Congestion and crowding are terms often used interchangeably in the context of heavy visitation to tourist attractions. The two terms however point to different aspects of visitor density. Congestion relates to the physical conditions of high visitation. Crowding, on the other hand, relates to tourists’ perception of the presence of other tourists. This article looks at different drivers of perception of crowding in the Geirangerfjord world heritage site.

For the first time in earth’s history, humans are the main force of global environmental changes. Changes that seem to tear down nature’s resources. Researchers from all over the globe have found that three of the planetary boundaries are already in code red.