Every destination is classified into one of 11 categories — from bustling cities to remote deserts. Each category has carefully tuned capacity values that reflect real-world infrastructure differences.
Massive infrastructure absorbs millions
Paris, Tokyo, NYC
Heritage sites with moderate capacity
Kyoto, Petra, Rajasthan
High seasonal swing in infrastructure
Mallorca, Cancun, Phuket
Year-round appeal with monsoon dips
Bali, Costa Rica, Maldives
Extreme seasonality — lifts close in summer
Innsbruck, Niseko, Banff
Limited lodging in wilderness areas
Grand Canyon, Fjords
Tiny villages, big summer demand
Como, Hallstatt, Bled
Transport bottlenecks limit throughput
Hawaii, Jeju, Okinawa
Low-density lodges in protected areas
Serengeti, Kruger
Altitude and access limit capacity
Ladakh, Pokhara, Shimla
Extreme conditions, minimal infrastructure
Atacama, Sahara, Wadi Rum
The capacity value determines how much traffic a destination can absorb before feeling crowded. Cities handle 10x more pressure than desert destinations. During off-peak months, capacity drops — reflecting the closure of seasonal hotels, restaurants, and transport services.
Key insight
A ski resort's capacity drops from 1.5 to 0.3 in summer — a 5x reduction. This is why even modest summer hiking traffic can produce a noticeable crowdedness score for Alpine destinations.
Each of the 700+ destinations in our database is manually classified based on its primary tourist appeal. Some destinations could fit multiple categories (e.g. Barcelona is both a city and a beach destination), but we assign the single most representative category to keep the model clean. Category assignment directly affects the capacity divisor, which in turn drives the crowdedness score.
Congestion relative to capacity
Month-by-month peak season data
1.5x multiplier during school breaks
52 weeks of crowdedness data
Global school holiday coverage
Sports, festivals, and more
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