The Biggest Destination News From July 2024

July was a busy month for destinations across the globe, from a major hurricane in the Caribbean to global tourism growth, destinations finding ways to combat overtourism and much more. 

Curious to see what you might have missed? Read about the biggest destination news below, and click the links provided to read the full stories. 

Hurricane Beryl

The beginning of July saw a Category 5 hurricane barrel through parts of the Caribbean. Hurricane Beryl hit parts of Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica and Mexico. 

As we continue covering the fallout from Hurricane Beryl, Caribbean nations, which rely upon tourism as their main economic driver, have reported ways that they are receiving aid and trying to rebuild following what has been called the strongest hurricane to have formed in June in the region’s history. 

Global Tourism Growth

This July, we’ve seen a lot of news about destinations around the world seeing record tourism growth, from both popular destinations and ones that have less visited. 

Japan is seeing record numbers of travelers visiting as the Yen reaches a 38-year low. It set a record high for monthly visitation in June, welcoming 3.14 million travelers in a single month. The first half of the year is also a record six-month period, with just under 18 million international arrivals.

Mount Fuji viewed from the lake in autumn. (Photo Credit: Phattana / Adobe Stock)

The tourism boom is also hitting Buenos Aires, Argentina, and it’s mostly attributed to American tourists: last year, the Argentine capital saw an 11 percent year-over-year increase in American visitors.

The boom is expected to hit the rest of Latin America, too: the World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest economic impact report found that the region will generate $260 billion and create 8 million jobs by 2025. 

Closer to home, the U.S. Department of Commerce has reported that its plan for the nation to welcome 90 million international travelers annually by 2027 might be completed a year ahead of schedule. New International Trade Administration data suggests that we’ll be welcoming 91 million travelers in 2026. 

The data also reported that between 2020 and 2023, dubbed the “pre-pandemic recovery period” for many countries’ travel and tourism industries, international visitation to the U.S. grew 246 percent to 66.5 million travelers.

The Overtourism Problem

As we’ve seen the past several years, overtourism is a bane to popular destinations worldwide, and there have been a lot of headlines featuring ways these destinations are trying to curb the detrimental effects of overtourism. 

We see this especially in Spain, where millions of travelers visit each summer from around the globe. In Barcelona, residents protested overtourism by taking to the streets, spraying tourists with water, and urging them to leave. The city’s housing costs have risen nearly 70 percent in the last decade, spurred by short-term vacation rentals taking housing away from residents. 

One way the city is responding to its residents’ needs is by substantially raising the tourist tax for travelers visiting the city for less than 12 hours. This includes cruise tourists. The amount these travelers will have to pay has not yet been announced. 

On the small Spanish island of Mallorca, residents also protested overtourism, waving signs that said things like, “Tourists, we love you when you don’t buy our land” and “Your paradise is our nightmare.” An estimated 50,000 protestors demonstrated in Palma de Mallorca. 

It’s not just happening in Spain, though: South Korea’s government is stepping in to monitor Seoul’s Bukchon Hanok Village neighborhood after residents reported being overrun by tourists. A curfew for non-residents is among the new regulations. 

Some destinations are reporting new ways to solve the problem: Amsterdam is planning to ban all large ocean cruise ships by 2035, and announced plans to halve the amount of cruise ships visiting the city by 2026. 

The biodiverse Galapagos Islands is doubling its tourist fee from $100 to $200 to try and discourage too many travelers from visiting at once and raise funds for sustainability and conservation initiatives, and Venice’s trial run of its tourism tax program has yielded great success for the city: it earned $2.64 million for the city and saw a decrease in day-trippers on traditionally popular days. 

Copenhagen Launches New Green Economy Initiative, CopenPay

The city of Copenhagen has launched a new way to incentivize travelers to engage in green travel initiatives, called CopenPay. Travelers can receive free access to museums, free meals and other fun activities by participating in activities like using public transportation, participating in a cleanup effort or other eco-friendly experiences. 

Greek Officials Believe Current Tourism Numbers Are Not Fiscally Viable

Officials in Greece have reported that current tourism numbers aren’t supporting the Greek economy the way it should. According to Athens’ mayor, every tourist who visits the city only injects €0.40 to the economy. Last year, 33 million travelers visited Greece, and the travel industry comprised 25-30 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. 

Greece has added a climate crisis resilience tax onto international visitors’ hotel bills to help fund climate mitigation and crisis response due to climate change. 

Paris Tourism Takes a Hit: Fewer Travelers Expected for Upcoming Summer Olympics

Flag bearing the official logo of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/kovop58)

Fewer travelers are expected to visit Paris during the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, according to several sources. Delta Air Lines and Air France both expect to lose over $100 million this summer as they over-increased capacity to the city, while luxury travel advisors are reporting that their clients are heading everywhere but the City of Light this summer. 

US-Europe Tourism Trade Gap Reaches Two-Decade High Amid Strong Dollar

Last year, the tourism-related trade gap between America and Europe grew to a two-decade high. How? 

It’s simple: more Americans are spending more in Europe than Europeans are spending here in America. The trade deficit is $27.3 billion, and it’s the largest trade gap since the early 2000s, spurred on by a strengthening American dollar that discourages Europeans from visiting and increase in prices in Europe that don’t seem to be hindering Americans from visiting. 

Cayman Islands Contends with Cruise Call Decline

While plenty of developing island nations in the Caribbean are beginning to receive their spot in the limelight in cruise tourism, the Cayman Islands is experiencing a decline in cruise calls that will, within the next two years, halve the amount of ships visiting the islands. 

The reason for this is local voters repeatedly struck down a bill that would build the country’s first permanent cruise pier for large ships. Currently, cruisers have to take smaller boats, called tenders, to reach Grand Cayman. As ships continue growing in size, cruise lines are choosing to sail more in destinations that already have infrastructure prepared for them. 

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