The Destination Dupe is a trend towards offering lesser-known travel destinations instead of overcrowded ones. Such travel is becoming increasingly popular in Europe, as noted at the IBM Berlin Travel Fair.
The frenzy among tourists has prompted a limit on the daily number of visitors to 20,000 people at the Acropolis of Athens. Many other tourist destinations are already following suit. Therefore, a new trend is becoming popular in the European travel industry. Called The Destination Dupe, it offers unexplored destinations instead of crowded ones. Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni says:
“It is important to ease the pressure on certain areas while promoting proposals for others that are not as well known internationally.”
The number of travelers is returning to pre-pandemic levels, and the tourism industry is welcoming a decline in visitor traffic that is disrupting local lives, driving up rents and causing pollution. Rebecca Bizjak, head of the German and Swiss office of the Slovenian Tourist Board, explains:
“In fact, Slovenia doesn’t even have mass tourism. Besides, we don’t have a big resort or anything like that.”
Many countries are introducing restrictions for tourists. Venice and Amsterdam, for example, are raising tourism taxes in an attempt to curb over-crowding. Iceland is set to introduce a tax aimed at helping the country become carbon neutral by 2040. Mohamed Moez Belhassine, Tunisia’s Minister of Tourism, says:
“It is true that at certain points Tunisia could be perceived as a mass tourism destination. But now, based on this model or image, it has of course been improved thanks to the work and efforts of all parties interested in the Tunisian tourism ecosystem.”
France plans to launch a €1 million campaign to encourage tourists to visit off-the-beaten-path destinations across the country, rather than the 20% of the country that accounts for 80% of all visits. Euronews journalist notes: “Destination diversification not only benefits residents of crowded and unexplored destinations, but can also help the environment. With airfare prices rising, tourists are welcoming this new travel trend that can help them hit the road for less.”
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