Places you can’t visit anymore because over-tourism ruined them!

‘Over-tourism’ has become a much-feared word by every country, city, district and hidden hamlets! In the world of social media, over-tourism has ruined a number of beautiful places across the globe; places that once used to be popular for different reasons; a number of these have been thus shut down.

Recently, the Komodo Dragon Island in Indonesia, Hanoi's famous train street in Vietnam and Rome’s ancient Spanish Steps had to bear the wrath of over-tourism. Not only this, the places were also closed because tourists weren’t behaving properly around these places. The ill-behaviour and disrespectful approach too have been the contributing factors. Here are some prominent places on the planet that are now shut down for tourists.

Train Street in Hanoi is the recent victim to tourists’ bad behaviour. For people like us, the sight of a moving train along a busy street looks quite scary and different but it is a common sight for those living here. There are houses, shops and cafes lined up just inches away from the track, which makes it a prominent tourist spot in Hanoi. But now, the place has now been shut down for tourists as they made the railway tracks their favourite selfie spot!

Amsterdam decided to take down the iconic I amsterdam sign board after being hit by over-tourism. It was done to discourage tourists from coming down to Amsterdam. There was a time when the tourist number crossed the population of the beautiful town. Now, the city has also put restrictions on the number of people allowed in the city on popular hotel/rental websites. As per new rules, only four guests are allowed at a time and apartments cannot be rented out for more than 60 days a year.

The famous Spanish Steps in Rome shot to fame after they made an appearance in the very famous Audrey Hepburn rom-com Roman Holiday in 1953. After the movie, it became a prominent tourist hub, which made these 135 stone steps dirty; these are now covered in red wine stains and tacky chewing gum. So, the Roman government in 2016 spent around $1.68 millions just to clean and restore the historic steps. Now the government has decided to slap a fine of $280 to $448 whoever sits on the steps. It’s illegal to sit on the steps now.

Maya Bay used to be one of the most popular tourist hubs in Thailand. But over-tourism and bad tourist behaviour ruined the place for all. To prevent any further damage, the government decided to shut down the place for an indefinite period. As per reports, more than 80 percent of the bay’s coral is already dead, which is quite sad. So, until the marine life is safeguarded here, the bay is likely to remain close to foreign invasion!

In the month of April, the Indonesian government announced that the Komodo Island in Indonesia will be permanently shut down for tourists because of the rapidly decreasing population of Komodo Dragon. The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry claimed that they also caught some smugglers trying to sell 41 Komodo Dragons for $35000 each, which forced them to take the decision.

This is a very famous canyon that appeared in several blockbuster shows and music videos, which made this a prominent tourist spot in Iceland. In a report published by the Environment Agency of Iceland, nearly a million tourists visited the site in 2015, after appearing in a record breaking music video by Justin Beiber. It was also reported that visitors have snuck in overnight too. This, in turn, has caused massive damage to the site, hence prompting a ban from the government.