The most overcrowded tourist destinations in the world – that you should probably avoid next year
A report by the World Travel and Tourism Council looked at factors like the number of alienated residents and any overloaded infrastructure
2017 was the year that holiday destinations across Europe became really fed up with tourists.
There were protests in several cities across the continent by disgruntled locals who felt they were being pushed out of their homes.
Governments in places like the Balearics have already started to raise taxes, to discourage so many holidaymakers from returning next year.
A by the World Travel and Tourism Council, in partnership with McKinsey, has pinpointed some of the destinations struggling most with overcrowding.
The report, called Coping with Success: Managing Overcrowding in Tourist Destinations, looked at a number of factors to decide which locations were worst hit.
They included alienated local residents, degraded tourist experiences, overloaded infrastructure, damage to nature and threats to culture and heritage.
The seven cities that had the highest scores in a combination of these different factors spanned the globe.
They included Amsterdam, Dubrovnik, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Rome, Venice and Warsaw.
The report has suggested that the different locations should spread visitors out across the entire year, instead of dealing with huge hordes at certain points like mid-summer.
It said: “While in some instances it makes sense simply to limit the number of visitors, for example, through a daily cap, we increasingly also see destinations establishing reservations and ticketing systems.”
Tourists are being encouraged to visit lesser-known parts of popular holiday destinations in order to ease pressure on the busiest areas.
For instance, Iceland is promoting the town of Akureyri, which features waterfalls and hot springs, to ease the burden on other areas of the country.
Visit Britain has also been working to attract tourists out of London and into other parts of the country.
Certain places have attempted to introduce bans to deter any more holidaymakers – like a recent ban on any new tourist shops in Amsterdam.
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But the report has warned that this should only be treated as an extreme last resort.
They added: “Travel and tourism will only grow, creating new jobs, new opportunities, and new experiences, as well as being a force for peace in the world.
“But many destinations are struggling to strike the right balance of meeting the needs of businesses, local residents, and tourists.”