Is mass tourism waking up from its Magaluf hangover?

The swish seafront hotels and freshly planted palms on the promenade might tempt any unwary holidaymaker to book in for Mallorca's Calvià beach. But step out of the back door and the resort is still firmly Magaluf, as it is better known-boozed-up Britain in Spain, with cocktails by the pint.

- Gwyn Topham

Mallorca gets most of the Balearic Islands' 18 million visitors a year; for some residents, far too many. The island has become emblematic of the most heated debate in travel: overtourism - and how to tackle it.

The Calvià region this week hosted the annual Abta convention for Britain's tourism industry. And tourism doesn't get much more industrial than here.

Straight out from an evening bash at the upmarket Nikki Beach club, a short walk through British pubs, kebab shops and purveyors of "I heart doggy style T-shirts led delegates to the party end of the strip, where bar ambassadors come out in force to lure in the punters.

"Beer and two shots, four euros?" one offers. The Guardian declines. He reconsiders: "Titties?" Prominent signs in English advise €300 (£269)-€400 penalties for nudity, fighting and drunkenness on the street. It's early yet, only midnight, and as one seasoned resident warns: "It gets a bit dirty after 2am." But the main business was in the Abta conference hall. Debates on overtourism and homilies on "slow travel" peppered the agenda for an industry grappling with the realisation that not everyone wants its customers there.

Mallorca is one of numerous global destinations where locals have demonstrated against overtourism. This June, thousands protested in the capital, Palma.

But diagnoses of the problemand potential remedies in a host country whose annual flow of Britons exceeds all other tourists divided the convention.

The strategy in Spain's new marketing campaign is chasing diversification rather than numbers - urging visitors to go inland, stay longer, try things such as "astrotourism" and "oleotourism" -watching the next eclipse, or sampling olive oil.