Boracay Island, Philippines
What do you get when you cross bad plumbing, irresponsible tourists, and a beautiful beach? Well, as the President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte put it, a cesspool. Boracay Island had to be closed to the general public for six months in 2018, due to the fact that a huge number of tourists visited it each year to enjoy the sand and the beach. Why should something like this demand such action? The accommodations for tourists often featured sub-par plumbing, often dumping all of the waste into the ocean. This made the water not just unpleasant, but a biohazard as well.
The Great Wall of China
It is not enough that the Great Wall suffers due to neglect and erosion, but it also must endure a combination of greedy locals and tourists. As it turns out, huge chunks of the wall have gone missing due to the locals selling bricks as souvenirs. It would appear that neither party is aware of the fact that the bricks don’t naturally grow back on this marvel and, if the problem is not addressed properly soon, we may lose yet another treasure from the past.
Venice, Italy
Venice is certainly a romantic place, but it is facing several problems, including rising sea levels. The logistics of dealing with the issue become increasingly more difficult due to over-tourism. It simply means that there are too many people visiting Venice each year, making everyday life there impossible, even without other issues Italy is facing, and there are plenty. To remedy the situation, the authorities have started charging the tourists to even enter the city. Hopefully, this will turn away all but the most eager tourists.