How we score destinations

Every destination on crowddodger gets a 0–100 saturation score, a weighted composite of four sub-scores.

Components and weights

• Crowd Density (40%) — annual visitors ÷ population, plus Airbnb listings per capita where available. Sources: UNWTO, national tourism boards, InsideAirbnb.
• Visitor Impact (30%) — annual visitors ÷ city area in km², plus cruise passenger volume for cruise ports. Sources: UNWTO, port authority annual reports.
• Local Sentiment (20%) — count of overtourism-related news / protest / restriction items in the past 12 months, normalized. Sources: cited news articles per destination.
• Trajectory (10%) — year-over-year change in visitor numbers, OR change in news mention frequency. Often estimated for v1.

Bands

v1 limitations (and why we publish them)

For Ship 1, sub-scores were researched manually rather than computed from a live data pipeline. Where a sub-score is marked estimated on a destination page, that means we couldn't find a clean public number for it and inferred from a survey of recent news. We display the badge so you can weight it appropriately. The Ship 3 update will replace estimated sub-scores with hard data from an automated re-verify pipeline.

How we verify sources

Every fee, fine, and restriction on this site is backed by a primary source — an official government page, a major news outlet, or (for small-market destinations and Alaska cruise ports) the country's national newspaper of record. We list the exact citation under every fee.

A nightly verification script (scripts/verify_sources.py) hits every source URL with up to three User-Agents in order: our default crowddodger.com/1.0, a current Chrome desktop UA, and Googlebot. If any of the three succeeds (HTTP < 400) we log which UA it took. If all three fail we list the URL on this page so you can see exactly what's verifiable and what isn't.

Source-class allowlist

For a source to count as a fee citation it has to be in one of these classes:

1. Official tourism boards, port authorities, or government tax/transport authorities — any language. Examples: Comune di Venezia, Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya, Port of Kotor, Bali Government Tourism Office, Ajuntament de Barcelona, Hellenic Ministry of Culture.
2. Major news outlets — BBC, Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Kyodo, Bloomberg, NYT, Guardian, Le Monde, El País, Skift, Travel+Leisure.
3. National newspaper of record — for countries where major-outlet coverage of small-destination policy is thin: Catalan News (Barcelona), Portugal News (Lisbon), Iceland Review (Reykjavik). Each addition listed here.
4. Alaska local press — for the small Alaska cruise ports (Juneau, Skagway), national press doesn't cover port-specific fees, so we accept Alaska Public Media (KTOO, KTUU, APM news), Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, and KHNS Skagway.

Saturation sub-scores have a slightly wider allowlist that adds credible travel-industry trade outlets (Travel Tomorrow, PhocusWire, Travel Weekly, Condé Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet news) — but blogs, listicles, content-marketing sites, and TripAdvisor never count, anywhere.

The local_sentiment saturation cite has one extra rule: it must be from 2023 or later, because sentiment shifts. If we can't find a recent enough source, we mark the score as estimated rather than fake precision.

Verification freshness

Every fee row carries a last_verified date. If we haven't re-checked a fee in more than 90 days, the destination page automatically renders a Verification pending badge on that row. Don't trust a stale row without clicking through to the source.

Verification exceptions

A small number of citations resolve correctly in normal web browsers but fail our automated verifier. Most often this is because the cited source is hosted on infrastructure that has a misconfigured TLS certificate chain, or sits behind a Cloudflare WAF that requires JavaScript execution. We don't relax our verifier to make these cases pass — instead we list them here so you can judge for yourself.

If you spot a citation that's broken — even one we list as a verified exception — email payments@paywire.cloud and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.

Sources by destination

Below is every URL we cited across all 15 destinations — sub-score sources first, then fee sources.

Acropolis

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Amalfi Coast

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Amsterdam

• Crowd Density: estimated (no public dataset cited for v1)
• Visitor Impact: https://traveltomorrow.com/locals-sue-amsterdam-over-mass-tourism-as-visitor-numbers-exceed-cap/
• Local Sentiment: https://traveltomorrow.com/locals-sue-amsterdam-over-mass-tourism-as-visitor-numbers-exceed-cap/
• Trajectory: https://skift.com/2024/04/18/amsterdam-blocks-new-hotels-to-fight-mass-tourism/
• Fee sources:
  • NL Times
  • Port of Amsterdam (official)
  • Skift
  • Skift
  • Skift

Angkor Wat

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Antelope Canyon

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Antigua Guatemala

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Bagan

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Bali

• Crowd Density: https://en.antaranews.com/news/398320/balis-tourist-tax-brings-us22m-still-short-of-goal
• Visitor Impact: https://skift.com/2024/12/16/phuket-vs-bali-two-recovery-models-one-hospitality-success-story/
• Local Sentiment: https://en.antaranews.com/news/349617/bali-introduces-comprehensive-guidelines-for-foreign-tourists
• Trajectory: https://skift.com/2024/12/16/phuket-vs-bali-two-recovery-models-one-hospitality-success-story/
• Fee sources:
  • ANTARA News (Indonesian state news wire, English edition)
  • Daya Tarik Wisata Tanah Lot (official site, Indonesian)
  • Skift — Bali Charges Tourist Tax to Address Overtourism (2024-02-15)
  • Uluwatu Temple official site

Barcelona

• Crowd Density: https://www.cnn.com/travel/barcelona-reckons-with-overtourism-summer-2025
• Visitor Impact: https://observatoriturisme.barcelona/en/noticia/more-international-with-higher-spending-and-a-preference-for-cultural-visits-this-is-how-the-tourists-of-destination-barcelona-were-in-2024/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/08/travel/barcelona-tourism-protests-scli-intl
• Trajectory: https://skift.com/2024/07/08/tourists-go-home-barcelonas-protests-against-overtourism/
• Fee sources:
  • Agencia Tributaria de Catalunya (official, Catalan/English)
  • Ajuntament de Barcelona, Tourism (official)
  • Basílica de la Sagrada Família (official)
  • Catalan News (CCMA, Catalan public broadcaster)
  • Park Güell (Ajuntament de Barcelona, official)

Bora Bora

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Boracay

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Bruges

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Budapest

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Cartagena

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Charleston

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Christ the Redeemer

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Cinque Terre

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Cozumel

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Cusco

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Dubrovnik

• Crowd Density: https://skift.com/2024/10/01/croatias-game-of-thrones-town-to-limit-tourist-traffic-in-2025/
• Visitor Impact: https://skift.com/2024/10/01/croatias-game-of-thrones-town-to-limit-tourist-traffic-in-2025/
• Local Sentiment: https://skift.com/2024/10/01/croatias-game-of-thrones-town-to-limit-tourist-traffic-in-2025/
• Trajectory: estimated (no public dataset cited for v1)
• Fee sources:
  • City of Dubrovnik (propusnice.dubrovnik.hr, official)
  • Dubrovnik Port Authority (portdubrovnik.hr, official)
  • Government of the Republic of Croatia (gov.hr, official)
  • Skift
  • Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities (citywallsdubrovnik.hr, official)

Easter Island

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Edinburgh Old Town

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Galápagos

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Glacier National Park

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Göreme

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Hallstatt

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Halong Bay

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Hoi An

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Interlaken

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Jeju Island

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Juneau

• Crowd Density: https://www.ktoo.org/2026/04/27/juneaus-first-cruise-ship-of-2026-kicks-off-first-year-of-daily-passenger-limits/
• Visitor Impact: https://www.ktoo.org/2024/05/31/with-cruise-tourism-booming-juneau-has-negotiated-a-limit-on-how-many-passengers-can-come-off-ships/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.ktoo.org/2024/05/31/with-cruise-tourism-booming-juneau-has-negotiated-a-limit-on-how-many-passengers-can-come-off-ships/
• Trajectory: https://www.juneauempire.com/2025/12/03/cbj-seeks-input-on-uses-for-marine-passenger-fees/
• Fee sources:
  • Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division (official)
  • City and Borough of Juneau (official)
  • Port of Juneau, City and Borough of Juneau (official)
  • USDA Forest Service, Tongass National Forest (official)

Key West

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Kotor

• Crowd Density: https://traveltomorrow.com/montenegros-historic-town-of-kotor-suffers-from-cruise-overtourism/
• Visitor Impact: https://indiaoutbound.info/trade-news/overtourism-hits-unesco-world-heritage-site-kotor-montenegro/
• Local Sentiment: https://traveltomorrow.com/montenegros-historic-town-of-kotor-suffers-from-cruise-overtourism/
• Trajectory: https://www.portofkotor.com/en/cruise-ships/cruise-ship-arrivals/
• Fee sources:
  • European Tourism Association (ETOA)
  • Port of Kotor JSC (official tariff list)

Kyoto

• Crowd Density: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/06/08/japan/society/japan-overtourism-stress/
• Visitor Impact: https://skift.com/2024/07/22/japans-35-million-tourist-bonanza-in-2024-great-for-business-not-so-much-for-overtourism/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/06/08/japan/society/japan-overtourism-stress/
• Trajectory: https://traveltomorrow.com/kyoto-to-introduce-japans-highest-hotel-tax-for-tourists-in-2026/
• Fee sources:
  • France 24 / AFP
  • Kyoto City Transportation Bureau (official)
  • The Japan Times

Lake Como

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Lisbon

• Crowd Density: https://www.cnn.com/travel/overtourism-2025-summer-crowded-chaotic
• Visitor Impact: https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2025-06-13/tourist-tax-brings-in-260-million-for-lisbon/98557
• Local Sentiment: https://www.cnn.com/travel/overtourism-2025-summer-crowded-chaotic
• Trajectory: https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-07-24/lisbon-tourist-tax-increase-confirmed-for-september/90869
• Fee sources:
  • Camara Municipal de Lisboa (official)
  • Castelo de Sao Jorge / EGEAC (official)
  • ECO News
  • Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (official, Portuguese)
  • Observador (Portuguese)

Luang Prabang

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Lucca

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Maasai Mara

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Machu Picchu

• Crowd Density: https://skift.com/2024/01/30/machu-picchu-access-blocked-as-locals-protest-new-ticketing-policy/
• Visitor Impact: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274/
• Local Sentiment: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/17/travel/machu-picchu-peru-tourists-stranded-intl-hnk
• Trajectory: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/17/travel/machu-picchu-new-7-wonders-latam-intl
• Fee sources:
  • CNN
  • Machupicchu.gob.pe (official)
  • Plataforma del Estado Peruano - Ministerio de Cultura (official, Spanish)

Malé

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Marrakesh

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Maui

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Mont Saint-Michel

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Mount Everest Base Camp

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Mount Fuji

• Crowd Density: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/08/20/japan/society/mt-fuji-restrictions-progress/
• Visitor Impact: https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mount-fuji-crowds-japan-overtourism.html
• Local Sentiment: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/31/japan/society/mount-fuji-lawson-overtourism/
• Trajectory: https://skift.com/2024/11/27/japans-mount-fuji-overtourism-sparks-higher-visitor-fees/
• Fee sources:
  • CNN
  • Official Mt. Fuji Climbing Website / Shizuoka Prefecture (official)
  • Official Mt. Fuji Climbing Website / Yamanashi Prefecture (official)
  • The Japan Times
  • The Japan Times

Mykonos

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Nassau

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Palm Beach Aruba

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Petra

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Phi Phi Islands

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Philipsburg

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Phuket

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Plitvice Lakes

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Prague

• Crowd Density: estimated (no public dataset cited for v1)
• Visitor Impact: https://traveltomorrow.com/prague-bans-pub-crawls-and-seeks-more-cultured-wealthier-tourists/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/15/prague-pub-crawl-ban-tourism-zdenek-hrib
• Trajectory: https://traveltomorrow.com/prague-bans-pub-crawls-and-seeks-more-cultured-wealthier-tourists/
• Fee sources:
  • European Commission Urban Mobility Observatory (official)
  • European Commission Urban Mobility Observatory (official)
  • Městská část Praha 1 (official, Czech)
  • Správa Pražského hradu (official price list)
  • The Guardian

Pyramids of Giza

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Queenstown

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Reykjavik

• Crowd Density: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/record-breaking-tourist-numbers-expected-in-2025/
• Visitor Impact: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/icelands-new-cruise-ship-tax-draws-early-economic-warnings/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/icelands-new-cruise-ship-tax-draws-early-economic-warnings/
• Trajectory: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/record-breaking-tourist-numbers-expected-in-2025/
• Fee sources:
  • Iceland Review
  • Skatturinn — Iceland Revenue and Customs (official)
  • Strætó bs (official)
  • Visit Reykjavik — City of Reykjavik (official)
  • Þingvellir National Park (official)

Salzburg

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

San Blas Islands

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Santorini (Thira)

• Crowd Density: https://www.cnn.com/travel/santorini-greece-overtourism-cruise-visitor-cap
• Visitor Impact: https://skift.com/2024/09/09/greece-to-fight-overtourism-with-fees-on-cruises-and-crackdown-on-short-term-rentals/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.cnn.com/travel/santorini-greece-overtourism-cruise-visitor-cap
• Trajectory: https://traveltomorrow.com/new-cruise-tax-on-santorini-and-mykonos-to-curb-overtourism/
• Fee sources:
  • Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Odysseus portal (official)
  • Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Odysseus portal (official)
  • Skift
  • Skift

Sedona

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Serengeti

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Seville

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Skagway

• Crowd Density: https://khns.org/record-breaking-season-for-visitors-is-ending-in-skagway/
• Visitor Impact: https://khns.org/skagway-assembly-declines-to-accept-study-it-commissioned-to-show-cost-of-tourism/
• Local Sentiment: https://www.ktoo.org/2025/05/28/cruise-industry-sues-skagway-over-new-tax-policy/
• Trajectory: https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2025-05-27/cruise-industry-sues-skagway-over-new-tax-policy
• Fee sources:
  • Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division (official)
  • KHNS Skagway public radio
  • KHNS Skagway public radio, Skagway's possible sales tax increase, with a surprise, and other borough news (May 7, 2025)

Stone Town

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Sydney Harbour

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Table Mountain

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Tulum

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Uluru

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Venice

• Crowd Density: https://www.euronews.com/travel/2025/09/08/venices-daytripper-fee-raised-5-million-in-2025-but-did-it-curb-overtourism
• Visitor Impact: https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/venice-population-city-centre-continues-to-drop.html
• Local Sentiment: https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/travel/venice-overtourism-initiatives-scli-intl/index.html
• Trajectory: https://blog.ricksteves.com/insights/venice-access-fee/
• Fee sources:
  • AVM (Venice mobility authority, official)
  • Comune di Venezia (official)
  • Skift
  • UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • Venezia Unica (official)

Victoria Falls

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Yellowstone

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Yosemite

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Zermatt

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Zion

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None

Île de la Cité

• Crowd Density: None
• Visitor Impact: None
• Local Sentiment: None
• Trajectory: None