and conditions apply. One of my great passions in life is travel. I've traveled for fun. I've traveled for work. I've traveled with friends. I've traveled under the sea. I've traveled across the savannas. I've traveled with my students, my parents, my nephew, my nieces. It's something special I share with the people I love.

2:07Like, hey, let's see a new part of the world together. Let's meet new people and learn about their histories and experience different cultures and different ways of life. That curiosity has always been a central part of who I am. But as I've grown and changed, so has the tourism industry. Social media and over-tourism have made even some of the most magical places feel like a jam-packed selfie line. Cities like Barcelona have begun to push back on the giant crowd of tourists visiting each year, going so far as to appoint a new commissioner for sustainable tourism. But what role can we, the travelers, play in protecting the places we love to visit and want to preserve?

2:57I'm Madhupa Canola. This is TED Business, a podcast from TED. Our speaker today, travel industry expert Suresh Sabuti, wants us to reflect on our travel habits. Because the truth is, we're loving these places to death. Not only is increased tourism making it unpleasant for fellow travelers, it's actually driving up costs for local residents to the point where these places are becoming unlivable. But the good news is, people who love to travel can grow along with the industry and figure out new ways to inhabit old places. Suresh tells us it's the difference between being a tourist and being a joyful guest.

3:42Then after the talk, I'll ask you how you can be a joyful guest in your own life. But first, a quick break.

3:54This episode is brought to you by PAKA. I'm always on the hunt for those staple pieces I can easily pack and know I'll be comfortable no matter what I'm doing. At this point, I don't travel anywhere without my Paka hoodie and original cruise sweater. They're both made with the same care and unmistakable softness. Paka creates outdoor and lifestyle apparel from alpaca fiber, one of the most sustainable natural fibers on the planet. Their signature hoodie is unbelievably soft, warmer than wool, yet still breathable enough to wear through whatever the day brings. It's built for real life, thermoregulating, odor-resistant, durable, and made to last.

4:39And I'm not the only one who loves it. More than 250 ,000 people have already picked up theirs. Once you feel the quality of Paka, you'll understand why people keep coming back. To grab your Paka hoodie, go to www.pakaapparel.com. That's www.pakaapparel.com. This episode is brought to you by Paka. I'm always on the hunt for those staple pieces I can easily pack and know I'll be comfortable no matter what I'm doing. At this point, I don't travel anywhere without my Paka hoodie and original cruise sweater. They're both made with the same care and unmistakable softness. Paka creates outdoor and lifestyle apparel from alpaca fiber, one of the most sustainable natural fibers on the planet.

5:33Their signature hoodie is unbelievably soft, warmer than wool, yet still breathable enough to wear through whatever the day brings. It's built for real life, thermoregulating, odor-resistant, durable, and made to last. And I'm not the only one who loves it. More than 250 ,000 people have already picked up theirs. Once you feel the quality of Paka, you'll understand why people keep coming back. To grab your Paka hoodie, go to www.pakaapparel.com. That's www.pakaapparel.com.

6:16And now, Suresh Saboudi takes the TED stage. Last July, I was in Rome. I walked from my hotel to the Trevi Fountain on the cobbled streets lined with beautiful cafes, bustling with residents and travelers drinking their espressos and cheering and greeting each other. Small souvenir shops selling beautiful replicas of the collosium, the Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings. What an atmosphere. I soaked it all in, reached the Trevi Fountain, grabbed my favorite pistachio gelato and looked at the marvelous views. A perfect Roman holiday. Suddenly, my alarm rang and I woke up from my dream. I was in Rome.

7:16I did walk from my hotel to the Trevi Fountain. But I felt rushed. The cafes were crowded. People had to even queue outside. The shopkeepers had no time to entertain visitors. I reached the Trevi Fountain and forget grabbing my favorite pistachio gelato or finding a bench to sit. I couldn't get to the steps. Thousands and thousands of people all around. Have you felt the same way when you reach your dream destination? You feel as if it has been overrun. You feel as if it has become a selfie queue. I had the same feeling. And this is not an isolated incident. I had the same exact experience in Tokyo when I went there during the cherry blossom season.

8:16Tourists crowd every park in the city to get the glimpse of the famous sakura. I asked a resident, how does he feel seeing so many tourists all around? He told me that he doesn't bring his family anymore for a picnic under the sakura. That response broke my heart. We are loving our favorite destinations to death. We are overrunning them. And residents are pushing back. Because it's impacting their livability. Their cost of living is increasing. Congestions on the road, rental prices, food prices. They are pushing back. And they are pushing back like in Barcelona. With the graffiti asking tourists to go home.

9:10In Barcelona, in Italy, in Portugal. Residents are pushing back. I have been researching the travel industry for the last 20 years. and my two research subjects, the residents and the traveler, are on a collision course like never before. We have a travel crisis. The travel industry employs about 300 million people globally and it's going to be a 15 trillion dollar industry by 2040. Too large, too many livelihoods at stake for us to ignore this crisis. But let me pause and ask you a question. Why do we travel? We travel for joy. Joy by experiencing the diversity this world has to offer. Joy by experiencing different lives.

10:05Joy through a shared connection. My daughter, son and wife are here and I want them to experience the same joy I experienced in my Roman dream. I want all of you to experience the same joy. We need to bring joy back in travel. But it's a complex problem. We have millions of tourists getting inspired by social media and planning the travel destinations and planning the travel itineraries. We have the travel industry which is looking for short-term profits and we have cities who don't know how to manage the tourist inflow. There is a path forward though. With the use of technology like AI and simple behavior changes, we could bring joy back in travel.

10:55Now imagine if we were to make the entire travel industry's objective, the airlines, the hotel, the travel tour operators, to bring joy to both residents as well as the travelers. and they have everything at their disposal, from technology to people to skilling, they will rise to the occasion. They will do three things. One, help manage crowd, help discover authentic experiences and help drive a really, really respectful connection between the resident and the traveler. In your last trip, did you feel like rushed? Did you feel like you were going through a checklist, moving from one place to another place?

11:40Did it feel like a chore or did you feel joy? We all are super busy and we all land up to the same destinations during the same peak season times without realizing quieter seasons, quieter times or hidden paths. What if technology could help us figure that out? Feel Florence is an app by the city of Florence which helps exactly do this for the travelers. It uses the data from sensors, from cameras to understand crowded locations and recommends personalized travel itineraries for tourists. It sends user alerts to avoid crowded locations. When this happens, it balances the load and it is beneficial for both the tourists as well as the residents.

12:36Cities are going down that path. Amsterdam and even religious cities like Mecca or Varanasi are increasingly using technology to manage crowd. What was your last unforgettable trip? Was it the famous landmark Instagrammable picture? Or was it a shared smile with someone? Or was it a story that somebody told you? Of course, in the backdrop of a beautiful nature or a beautiful surrounding. I asked the same question to my friend. He said, if I ignore my bachelorette party outside, my last unforgettable trip was in Vietnam. A fisherman took me on his boat ride, told me stories about Vietnam, told me stories about that life.

13:30He has lived there and I cannot forget that. What a beautiful connection. For me, it was my experience in Istanbul, in Turkey, where a cheerful cafe owner took interest in me and told me the history of Turkish tea, how to make it and how to drink it. Whenever I think about Turkey or Istanbul, my heart fills with joy. This is what we crave. This is what we seek. I'm sure some of you have been stranded at airports because of airline disruptions. The airline has two options. One, to check you into a hotel overlooking the terminal or maybe organize a Turkish tea-making workshop. Maybe some of us will like it and if we like it, we will become a loyal customer of the airline.

14:23Same is the case with hotels. If hotels can use technology to give custom concierges, which speaks in your language, curates local suggestions, helps you discover hidden gems, and walks along with you, you will become a loyal customer of the hotel. Imagine the possibilities of uncovering authentic experiences that give us true joy. many residents in the destinations we love don't see the direct benefits of a traveler. They only see the negative side. I know we are contributing to the local economy through our money. But that may not be enough. And even if we want to contribute through our time, we don't know how to do it.

15:20Residents feel like how I used to feel as a child when unexpected guests arrived in my house Especially if they didn't carry any special gifts for me I barely uttered a smile and I wished that they leave as soon as possible I'm sure many of you, if you could find a way to contribute through your time, you would Again, things are changing on this front Golden Volunteer is an example of a platform which connects volunteers with organizations and projects looking for volunteers. It in fact goes to the extent of doing volunteer background check. If we can unleash a gratitude marketplace at scale, we will create a deep connection between the traveler and the resident.

16:08Copenhagen is going on that path. With Copenhagen, you get points. if you do gardening, you get points if you do cycling and you can use those points for redeeming against attractions. If you had the opportunity to contribute with your time, what would you do? Some of you are animal lovers. You may want to be part of the elephant rescue centers in Thailand or want to be part of sea turtle rescue centers in India. If you are environment or nature lover, you may want to be part of coral reef preservation in the Great Barrier or in Maldives. And if you are a history lover like me, you may be wanting to be part of restoration of an 800-year-old temple.

16:56In fact, I will seek such an opportunity and bake it in my itinerary because I would love to be part of something like this. The possibilities are infinite. The travel industry is going to grow. It's one industry that is probably encouraging tolerance in this highly polarized world. It's for us to shape positively the destinations we love and the people who call it their home. I've talked about the tools at hand and I've given you a few examples, I want to leave with one question. In your next trip, will you be a tourist or a joyful guest? It's time we bring joy back in travel. Thank you.

17:56Have you ever wanted to be part of a community with other TED Talks daily listeners or hear more from TED speakers? Becoming a TED member gets you closer to the ideas you love and supports TED's nonprofit mission to activate those ideas for a brighter future. Join our community to spark real-world change and get exclusive access to virtual events with speakers like author Anne Patchett, astronaut Chris Hadfield, social scientist Jonathan Haidt, and many more. Learn more and become a member today at TED.com slash join.

18:36That was Suresh Sabuti at TEDxBCG. I commend Suresh for getting real about overtourism. It's grim to see how much social media and the algorithms have dictated our travel plans. And it's even more heartbreaking to see the negative impact on local residents. But I also appreciate that Suresh is pointing out the possibilities for this growing industry, too. I mean, how much joy the World Cup has brought so many people this summer. And it's not just the games. Bringing so many people from around the world together has enlivened our home cities and towns. I think Suresh's point about not just rushing from place to place, not just doing it for IG, is applicable far beyond just travel.

19:24If Suresh tells us that the joy of travel is the joy of human connection, couldn't that be true of our daily lives as well? So my question for you is, in what ways can you become joyfully present in your life and in your workplace this week? How can you prioritize meaningful connection and conscious consumption? That's it for today. TED Business is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced by Hannah Kingsley-Ma, edited by Alejandra Salazar, and fact-checked by Julia Dickerson. Special thanks to Maria Lodias, Farrah Degrunge, Daniela Balarezo, Tansika Sangmanibang, and Roxanne Hilash.

20:10I'm Madhupa Akinola. Thanks for listening.

20:25Have you ever wanted to be part of a community with other TED Talks daily listeners or hear more from TED speakers? Becoming a TED member gets you closer to the ideas you love and supports TED's nonprofit mission to activate those ideas for a brighter future. Join our community to spark real world change and get exclusive access to virtual events with speakers like author Ann Patchett, astronaut Chris Hadfield, social scientist Jonathan Haidt, and many more. Learn more and become a member today at ted.com slash join.