English C2: Discursive essay: limits on tourism?

More and more cities, such as Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnik, are limiting the number of tourists. Is this the right approach? Write a discursive essay.

Anyone strolling through the centre of Venice in summer finds themselves in a crowd rather than a city. Small wonder, then, that more and more destinations are considering visitor caps, entry fees or bans on large cruise ships. But are limits really the answer? The strongest case for strict measures is that local people are steadily being pushed out. Homes are turned into holiday lets, rents soar and long-standing shops give way to souvenir stalls. On top of this come noise, litter and wear and tear on historic buildings that is becoming hard to sustain. On the other hand, in many regions a large share of jobs depends on tourism itself. Caps could also turn travel into a privilege for the few, not least because fees mainly deter those who have little money to begin with. Finally, the problem is often simply displaced to the next town along the coast. It therefore seems wiser to me to combine several measures: regulating short-term lets more strictly, spreading visitors more evenly across the year and the region, and promoting lesser-known places. A modest charge for day-trippers might help, provided that the revenue genuinely benefits local residents. In short, I would only accept rigid caps as a last resort. What matters most is that cities remain places worth living in, both for the people who call them home and for those who come to visit.