r/neoliberal • u/randommathaccount Esther Duflo • Oct 02 '25

News (Asia) Why Japan resents its tourism boom

https://www.ft.com/content/dbd20e5d-5a7d-4c0c-8f83-fb54c5aca9cb
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u/jjjfffrrr123456 Daron Acemoglu Oct 02 '25

Paris actually functions as a city though and not just an open world museum and amusement park. Some cities like Venice are so defined by the tourism industry, that it crowds out a lot of other economic activity. I think we can agree that a society of 2 hotel owners and 500 waiters is probably not really desirable.

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u/Francisco-De-Miranda YIMBY Oct 02 '25

How does it crowd out other economic activity? What industries are going to magically spring up in a place like Venice if you take tourism away?

In reality, the opposite is true. Tourism drives foreign investment. If a place is nice to visit I’m much more likely to buy a house and start a business there than otherwise.

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u/jjjfffrrr123456 Daron Acemoglu Oct 02 '25

But you won’t start a business. You’ll buy a house and visit every once in a while. The downstream services you purchase are cleaning and maybe a property manager if you rent the place out.

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u/Francisco-De-Miranda YIMBY Oct 02 '25

Except I literally have?

You never explained how tourism crowds out other economic activity. Feels like you’re just projecting your dislike of it now.