MADRID, June 22, (AP): Suitcases rattle against cobblestones. Selfie-snappers jostle for the same shot. Ice cream shops are everywhere. Europe has been called the world’s museum, but its record numbers of visitors have also made it ground zero for concerns about overtourism. Last year, 747 million international travelers visited the continent, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the UN's World Tourism Barometer.

Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70% of them. As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated. 

Among factors driving the record numbers are cheap flights, social media, the ease of travel planning using artificial intelligence and what UN tourism officials call a strong economic outlook for many rich countries that send tourists despite some geopolitical and economic tensions. Citizens of countries like the US, Japan, China and the UK generate the most international trips, especially to popular destinations, such as Barcelona in Spain and Venice in Italy.

They swarm these places seasonally, creating uneven demand for housing and resources such as water. Despite popular backlash against the crowds, some tourism officials believe they can be managed with the right infrastructure in place. Italy's Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè said she thinks tourism flows at crowded sites such Florence's Uffizi Galleries that house some of the world's most famous artworks could be better managed with AI, with tourists able to buy their tickets when they book their travel, even months in advance, to prevent surges.

She pushed back against the idea that Italy - which like all of its Southern European neighbors, welcomed more international visitors in 2024 than its entire population - has a problem with too many tourists, adding that most visits are within just 4% of the country's territory.  Countries on the Mediterranean are at the forefront. Olympics-host France, the biggest international destination, last year received 100 million international visitors, while second-place Spain received almost 94 million - nearly double its own population.