More and more Gotlanders are tired of the island being filled to the brim with tourists during the summer months, and believe it is high time that politicians prioritize permanent residents instead.
– July is absolutely disgusting. I think they should limit the number of people who can come here, says artist Pia Ingelse, who lives in Visby.
While Gotland’s economy depends on tourism, many of the island’s residents have grown tired of the summer rush. Gotland has a population of around 61,000 – but nearly a million tourists come to the island every year, creating major problems for the infrastructure.
– We have an infrastructure that can’t always cope with the high pressure during these summer weeks, Karin Winsnes, a business strategist in the Gotland region, told Swedish national broadcaster SVT.
Another factor is that the housing market has become dysfunctional – especially in Visby, where landlords often only want to rent to ‘regular’ tenants for nine to ten months of the year – and during the summer prefer to rent their houses to tourists at a much higher price.
– This gentrification is devastating for Gotland. What is happening is that our fully functional houses are being bought up by people who don’t need another house, says Knut Stahle, a resident of Visby.
Some places on Gotland are so popular with tourists that the Gotland Region has stopped highlighting them in the hope that fewer visitors will go there and instead spread out across the island – for example, the old Blue Lagoon quarry (Blå lagunen), which is now actively not mentioned.
“People are moving away”
It has gone so far that Gotlanders, through the association Eyes on Gotland (Ögonen på Gotland), among others, have begun to advocate that the region stop prioritizing tourism and instead work to improve living conditions for permanent residents.
– Properties are being converted into restaurants and tourist accommodation. People are moving away and there is a danger that the city will become a backdrop without life, says founder Katarina Söderdahl to the Bonnier-owned Dagens Nyheter.
Ethnologist Owe Ronström argues that downtown Visby is already a backdrop dominated by tourists, describing it as “living in a zoo and being watched”.
– July is absolutely disgusting. I think they should limit the number of people who can come here, says artist Pia Ingelse.
Although many Gotlanders feel that visitors are “pushing them off” the island, tourism brings in billions of kronor annually, so many landlords and business owners want to see continued efforts to promote Gotland as a tourist destination.
