Abstract
The aim of this chapter is twofold, namely (i) to present a literature review on the upsides and downsides of tourism and its relevance to sustainable development in the context of overtourism; and (ii) to report on the results of a perception survey relating to the attitudes towards tourism in Malta, so as to consider whether Malta has reached the stage of 'overtourism'. The reason a perceptions survey approach was found appropriate for this chapter is that the exact point where overtourism sets in is difficult to measure objectively, for various reasons including that this possibility is not something static, has various dimensions, depends on the good or bad behaviour of the visitors, and varies according to the social and environmental policies and practices in the host destination.
