The doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel鈥檚 house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It鈥檚 a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy.

There鈥檚 precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of 鈥渙vertourism.鈥�

Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 funny,鈥� he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the 鈥渢uk-tuk鈥� of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are forced to queue around the house on the crawl up single-lane switchbacks to Pena Palace, the onetime retreat of King Ferdinand II.

鈥淣ow I鈥檓 more isolated than during COVID,鈥� the soft-spoken Pimentel, who lives alone, said during an interview this month on the veranda. 鈥淣ow I try to (not) go out. What I feel is: angry.鈥�

This is a story of what it means to be visited in 2024, the first year in which global tourism is expected to set records since the coronavirus pandemic brought much of life on Earth to a halt. Wandering is surging, rather than leveling off, driven by lingering revenge travel, and so-called in part for skyrocketing housing prices.

Anyone paying attention during this summer of 鈥渙vertourism鈥� is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And 鈥渁nti-tourism鈥� protests intended to shame visitors as they dine 鈥� or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.

The demonstrations are an example of locals using the power of their numbers and social media to issue destination leaders an ultimatum: Manage this issue better or we鈥檒l scare away the tourists 鈥� who could spend their $11.1 trillion a year elsewhere. Housing prices, traffic and water management are on all of the checklists.

Cue the violins, you might grouse, for people like Pimentel who are well-off enough to live in places worth visiting. But it鈥檚 more than a problem for rich people.

鈥淣ot to be able to get an ambulance or to not be able to get my groceries is a rich people problem?鈥� said Matthew Bedell, another resident of Sintra, which has no pharmacy or grocery store in the center of the district. 鈥淭hose don鈥檛 feel like rich people problems to me.鈥�

What is 鈥榦vertourism,鈥� anyway?

The phrase itself generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefitting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.

It鈥檚 a hashtag that gives a name to the protests and hostility that you鈥檝e seen all summer. But look a little deeper and you鈥檒l find knottier issues for locals and their leaders, none more universal than housing prices driven up by short-term rentals like Airbnb, from Spain to South Africa. Some locales are encouraging 鈥渜uality tourism,鈥� generally defined as more consideration by visitors toward residents and less drunken behavior, disruptive selfie-taking and other questionable choices.

鈥淥vertourism is arguably a social phenomenon, too,鈥� according to an analysis for the World Trade Organization written by Joseph Martin Cheer of Western Sydney University and Marina Novelli of the University of Nottingham. In China and India, for example, they wrote, crowded places are more socially accepted. 鈥淭his suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ.鈥�

The summer of 2023 was defined by the chaos of the journey itself 鈥� , . Yet by the end of the year, signs abounded that the COVID-19 rush of revenge travel was accelerating.

In January, the United Nations鈥� tourism agency predicted that worldwide tourism would exceed the records set in 2019 by 2%. By the end of March, the agency reported, more than 285 million tourists had travelled internationally, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023. Europe the most-visited destination. The World Travel & Tourism Council that 142 of 185 countries it analyzed would set records for tourism, set to generate $11.1 trillion globally and account for 330 million jobs.

Aside from the money, there鈥檚 been trouble in paradise this year, with Spain playing a starring role in everything from management problems to skyrocketing prices and drunken tourist drama.

Protests erupted across as early as March, when graffiti in Malaga reportedly urged tourists to 鈥済o f鈥斺�斺�� home.鈥� Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands against visitors and construction that was overwhelming water services and jacking up housing prices. In Barcelona, protesters shamed and squirted water at people presumed to be visitors as they dined al fresco in touristy Las Ramblas.

In Japan, where tourist arrivals fueled by the weak yen were expected to set a new record in 2024, Kyoto banned tourists from certain alleys. The government set on people climbing Mount Fuji. And in Fujikawaguchiko, a town that offers some of the best views of the mountain鈥檚 perfect cone, leaders erected a large black screen in a parking lot to deter tourists from overcrowding the site. by cutting holes in the screen at eye level.

Air travel, meanwhile, , the U.S. government reported in July. UNESCO has warned of potential damage to protected areas. And Fodor鈥檚 鈥� 鈥� urged people to reconsider visiting suffering hotspots, including sites in Greece and Vietnam, as well as areas with water management problems in California, India and Thailand.

Not-yet-hot spots looked to capitalize on 鈥渄e-touristing鈥� drives such as Amsterdam鈥檚 鈥淪tay Away鈥� campaign aimed at partying young men. . Visits to that country by foreign tourists jumped 25% the first seven months of 2024 over last year.

Tourism is surging and shifting so quickly, in fact, that some experts say the very term 鈥渙vertourism鈥� is outdated.

Michael O鈥橰egan, a lecturer on tourism and events at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that 鈥渙vertourism鈥� has become a buzzword that doesn鈥檛 reflect the fact that the experience depends largely on the success or failure of crowd management. It鈥檚 true that many of the demonstrations aren鈥檛 aimed at the tourists themselves, but at the leaders who allow the locals who should benefit to become the ones who pay.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been backlash against the business models on which modern tourism has been built and the lack of response by politicians,鈥� he said in an interview. Tourism 鈥渃ame back quicker than we expected,鈥� he allows, but tourists aren鈥檛 the problem. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a global fight for tourists. We can鈥檛 ignore that. 鈥� So what happens when we get too many tourists? Destinations need to do more research.鈥�

Of visitors vs being visited

Virpi Makela can describe exactly what happens in her corner of Sintra.

Incoming guests at Casa do Valle, her hillside bed-and-breakfast near the village center, call Makela in anguish because they cannot figure out how to find her property amid Sintra鈥檚 鈥渄isorganized鈥� traffic rules that seem to change without notice.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a pillar in the middle of the road that goes up and down and you can鈥檛 go forward because you ruin your car. So you have to somehow come down but you can鈥檛 turn around, so you have to back down the road,鈥� says Makela, a resident of Portugal for 36 years. 鈥淎nd then people get so frustrated they come to our road, which also has a sign that says `authorized vehicles only.鈥� And they block everything.鈥�

Nobody disputes the idea that the tourism boom in Portugal needs better management. The predicted in April that the country鈥檚 tourism sector will grow this year by 24% over 2019 levels, create 126,000 more jobs since then and account for about 20% of the national economy. driven upward in part by a growing influx of foreign investors and tourists seeking short-term rentals.

To respond, Lisbon announced plans to halve the number of tuk-tuks allowed to ferry tourists though the city and built more parking spaces for them after residents complained that they are blocking traffic.

A 40-minute train ride to the west, Sintra鈥檚 municipality has invested in more parking lots outside town and youth housing at lower prices near the center, the mayor鈥檚 office said.

More than 3 million people every year visit the mountains and castles of Sintra, long one of Portugal鈥檚 wealthiest regions for its cool microclimate and scenery. Sintra City Hall also said via email that fewer tickets are now sold to the nearby historic sites. Pena Palace, for example, began this year to permit less than half the 12,000 tickets per day sold there in the past.

It鈥檚 not enough, say residents, who have organized into QSintra, an association that鈥檚 challenging City Hall to 鈥減ut residents first鈥� with better communication, to start. They also want to know the government鈥檚 plan for managing guests at a new hotel being constructed to increase the number of overnight stays, and more limits on the number of cars and visitors allowed.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not against tourists,鈥� reads the group鈥檚 manifesto. 鈥淲e鈥檙e against the pandemonium that (local leaders) cannot resolve.鈥�