Two of the 10 worst places in the world to visit in 2023 are located in France

Fodor’s Travel guide publishes a list of 10 places to avoid on vacation every year. There is no interest in these destinations, on the contrary, they are victims of mass tourism, which damages the environment and the local population.

With its classification against the current, the tourist guide wants to make the general public aware of the sustainability of these ten exceptional places. “Travel accounts for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that figure is expected to rise by 2030. The unquantifiable impacts of overtourism are enormous: pressure on supply chains, wildlife destruction and overpopulation,” Fodor’s Travel said in the press release. .

In this 2023 edition of No List, we explore the 10 most popular and photographed destinations on social media. France, the United States and Italy are the only three countries with two names on the list.

Victims of overpopulation

France, Étretat and its cliffs It ranks first among destinations to be avoided in 2023. The municipality is also very sensitive to this holiday overcrowding and does not hesitate to set up “demarketing” campaigns.

The latter try to temporarily discourage travelers in order to promote sustainable tourism. The craze surrounding the Netflix series Lupine further boosted the rock’s popularity. Despite the health crisis, the village of 1,400 people welcomed 1.1 million tourists in 2021. Fodor’s Travel worries about the spectacular weathering of the rocks, a feature that does not belong to this region of France.

Etretat councilor Jean-Baptiste Renie explained to our colleagues from France 24: “We need tourism, but we need to find a balance. Tourists themselves will benefit the most. Many of them drive off angrily after spending several hours in the car without finding a parking place, a place to eat or a toilet because of insufficient infrastructure. This mass tourism does not satisfy anyone.”

Other French names on the No list: Calanques National Park Around Marseille. Here, too, local elected officials are trying to protect it from the crowds. Calanque de Sugiton is now limited to a maximum of 400 people per day since this summer.

For the president of the national park, Didier Réault, “it was important to protect this reserve, which is a victim of soil erosion, uprooting of trees, and then the crushing of plants and the threat of species. […] The crowd, which could reach 2,500 people a day, was truly devastating.”

France, Italy and the USA

In the United States, the island of Maui in Hawaii and Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada are overrun by mass tourism. Again, Fodor’s Travel’s list does not call for boycotts or bans on travel to these destinations, but instead “asks travelers to think carefully about the choices we make. We can have a positive impact on this world that we love so much.”

Coasts in Europe are particularly targeted by No List: Venice, the Almafi coast south of Naples, Cornwall and Amsterdam are all victims of tourist overcrowding and climate change.

10 destinations to avoid in 2023:

• Etretat (France)
• The Calanques (France)
• Lake Tahoe (USA)
• Maui – Hawaii (USA)
• Venice (Italy)
• Amalfi Coast (Italy)
• Cornwall (England)
• Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• Antarctica
• Thailand

If Antarctica is not the most preferred destination for tourists, it is nevertheless a victim of global warming and tourism. The presence of boats and airplanes led to “the most rapid warming of temperatures and the most dramatic decline in fauna in history.” Fodor’s Travel explains in a press release available on its website that these vehicles produce carbon black, which further accelerates the melting of the ice.