Boss of world's richest travel firm proposes lotteries in popular destinations to combat overtourism

The boss of the world's richest travel firm has proposed a lottery system to help tackle overtourism.

Tensions have been brewing for some time, with many locals in holiday hotspots frustrated with how busy so many destinations, like Portofino and the Canary Islands, are.

Protests against overtourism erupted across the Balearics, the Canaries and mainland Spain earlier this year.

There were even unsuspecting tourists in Barcelona squirted with water pistols in the city centre.

But Glenn Fogel, chief executive of Booking Holdings, Booking.com's parent company, has suggested a possible solution.

Speaking on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme on August 6, he said: 'I like the idea of a higher cost and lottery so it's not just restricted, only the elite get to visit London, I think that would be a bad thing for the world.

'Even though you may not be wealthy, you should still get a chance to visit some of the beautiful and great places of the world.

'That being said though, to maintain some balance, maybe we do need to a central lottery system too.'

A similar system is used in American National Parks.

For example, cabins and dorms at Phantom Ranch in Arizona's park are given out in a lottery 15 months prior.

Glenn went on to explain how Booking.com hopes to work alongside officials to help deal with the problem.

Mr Fogel added: 'We absolutely want to work with governments to come up with a solution but at the end of the day, it's not for one company to make their own decisions about how they should or should not allow people to travel or not travel.

'That's why we have democracy and governments to come up with these methods to do this.'

Presenter Will Bain asked: 'Do you do anything, in terms of on the app, pushing people to less busy destinations?'

He replied: 'We absolutely give an opportunity for people to visit ... but again it's not for us to try and steer somebody some way, that's not my job.

'My job isn't to try and force somebody to go some place.

'The idea of shaping so to speak, that's to be done through our government process and if we want to do that we need to be fair.'

Glenn's comments come after Europe's most famous holiday hotspots were seen in footage to be busier than ever - despite anti-tourism protests taking place across the continent.

Recent images show swarms of holidaymakers packed shoulder-to-shoulder and forming huge queues waiting for trains and buses in some of the most beautiful destinations in Italy and Greece.

In the Italian village of Varenna - famed for its tiny streets and colourful facades of houses - Brits have complained of crowds so dense they were barely able to reach down to take their phones out of their pockets.