ABSTRACT
Overtourism issues are among the main reasons for a paradigm change in tourism policymaking and the adoption of governmental measures to foster degrowth. However, these measures are only effective if they come with stakeholder involvement, community support and – ultimately – a value shift in the hosting community and local businesses. This chapter investigates the role of media in representing the public debate around a potential governmental regulation to limit growth prior to its approval: the moratorium introduced in South Tyrol (Italy) in 2022. A Critical Discourse Analysis of local news media (n = 154) portrays five discourses around the moratorium: only one is positively connoted, while the other four judge the initiative as unreasonable, unfair or harmful for the economy. The public debate around the adoption of the moratorium indicates a fundamental dichotomy between supporters of weak and strong sustainability principles and an ongoing reconceptualisation of entrenched capitalist concepts. The importance of consensus-building strategies is thereby stressed to overcome this impasse.
