An American guide has placed two French destinations at the top of the list in its selection of tourist places in the world to avoid at all costs in 2023. And the reason is not what we think.
The site of the American travel guide Fodor’s Travel delivers its list of destinations to avoid in the world every year. This year 2023, Fodor’s No List has placed in the viewfinder the French sites of Étretat in Normandy and the Calanques National Park in the Bouches-du-Rhône. If the tourist guide selects its destinations where you should no longer go on vacation according to three specific categories, it is that of “natural attractions which could benefit from a break to recharge your batteries” which took precedence for these, in front of the ” cultural hotspots that are plagued by overpopulation and resource depletion” and “places around the world dramatically affected by water crises”. Explanations:
Did you know that the Normandy coast is suffering from coastal erosion not only due to climate change, but mainly due to overtourism? While major storms increasingly ravage its beaches each year, the wastewater treatment plant in the city of Étretat, which receives 3 million visitors each year, had to close last year for maintenance because it could only accommodate three times as many visitors as its regular population.
Of more concern, frequent landslides are caused by too much foot traffic, reports the Fodor’s Travel website. “We need tourism, but we need to find a balance. The tourists themselves would benefit more. Many of them leave angry after spending several hours in their cars without finding a parking space, a place to eat or toilets, for lack of sufficient infrastructure. This mass tourism does not satisfy anyone, “said Jean-Baptiste Renié, a municipal councilor in Étretat.
Same scenario for the Calanques of Marseille, victims of their popularity: the erosion that is eating away at the site has led the national park to set up a reservation system to visit its beaches in summer, with a daily quota of 400 visitors per day. , since the year 2022.
Finally, Fodor’s Travel aims to sound the alarm on unique tourist places that are now weakened by mass tourism, as is the case, in its selection abroad, of Venice and the Amalfi Coast in Italy, or the Cornwall region in the southwest of England, Thailand or the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
“In a world of theme parks, Instagram-listed restaurants, and pop-up museums, it’s easy to forget that many of the world’s top attractions were created by nature and are still alive today. Many of these natural landmarks have been damaged, either by recent natural disasters or by an influx of visitors” underlines the American publisher of tourist guides. “Some iconic landmarks have been so badly damaged that tourist offices and elected officials have asked travelers not to visit them while the land, air and sea recover. These natural destinations are in desperate need of a pause from visitors,” concludes Fodor’s Travel.
