Fodor’s no go list: Skip travelling these places to save environment

Travel publication Fodor's has published a "No" list with 10 destinations tourists should avoid in 2023. Run alongside a "Go" list, the "Don't" list is intended to highlight "destinations to reconsider visiting in 2023," the editors say.

Barcelona, Paris and Dubrovnik are all included in a section called "suffering cultural hotspots," while Venice and the Amalfi Coast are listed as two of Italy's most tourist-inundated areas.

The company's 2023 "Not List" advises you to avoid these destinations, not because of the bad food, lousy attractions, or risk of danger, but because the presence of large numbers of tourists in these places is causing ecological, cultural, and cultural damage and socially unsustainable.

Lake Tahoe, California, and Antarctica make the tourists' list of natural wonders worth a break due to their ecologically sensitive environments. Other destinations include Venice and the Amalfi Coast in Italy; Cornwall, England; Amsterdam, Holland; as well as Thailand, which was noted to have experienced strained infrastructure and higher costs of living that are increasingly driving out locals.

“They are literally decimating communities, driving local people out of their homes and areas where they have lived their entire lives,” said Justin Francis, co-founder and chief executive of travel company Responsible Travel.

The “No” list

• France’s eroding coastline

• Lake Tahoe, California

• Antarctica

• Suffering cultural hot spots: Barcelona, Paris, and Dubrovnik

• Venice and the Amalfi Coast

• Cornwall, UK

• Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Thailand (Maya Bay, Koh Tao)

• Maui, Hawaii the Hawaii

• The American West (Lake Powell and Lake Mead, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah).

“On paper, the tourism figures don't look that big and are limited by various treaties that protect Antarctica. But those tourist bodies are concentrated in one part of Antarctica: the Antarctic Peninsula, which has experienced some of the fastest temperature rises and steepest wildlife declines in history," the list's editors say.

Amsterdam makes the list because Dutch tourism officials make a concerted effort to distribute tourists to other, less famous parts of the country; and recently reopened Maya Beach in Thailand is scarred by having to close for a two-month "recovery period" after a spring rush of visitors.

“This year's No List does not serve as a boycott, ban or cancellation of any kind; but a call to travellers to consider wisely the choices we make. We can have a positive impact on this world that we love so much.”

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