Chyung Eun-ju is studying for a master's degree in marketing at Seoul National University. Joel Cho is a practicing lawyer specializing in IP and digital law.
Can better tourist etiquette help address overtourism?
Chyung Eun-ju
By Chyung Eun-ju (By Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho)
Overtourism is no longer a novelty issue. Ever since the end of the pandemic, global tourism has observed continuous market growth. For Korea, the popularity of local entertainment has been exported beyond the borders, so the news of the Seoul Metropolitan Government launching the Seoul International Tourism Forum, which aims to address policies tailored to restructure Seoul’s tourism landscape, intrigued us to reflect on how Seoul can continue to welcome the world without becoming another cautionary tale of overtourism.
It seems like Seoul is shifting its tourism strategy away from simply attracting more visitors and toward preserving the quality of life of those who call Seoul home. It is a conversation that has already unfolded in cities such as Barcelona, Venice and Kyoto, where residents have increasingly voiced concerns about the impact of mass tourism on their neighborhoods.
Joel Cho
When we think of overtourism, the first image that often comes to mind is one of overcrowded streets, long lines and chaos. Yet, many of the frustrations expressed by local communities are not solely about the increasing number of visitors. They are also about everyday interactions with them.
Groups speaking loudly beneath apartment windows late into the evening, tourists photographing private homes as though they were attractions, litter and a gradual transformation of residential neighborhoods into backdrops for social media — these seemingly ordinary actions can profoundly affect those who experience them every day.
As third culture people, we have long been aware that etiquette is rarely universal. Behaviors considered perfectly normal in one country may be interpreted very differently in another. A lively conversation that feels warm and friendly in one culture may be perceived as disruptive elsewhere. Taking photographs to preserve memories may unintentionally intrude upon someone's privacy. Most travelers have no intention of being disrespectful, yet good intentions alone do not always bridge cultural differences.
This raised an interesting question we believe deserves greater attention. Is overtourism simply a matter of too many tourists, or is it also a matter of too little cultural understanding?
Across Europe, this conversation is already taking place, where residents have increasingly questioned not only the volume of visitors, but also the impact of countless everyday interactions that accompany mass tourism.
In Spain, for example, anti-tourism demonstrations have spread across the country. While soaring housing costs and the rapid expansion of short-term rentals remain central grievances, residents have also expressed frustration with tourist behaviors they say have become part of daily life.
The issue, however, does not seem to involve extraordinary acts of misconduct from tourists. Rather, it involves behaviors that many travelers would likely consider harmless. Taking a photograph in front of a picturesque doorway, speaking enthusiastically with friends after dinner, or lingering on a narrow street to admire the scenery may seem perfectly reasonable from a visitor's perspective. Yet, when repeated hundreds or thousands of times each day, these seemingly isolated moments can fundamentally alter how residents experience their own neighborhoods.
This is where cultural understanding becomes particularly relevant. Etiquette is often perceived as a universal concept, but in reality it is deeply shaped by local customs and social expectations. What one culture interprets as warmth and enthusiasm, another may perceive as unnecessary disruption. Conversely, behaviors intended to show respect in one country may appear distant or unfriendly elsewhere. Neither interpretation is inherently right or wrong, they simply reflect different ways of sharing public space.
Consider something as ordinary as conversation. In Brazil, excited discussions among friends, expressive gestures and lively voices are often associated with warmth and sociability. Public spaces are generally viewed as extensions of social life, where conversations naturally become part of the surrounding environment.
By contrast, Korea explicitly encourages people to keep their voices down in public places, particularly on public transportation, and to be mindful that shared spaces are expected to remain comfortable for everyone. Such information on etiquette can even be found in an official guide to Korean Etiquette by the Seoul Tourism Organization, which advises that “If you’re in public, try to keep your voice down, especially if you’re speaking your own language. If you’re on your cell phone, be courteous to those around you and moderate your volume accordingly. Likewise, if you’re listening to music, make sure only you can hear it." It is not to say that either approach is inherently more respectful than the other, they simply reflect different expectations about how public space should be shared.
Speaking quietly is only one example of how cultural expectations shape everyday behavior. Similar differences can be observed in practices such as standing on one side of an escalator to allow others to pass, avoiding obstruction of busy sidewalks while taking photographs, respecting the privacy of residential neighborhoods or following local waste disposal practices. Although these behaviors may appear insignificant individually, they contribute to how residents experience tourism on a daily basis.
Respect itself can also be expressed in very different ways across cultures. In Brazil, warmth is often conveyed through enthusiastic greetings, expressive conversation and open friendliness. In Korea, however, respect is more commonly demonstrated by observing social boundaries, minimizing disruption and being mindful of others in shared spaces. Neither approach is inherently more respectful than the other; they simply reflect different cultural understandings of consideration.
For us, this realization came long before overtourism became part of the global conversation. As children growing up in Brazil, Korea was a place we visited only during our vacations — a country that felt familiar due to our family ties, yet surprisingly unfamiliar in its unwritten social rules.
Like all children growing up in Brazil, when we spoke, we were used to speaking with enthusiasm, laughing loudly. Whether on the subway or just wandering the streets of Seoul, our conversations naturally filled the silence. We never imagined that anyone would notice. But we were then reminded by our parents to lower our voices. At the time, the correction seemed puzzling. We were not shouting or causing trouble; we were simply behaving as we would have in Brazil. Only later, as we matured, would we come to actually understand that, in Korea, consideration for others is often expressed through minimizing one's presence in shared public spaces. Keeping conversations subdued, particularly on public transportation or in residential areas, is less about silence itself than about allowing everyone to enjoy the space comfortably.
This experience seems to perfectly illustrate the invisible nature of cultural etiquette. Nothing about our behavior back then was intentionally disrespectful, just as nothing about the gentle reminder we received was intended as criticism. We were simply carrying one country's unwritten social norms into another.
As Seoul welcomes more visitors from around the world, conversations about overtourism should extend beyond infrastructure and visitor numbers. Equipping travelers with a better understanding of local customs may not solve every challenge associated with mass tourism, but it can reduce many of the small everyday frictions that shape residents’ perceptions of tourism. Perhaps the future of sustainable tourism lies not only in managing where people go, but also in helping them understand how to share those places respectfully.
Chyung Eun-ju (ejchyung@snu.ac.kr) is a tech research associate at Donghyun ASP. She earned both her bachelor's in business and master's in marketing from Seoul National University. Joel Cho (joelywcho@gmail.com) is a practicing lawyer specializing in intellectual property and digital law.