Overtourism is real: A conversation with our Head of ESG

It’s July in the center of Venice, Rialto Bridge is swarming with tourists, and it’s nearly impossible to get a coffee that won’t set you back a small fortune. 

Fast forward to September. The air is cooler, footsteps echo in the narrow streets, and finding a seat in a family-run restaurant doesn’t feel like an Olympic sport. 

All the while, Venetians are outpriced by rising rent costs, and the air attempts to recover from the mass of in and outbound flights, before the next tourist season rolls around again.

Overtourism is real, and unfortunately, the problem stretches much further than Venice. We sat down with TrustedHousesitters Head of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), Mila Brazzi, to discuss its impact, and a travel movement built around house and pet sitting that might just be the solution local people and the planet are looking for.

The problem we’re facing

Overtourism is an increasing problem that affects the lives of local people, and the planet. While travel and tourism on the whole accounts for an estimated 8-11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, overtourism in many destination hotspots is also driving locals out of their homes, who are ultimately outpriced by a rising cost of living perpetuated by short-term vacation rentals.

From overcrowded streets during high season, to carbon-copy restaurants that cater to tourists replacing long-standing local gems, and the rows of apartments once owned by locals (sometimes filled with tourists, sometimes empty), the problem goes far beyond emissions. 

“For me, at its worst, overtourism causes significant, detrimental damage to natural habitats that are critical to wildlife populations - think Great Barrier Reef, or Mount Everest.” 

And on top of the damage to local wildlife and habitats, overtourism often impacts the lives of locals, with vulnerable people feeling the effects the most. 

“In places like Bali, for example, luxury hotels consume so much water that it can trigger localised water shortages for residents.”

And water isn’t the only resource that takes a hit—locals feel it economically, too. The increase in vacation rentals owned by non-locals has compounded the  housing crisis in many tourist hotspots. 

“Short-term listing platforms are unintentionally but profoundly worsening the  “affordable” or even just available housing market for local residents, which means that more and more people are forced to move away from their cities.”

Along with displacing locals from their homes, the demands placed by tourists often change the face of once local, nuanced streets that make destinations worth visiting in the first place. The nature of businesses changes to serve tourists and hiked up prices once again puts strain on locals, and drives tension instead of mutual connection between locals and visitors. 

Change is coming from the top down 

While the effects of mass tourism have been felt by communities, businesses, and wildlife, they’re also getting noticed by governments and organizations, and changes are being put into action to prevent further damage.

Sustainable tourism is now part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, calling for a travel culture that supports local communities and the planet, balanced alongside the economic and cultural exchange benefits of tourism.

And in response to rent increases and a lack of available housing driven by short-term rentals, cities across the globe, including Barcelona, Amsterdam, New York, Edinburgh, and Florence, are enacting restrictions to prevent displacement, and keep locals in their homes.

The emergence of the conscious traveler 

While systemic changes are taking place to protect local people and the planet from the effects of overtourism, individuals are consciously shifting the way they explore the world, too. 

Ticking off landmarks is becoming less important to many, and the bucket list is being replaced by a yearning for more authentic travel experiences. Travelers are starting to opt for staycations and house sits, which take place in real neighborhoods instead of tourist hotspots. Looking after pets often means daily dog walks, giving travelers the chance to connect with a local, pet-loving community that they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to.

This shift in behavior is something we’ve had front-row seats to witness, here at TrustedHousesitters. Travelers who’d prefer to live alongside local communities, rather than compete with them, are turning to house sitting for more local experiences on their travels.

And along with the enriched travel experiences that house and pet sitting opens the door to, travelers are increasingly using house sitting as a way to try a new zip code on for size before moving.

In fact, our 2026 US travel trends report shared that 84% of Gen Zers said they'd consider house sitting to test a city before committing to a move. It gives them an opportunity to truly understand how locals live, and become part of the community for their stay.

As well as bigger cities, house sitting pulls people towards quieter suburbs and rural villages that actually benefit from the gentle foot traffic.

And not only does house sitting offer travelers the chance to live like locals, connect with local communities, visit uncrowded destinations, and experience places in a more authentic way, it also helps them to tread more lightly on the places they visit. 

Rather than booking yet another flight during high season, house sitters on TrustedHousesitters travel to where pet care is needed. Rather than eating in restaurants owned by non-locals whose sole focus is profit, they’re shopping at markets, cooking at home, and taking independent recommendations. And rather than becoming yet another number in a long tourist line, they’re finding a seat at a local family-run restaurant, which might have been empty otherwise.

Mila: “House sitting is a way of travelling without contributing to overtourism. In turn, this helps to ease many of the associated social and environmental issues.”

And this isn’t happening by chance. Pet sitters across the globe are traveling more consciously to help protect the places they visit, and the communities that are preserved there. 

“House sitting feels really different to me. You get an authentic place to stay, and because you're living within an existing home and community rather than adding to the tourist infrastructure, the culture stays embedded.” - Gabby, pet sitter

Where we stay matters to communities, and the environment

House sitting allows for a more rounded and genuine experience for travelers, but it also helps to preserve community, and reduce environmental damage. 

The overuse of short-term rental platforms contributes to a lack of affordable housing for local residents, while house sitting enables the sharing of real, lived-in homes. It provides a socially conscious way to travel that helps to keep people in homes they can afford.

Along with the preservation of community, house sitting allows travelers to swap out hotels, which typically have significantly higher wastage and energy usage than someone's actual home.

Whether it’s the always-on hall lights, AC, often wasteful breakfast buffets, heated pools, millions of mini plastic soap bottles, or daily linen changes, it’s no wonder that hotels consume far greater amounts of energy and water than homes.

Mila: “Think about all of the extra space that is needed just to run the hotel. You’ve got reception, maybe a lobby area, a staff room, storage rooms… All of these areas that need to be maintained and require energy that you just wouldn’t have if you were in a residence.”

And that’s where house sitting comes in. Staying in a real home instead of a hotel can reduce accommodation-related emissions by up to 88% per night in the UK, and 85% per night in the US.

“House sitting is generally a far more sustainable accommodation option than a hotel or resort, because hotels typically have significantly higher energy use versus a residential property.” 

Moving away from “boom and bust” 

Unlike traditional accommodation options, house and pet sitting invites travelers to stay in sometimes lesser-known places, and existing homes often outside of tourist season. This one in, one out approach encourages a slow trickle of visitors, based on the needs of pet parents, not travel trends.

“Residents leave their home to make space for a visitor, which supports a constant population.” 

And by house sitting, the need for tourist properties reduces, keeping locals in the homes and neighborhoods they actually want to live in.

“The property you are staying in is an actual, lived-in home, which means it’s not a property that’s been bought up just for the sake of making an income.” 

Instead of one-off spends in souvenir shops, the local nature of house sitting encourages sitters to spend in local businesses that fulfil the needs of someone living in a place, not visiting it. Grocery stores, butcher shops, and fresh produce markets are preferred over fleeting visits to souvenir shops that only benefit during high season.

From consumption to care 

So while a tourist consumes a place, a sitter maintains it. With house sitting, trust replaces transactions. Pet parents open up their home and offer their trust, and sitters care for the pets and place as if they were their own, getting a place to stay on their travels. It’s a shared commitment that results in travel freedom for pet parents, comfortable stays at home for pets, and authentic experiences for sitters that avoid the negative impacts of overtourism.

“Through house and pet sitting, you’re helping create a more sustainable way to travel, one that supports communities and offers an alternative to the pressures exacerbated by short-term holiday lets and mass tourism.” 

Final thoughts from Mila, Head of ESG, on overtourism

“Be curious. Without taking on the entire weight of the overtourism issue, when you’re next planning a trip, ask yourself, a friend, or the internet what are the hidden or unintended harms of your travel choices, and explore what alternatives are there.

Exercise compassion. Understand what the impacts are—that creates a desire to care and to want to do something differently, then the final piece is learning what we can do differently as individuals. 

Progress over perfection . As individuals, we aren’t the cause of large-scale issues like the climate crisis, but we can choose to be part of the solution by making changes that are manageable - and what’s manageable looks different for everyone. When it comes to travel, for some, it’s giving up flying altogether, for me, it’s flying less frequently. For you, it might be flying direct if possible, going to places off the beaten track that would benefit from your tourism, or choosing a lower impact accommodation type like house sitting.”

Useful resources

• France beyond Paris: Destinations off the beaten path
• How San Francisco became a second home: Susan’s story
• A love letter to Fraser - Callum’s house sitting story
• Sustainable travel and tourism: Tips for responsible travel