Which places you should stop visiting in 2024

Although these destinations are attractive, they should be avoided in 2024. Fortunately, there are enough alternatives.

Syke – Dirty streets, large crowds, long lines and expensive attractions. These are all characteristics of mass tourism. This can be annoying for visitors, but it is often a serious problem for locals.

Extreme mass tourism is also known as overtourism. The English term refers to the negative impacts that extreme tourism has – for the local population, natural resources, historical monuments and the environment.

Local residents benefit economically from the many tourists, but the price they pay for it is high. Extreme tourism often displaces local culture. In Mallorca, for example, the entire infrastructure is designed for visitors from abroad and in some cases more German is spoken than Spanish. Additionally, excessive tourism in these places leads to extreme pollution.

These travel destinations are on the “no list”

Some places suffer extremely from the effects of overtourism because they are not designed for it. Government measures are usually of little help. Like the Austrian portal oe24 citing the travel guide “Fodor's”, there are numerous destinations that are currently suffering from tourism. If you want to protect the environment and avoid crowds, you should stay away from the following travel destinations:

• Athens, Greece: The Greek capital has been struggling with mass tourism for years. In September, Athens' most famous landmark, the Acropolis, was so crowded that the number of visitors was limited to 20,000 per day. From April 2024, this system will also be introduced for more than 25 other archaeological monuments.
• Venice, Italy: From 2024, day tourists will have to pay a fee of 5 euros to visit Venice. With this measure, the city is trying to erase the effects of mass tourism. Venice is not yet one of UNESCO's endangered world heritage sites, but it still faces major challenges.
• Mount Fuji, Japan: In recent years, Mount Fuji in Japan has been attracting more and more visitors. This has a strong impact on the environment. The municipality has already introduced a voluntary cooperation fee, but with little success.
• Ganges, India: The holy Ganges faces a plethora of environmental problems. These include pollution from sewage, garbage and noise pollution from cruise ships.
• Halong Bay, Vietnam: This attraction is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. Even though measures such as a ban on single-use plastic on boats have already been introduced, Halong Bay is suffering from the impact of tourism.
• Koh Samui, Thailand: The popular travel destination in Southeast Asia is struggling with increasing water shortages. The large number of tourists are partly to blame for this. In order to find a sustainable solution to this problem, tourism there would have to be better regulated.

These travel destinations are great alternatives: The “Yes List”

There are endless places to discover in the world. Therefore, there is actually no reason why everyone travels to the same places. In order to find beautiful travel destinations, it is often not necessary to travel far. In addition, can a great vacation can also be cheap. These travel destinations in Europe are often underestimated, but are very worthwhile:

• Karpathos, Greece: While tourists flock to enjoy the sunset on the crowded islands of Mykonos or Santorini, the island of Karpathos offers the opportunity to relax on almost deserted beaches.
• Turku, Finland: There is a long-standing rivalry between the Finnish cities of Turku and Helsinki. Turku is the second largest city in the country, historic capital and oldest city in Finland. It impresses with a special charm, the Aura River and its thriving café and canteen culture.
• Plymouth, England: The town of Plymouth in Devon is often left out. There is a lot worth seeing there in the areas of art, architecture and history. For example, England's oldest gin distillery is located there.
• Bratislava, Slovakia: The capital of Slovakia enchants with a picturesque old town, magnificent buildings, stylish cafes and cute alleys. (jus)