As holidaymakers across the globe brace for their summer vacation, locals at beloved destinations are bracing for the influx of tourists. Many communities across popular European destinations, such as Spain, France and of course Greece are struggling with overtourism, which can become overwhelming—even in places it’s hard to imagine. Using the most recent data from the European Commission, a new analysis by UK consumer group Which? crowned the Greek island of Zakynthos as Europe’s most overcrowded tourist destination.
Dubbed “the capital of overtourism,” Zakynthos (also known as Zante), with a population of about 40,000 and dozens of world-famed turquoise beaches, recorded approximately six million overnight tourist stays in 2023—that’s an overwhelming 150 visitor stays per resident. By the European Commission’s definition of “tourism pressure” (tourist stays per resident), this places Zakynthos at the top of Europe’s overtourism list.
“Zante does not have the most visitors in absolute terms but compared to residents, the volume of tourists is huge,” Which? said.
“The results of this level of tourism vary, but broadly it means a holiday there, is mostly spent in the company of other tourists while shops, restaurants and cultural experiences will often be aimed (and priced) at tourists rather than locals,” the group added.
The second most crowded tourist resort in Europe, according to the Which? report is Istria, in Croatia, still regularly referred to as the country’s “best-kept secret.”
While Zakynthos leads the list in tourist pressure, Greece overall features prominently across the list, with four of the top 10 most crowded European destinations being Greek.
Following Zakynthos are the Dodecanese islands (including Kos, Rhodes, Kalymnos and Karpathos), followed by the Cyclades islands (Andros, Santorini, Kea, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Syros, Tinos) and Corfu (Kerkyra).
The report comes as the issue of overtourism has been gripping Europe, with locals in many hotspots, like Barcelona, where last year locals resorted to using water guns to deter rowdy tourists, voicing their frustration.
The analysis used three European Commission indicators to assess overtourism: the number of tourist stays per resident, total overnight stays, and overnight stays per square kilometer.
While Zakynthos is the most crowded tourist destination in terms of number of tourist stays per resident, in terms of tourist density per square kilometer, a measure especially relevant to cities, central Athens ranks second in Europe with over 88,000 stays per square kilometer, followed by Copenhagen, Denmark with over 63,000 stays per square kilometer. Paris tops the list with over 418,000 stays per square kilometer.
In terms of total overnight stays, Mallorca, Spain leads with over 51 million stays as the most visited destination in Europe, followed by Paris (43,919,010 stays) and Rome (41,135,744).
“It’s clear that some feel a tipping point has been reached,” says Rory Boland, editor of Which?. “The negative side of a booming tourist trade, whether that’s increasing house prices, anti-social behavior or pressure on local services, is outweighing the benefits.”
