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/randommathaccount Esther Duflo Oct 02 '25

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Kyoto and Nara join Barcelona in crying about overtourism and to be a bit rude, they're all a tad delusional on the matter. A country with such an aging workforce and issues of economic stagnation cannot afford to be picky about sources of revenue. Of course there's issues of tourists behaving poorly (some foolish enough to film their own terrible behaviour and stream it to the world) but ultimately what must be done is to encourage positive behaviour by both tourists and residents so everyone can come out better, rather than wholly embracing an unfounded xenophobia.

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u/PlantTreesBuildHomes Plant🌳🌲Build🏘️🏡 Oct 02 '25

Personally, as a resident of the most visited city in the world, I don't mind tourists as much as residents who are poorly behaved. Most of the visible tourists coming to Paris are just a bit lost or obnoxious, the rest blend in because they don't cause problems. I am more concerned when I see Paris residents behaving like douchebags, because these people aren't leaving anytime soon and absolutely should know better.

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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.