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  • With summer travel soaring to record levels, some popular destinations are now trying to slow the surge of tourists.

  • Yeah, it's summer, but since when has you seen it even this bad?

  • Look at America's national parks.

  • National parks are like the Disneyland of outdoors.

  • They are super packed, super touristy.

  • More parks are having to require timed entry reservations this summer to ease congestion, like Mount Rainier, which saw a 40% increase in visitation over the past decade.

  • As overtourism has become a growing challenge across the country, residents in iconic destinations pushing back.

  • It gets busier, earlier and earlier every single year.

  • It's all part of a larger travel boom.

  • Travelers in the U.S. spent $1.3 trillion in 2023, producing an economic footprint of nearly three trillion bucks.

  • And the impact of the pandemic on overtourism was to accentuate it, because frankly, we want to travel now more than ever.

  • A boost that in some cases comes at a cost.

  • Recently, thousands of protesters in Spain calling out mass tourism and its impact on local affordable housing.

  • At Japan's magnificent Mount Fuji, there's a new fee and visitor cap.

  • And even Venice, Italy, a tourist mainstay...

  • St. Mark's Square is super crowded.

  • ... is now charging day trippers to help thin out throngs of sightseers.

  • Every major country in the world is staring down the barrel of this issue.

  • Too many tourists in the same place at the same time.

  • And perhaps unsurprisingly, experts say one of the biggest drivers of overtourism is social media.

  • Many vacationers flocking to popular photo and video spots to snap that perfect selfie.

  • But I'll say this, I think that's so true because I get ideas from social media. - Exactly.

  • So pros and cons to it.

  • I get you and everyone else getting an idea from social media.

  • I know, I know.

  • So at a certain point, you start to lose the authenticity of the location when there's throngs of people there.

  • Yeah, you lose interest in going as much.

  • I just want to go alone, right?

  • That would be nice.

  • Yeah.

  • All right, Emily, thanks.

  • Thank you.

With summer travel soaring to record levels, some popular destinations are now trying to slow the surge of tourists.

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