It seems as if I have so much information I want to share regarding overtourism, I think I might have to add a second day for a while. As we all know, once fire season starts, we will all be too busy to have this discussion!
Here is the first page of a lengthy article I am reading (I will be posting more of it in the coming weeks, as well as of other lengthy articles):
It got me thinking…what are the tourist/resident ratios for other destinations? So I looked up a few: The greatest ratio given is 33:1 Here. However, there are other statistics available and the countries with the highest Yearly Tourist arrivals to residents ratio are Andorra, Macao SAR, China, Sint Maarten (Dutch part), Monaco, Aruba with a(n) Yearly Tourist arrivals to residents ratio of (2,630), (2,349), (1,169), (957), (883) % respectively. (See: http://mecometer.com/topic/yearly-tourist-arrivals-to-residents-ratio/)
So, I did a little math. A conservative estimate of the number of visitors to Big Sur given at the CCC meeting on Friday, 3/22/19 was said to be 5-6 million a year. I will use the lower, more conservative, 5 million. The number of residents in Big Sur, being generous, is approximately 1500. What does that make our tourist to residents ration: 3,333% -greater than any country in the world, by over 700%!!
I’ll let that sink in, for a moment.
2026 Plaskett Fire Incident Update Los Padres National Forest Wednesday, September 9, 2026 Fire Information: 805-257-9891 Email: 2026.Plaskett@firenet.gov Forest Closure Information: Monterey Ranger…
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Just some thoughts, as before: get the legislature to allow the county to charge for road use at toll gates - tout it as a great revenue source for the state and maybe the county. Better yet, incorporate as a city, all the way from Carmel's city limit down to the south county line and as wide from the shoreline to anywhere inland you can (utilize the Big Sur planning boundaries?) and then charge admission - even better revenue source and it'd almost all go to the City of Big Sur, maybe. And yeah, I'm being facetious - but only a little.
OT - We interrupt this latest tourist overcrowding dilemma episode to announce via MCW that Kate's blog has won "Best Local Blog" - CONGRATULATIONS! - plenty of other links and categories to choose from in MCW "Best Of 2019" series...
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/best/2019/around-town/
Thank you, Andrew.
https://bigsurkate.blog Take the Big Sur pledge http://www.bigsurpledge.org
That statistic alone says so much. Congrats on the Blog award! :D
Hi to Kate and all locals, I have visited Big Sur at least once a year for my spiritual retreat for 25 years. The heart and spiritual energy of Big Sur is amazing. I’ve always respected everything about Big Sur including locals privacy. Thank you for all your efforts to keep that spirit pure. Congratulations Kate on blog award. I love reading your blog and it is sad to see the overtourism ruining your amazing home. You are blessed to live there!
Thank you, Libby. We are blessed to call this place home, and so are many who think of it as their spiritual home. It saddens all of us to watch it become a selfie Disneyland and overrun by people who are not interested in seeing its beauty, but only seeing the instagrams views it can bring them.