About DestinationShift
DestinationShift is an independent tourism research and content platform. We produce data-backed comparisons between overcrowded European destinations and their under-visited alternatives, and we work with destination marketing organisations on commissioned research that positions their destinations as verified alternatives.
The problem
According to UN Tourism (formerly the World Tourism Organization), 95% of international tourists visit less than 5% of the world's land mass. The result is that places like Venice, Santorini, and Barcelona are buckling under the weight of mass tourism, while equally compelling destinations sit nearly empty. The gap is not quality. It is visibility.
How we work
We compare destinations across four dimensions: tourism density (Eurostat), price levels (Eurostat Price Level Index), climate (Open-Meteo historical data), and cultural and architectural overlap (our proprietary matching framework). Country-specific primary data — census figures, accommodation statistics, cruise passenger arrivals — is integrated where publicly available through national statistics offices.
Every comparison is sourced. Every number is dated. No hunches, no listicles, no sponsored placements.
Institutional backing
DestinationShift is developed by a final-semester BSc Tourism student at the Fachhochschule Graubünden (FHGR). The FHGR Bachelor of Science in Tourism is certified by UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) under the TedQual framework, achieving a 92.5% score in its most recent evaluation — the maximum three-year certification granted to tourism programmes meeting the organisation's highest international standards. The project has been formally endorsed by the Head of the Institute for Tourism and Leisure (ITF) and the Director of Studies.
Who is behind it
DestinationShift was founded by Joshua Tyler Turner, a final-semester Bachelor of Science Tourism student at FHGR, specialising in digital transformation in tourism. The project emerged from academic work on overtourism redistribution and has grown into a platform that addresses the problem at scale.
The mission
We are not anti-tourism. We are pro-distribution. Tourism revenue should be spread more evenly across destinations, which benefits travellers through better experiences and lower prices, and benefits communities through economic development without overcrowding.
For DMO inquiries, visit the For Destinations section on our homepage.