Overtourism and Migrant Economic Activity

This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge of the relationship between overtourism and migrant economic activity at a destination level. While the displacement effects of overtourism are well documented, the employment/self-employment impacts of overtourism remain under-researched. Drawing on existing literature, the analysis offers a conceptual framework that explains the impact of overtourism on the economic activity of locals and migrants, and the mobilities at play between the tourist zone and the peripheral zone. Several key elements stand out: the extent to which the economic base has been restructured, the extent to which locals gain employment in tourism, mobility patterns between the tourist zone and the peripheral zone, ownership of economic resources (capital) and levels of entrepreneurship/self-employment.