Are Hotels Making Our Cities Too Crowded? Let’s Find Out with Science!
Imagine your favorite park, or your quiet street. Now, imagine it’s suddenly filled with way too many people! This can happen in cities, and it’s called overtourism.
Recently, a company called Airbnb wrote a big message, like a letter to all the big cities in Europe. They said something really interesting: hotels might be making the problem of overtourism even worse!
This might sound a bit surprising. We usually think of lots of tourists being the main reason for crowded places. But Airbnb’s message makes us think about how people travel and stay.
Let’s put on our scientist hats and investigate!
What’s the Big Idea? Hotels and Crowds
Think about how people travel. Some people like to stay in big buildings with lots of rooms called hotels. These hotels are like giant sleeping castles for visitors.
Airbnb, on the other hand, lets people rent out their extra rooms, or even their whole houses, to travelers. It’s like staying at a friend’s house, but you’re visiting from far away!
The scientists who wrote this message from Airbnb are saying that when there are too many hotels, it can make cities feel super crowded. Here’s why:
- Lots of Buses and Cars: Hotels often have their own buses and encourage guests to use taxis. If there are a hundred hotels, that means hundreds of extra buses and cars on the road, making traffic jams and noise!
- Food for Everyone: Hotels need to feed all their guests. This means big restaurants and cafes, which can also get very busy. Imagine a park where everyone suddenly wants to have a picnic at the same time!
- Souvenir Shops Galore: Hotels often have shops nearby selling souvenirs. If there are many hotels, there will be many souvenir shops, and all those people looking for gifts can make streets feel packed.
- Special Tourist Zones: Sometimes, hotels are built in the same areas. This means all the tourists are in one or two parts of the city, making those spots feel extra, extra crowded, while other parts might be empty.
How Can Science Help Us Understand This?
This is where science gets really cool! Scientists use different tools and ideas to study how things work in the world, even with people and cities!
- Counting and Measuring: Scientists can count how many hotels are in a city. They can also measure how many tourists visit. By comparing these numbers, they can see if there’s a connection between lots of hotels and lots of people in one place.
- Mapping: Imagine drawing a map of a city. Scientists can use maps to show where the hotels are, where the tourists go, and where it gets the most crowded. They might use different colors to show busy areas and quiet areas. This helps them see patterns.
- Asking Questions (Surveys!): Scientists can ask people who live in cities and people who visit them questions. They might ask: “How do you get around the city?” or “What makes a city feel too crowded?” The answers help them understand what people are experiencing.
- Computer Models: Sometimes, scientists can create pretend cities on computers! They can change how many hotels there are, how many tourists come, and see what happens to the crowds. It’s like playing a city-building game, but to learn real things!
What Can We Do?
Airbnb’s message is like a call to action for grown-ups and city leaders. They are saying, “Hey, let’s think about this carefully!”
This is where you, the budding scientists of the future, can get involved!
- Observe Your Own Town: When you go out with your family, pay attention! Do you see lots of big hotels? Do the streets feel crowded? Where do you think most people are going?
- Ask Questions: Talk to your parents or teachers about why cities get crowded. Ask them what they think about hotels and tourism.
- Think About Solutions: If you were in charge of a city, what would you do to make sure it’s not too crowded for everyone, including the people who live there? Maybe you’d suggest having fewer hotels in one area, or encouraging tourists to explore different parts of the city?
Why Is This Science?
This is science because we are:
- Observing: Looking carefully at what’s happening in cities.
- Asking Questions: Wondering why things are happening.
- Gathering Information: Thinking about data like the number of hotels and tourists.
- Looking for Patterns: Trying to see if there’s a link between hotels and crowds.
- Thinking About Solutions: Using our knowledge to find ways to make things better.
The world around us is full of fascinating puzzles like overtourism. By using science, we can understand these puzzles better and help create wonderful, welcoming cities for everyone! So next time you see a big hotel, remember the science behind it and how you can be a super-detective for a happier planet!
Calling on EU cities to tackle the ‘overwhelming impact’ of hotels on overtourism
The AI has delivered the news.
The following question was used to generate the response from Google Gemini:
At 2025-06-13 04:00, Airbnb published ‘Calling on EU cities to tackle the ‘overwhelming impact’ of hotels on overtourism’. Please write a detailed article with related information, in simple language that children and students can understand, to encourage more children to be interested in science. Please provide only the article in English.