A whimsical coastal village in California has slashed nearly $300,000 from its tourism marketing budget amid mounting concerns about over-tourism in the famous town. 

The Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council unanimously approved its $41 million budget, but stripped out a $292,947 contribution to its marketing fund, according to a meeting held earlier this month. 

'We’ve received a lot, and I would say we’ve received as much comment this year on marketing money as I have in all of my previous years,' councilmember Jeff Baron said.

'And I don’t think that’s something to be taken lightly.' 

Carmel, widely regarded as one of the most expensive and affluent communities in the United States, is a small city of just over 3,000 residents, where homes routinely fetch multimillion-dollar price tags. 

Locals, whose household incomes are well over $100,000, argued the oceanfront oasis does not need any more advertising, insisting its architecture, museums, fairytale cottages and white-sand beach already draw more than enough visitors. 

'We’re supposed to be prioritizing harmony with nature, a place to relax and unwind,' Ian Martin, a Carmel photographer and former planning commissioner, told SFGate.

'We have to be careful to not have too much of a good thing with visitorship,' he added.

Residents cited several reasons for axing funds tied to Carmel’s marketing, including traffic congestion, overcrowding, the rise of social media and the fact the beach city has long attracted Hollywood elites. 

'The Obamas have been here twice and Bradley Cooper,' Martin told the outlet. Most notably, actor and director Clint Eastwood served as the town’s mayor in the late 1980s.

'How hard do we need to bang the drum?' he added.  

On the other hand, small business owners who rely on tourism say they are feeling a growing sense of dread over what their neighborhood may look like without the funding, and how the impact could affect their livelihoods.

'I’ve been here almost 30 years, and I’ve never stopped hearing that, so that’s always going to be a problem,' a general manager at a downtown Carmel restaurant told News 8 in regards to traffic congestion.

'We need always to be marketing, and to lose that would be huge,' he added. 

The move was addressed during a June 2 City Council meeting, where the town’s contribution to See Monterey - the county’s nonprofit tourism and promotion group - was discussed. 

During the conversation, leaders and residents debated whether Carmel needs the funding at all, and what dollar amount they believe is necessary - or whether any contribution should be made at all. 

'Visitors are welcome here, but tourism also creates unwelcome impacts for our residents,' councilmember Robert Delves read from a draft argument. 'Congestion, pollution, noise and trash are daily realities.'

Councilmember Hans Buder added: 'They’re angry about it, frankly. They feel like there’s too much tourism, there’s over-tourism, so they see this kind of incongruity between that and the funding for See Monterey.'

The council unanimously agreed to put the marketing funds in limbo, a decision that received significant praise from those living on the lavish Monterey Peninsula.

Cynthia Fernandes, co-owner of Pilgrim’s Way Community Bookstore and Secret Garden, said she believes the annual tourism funding 'wasn’t really a wise investment of that money,' according to SFGate.

'I really, honestly, feel like we’re safe, we have so many advantages,' she added, pointing to the city’s artists, film and literary stars and its weather.

Fernandes also argued that the changing times brought on by the digital age could offer a new way for the town to market itself, rather than continuing to fund traditional tourism agencies.

She explained that Carmel’s tiny landscape has changed dramatically since COVID, noting that the hand-drawn street maps with featured advertisements that once occupied nearly every corner have all but disappeared. 

At one point, the bookstore owner said there were 'four or five' companies promoting Carmel, but those efforts have quickly faded as TikTok and Instagram have become the dominant forces driving tourism. 

'Social media is off the charts,' Fernandes told SFGate, adding that in recent years, visitors have discovered her business through social media alone.

'I see this as a challenge to the old way of advertising and acclimation and evolution to adopting an effective and new movement of advertising,' she added.

'It’s not paid advertising. It’s not the BBC, who’s been here. It’s a person with a cellphone - and don’t we all have one?'

Martin argued that Carmel’s tiny footprint leaves it vulnerable to overcrowding during busy summer months, with floods of people often trampling the very charm that draws visitors in the first place. 

He added that with Highway 1 now reopened, Carmel is once again feeling the effects of the intense wave of visitors heading to Big Sur, according to SFGate.

'We’re beginning to feel the impacts here,' the photographer told the outlet. 'There are other things we can use money for. I don’t think we’ll be short of visitors.'

The City Council had already decided to pull the plug on its annual contribution to Visit Carmel, the town's local tourism board - a move that was revisited at the most recent meeting. 

'Two weeks ago, Visit Carmel had a board meeting in which there was a thoughtful conversation and a board vote to retract its financial request or partnership that we’ve traditionally had down to zero,' Visit Carmel's executive director Amy Herzog said.

Meanwhile, Herzog advocated for the city's continued support of and partnership with See Monterey, despite nearly $300,000 being pulled from the budget - an amount calculated from the city's hotel tax revenue. 

Rather than automatically approving the funding, the council has paused the allocation and will revisit whether to direct the money to the county tourism and marketing agency ahead of its next official meeting on July 7.

See Monterey, however, expressed hope that Carmel will recognize it is just one slice of the county's tourism ecosystem and ultimately decide the funding remains a worthwhile investment.

'See Monterey has enjoyed and valued its partnership with Carmel-by-the-Sea for more than 20 years,' the organization said in a statement to SFGate.

'Together, we have helped drive economic vitality that benefits local businesses, creates jobs, supports city services and contributes to the community’s quality of life.'