In recent weeks, authorities in Thailand and the Philippines have called
time on tourism in two of their most popular tourist destinations.
First, Thai officials said Maya Bay needed an enforced break from the
daytrippers who have flocked there since it was featured in 2000 film
The Beach.
Then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Boracay Island
will also be closing for a few months, having, in his words, become an
overcrowded "cesspool".
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1. Thailand: Maya Bay finally gets a rest
In March, Thai authorities announced they were closing the country's
famed Maya Bay to allow it a brief respite. The secluded cove - with
translucent waters, white sands and limestone cliffs - shot to fame as
the picturesque setting for The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Since
then between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors have been turning up on its shores
daily.
Experts have said 77% of Maya Bay's coral is at serious risk, mainly
from damage by boat anchors. The planned four-month break this year -
from June to September - cannot fix that.
So, is it too late to save Maya Bay?
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Bangkok-based marine scientist Thon Thamrongnawasawat does not think so.
"If we thought it was too late, we would do nothing," he told the BBC.
"We closed one island, called Koh Yoong, three years ago, and the corals
there are growing very well. We will use the same practice in Maya Bay
and try to transplant some coral as well."
Thailand closed dozens of dive sites to tourists in 2011. Koh Yoong, in
the Phi Phi island chain and Koh Tachai, in the Similan Islands National
Park, have also been off-limits to visitors since mid-2016.
Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel
and Tourism, said: "I think it makes sense to close islands. However,
there are huge economic pressures on Thailand, especially during these
difficult political times. Tourism has been key to Thailand's economic
development so Thai businesses and officials are afraid any curtailment
of tourism would imperil the Thai economy."
Mr Thamrongnawasawat thinks this is why it has taken so long to take
action at Maya Bay. "If you are in a country that earns more than 22% of
GDP from tourism, you will understand how hard this was. Most people did
not think this could really happen."
When Maya Beach reopens, it will have a new daily limit of 2,000
tourists a day and boats will no longer be allowed to cross the shallow
reef. It will also close again for four months next year.
However, Worapoj Limlim, the head of the area's national park, told the
Phuket News that he was not sure how he would enforce the new ban, and
he might need back-up to add to the small team that already patrols the
shores.
2. Italy: Cinque Terre tries technology
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Tourists cannot get enough of the five brightly painted cliffside towns
in northern Italy known as Cinque Terre. The area, which has about 5,000
residents, became a national park in 1999 and now receives more than two
million tourists per year.
People come to hike the scenic paths that link the towns and the terrace
vineyards. Over the years, the walkways have fallen into disrepair from
erosion and overuse.
The popular route between the towns of Riomaggiore and Manarola has been
closed since September 2012, after a group of Australian tourists was
injured in a landslide. Another hiker on a different path was hurt
during 2018's Easter weekend, according to La Nazione news site.
There has been plenty of talk about imposing a limit on the number of
visitors, but that has not yet happened.
Lately, park authorities have been trialling an app which tourists can
download to see the number of people on the routes in real time. When a
red warning sign shows, a path is overcrowded and visitors can then make
up their minds if they want to join the throngs. In the future, they may
trial virtual waiting lists.
Visitors are also encouraged to buy a Cinque Terre Card, which allows
access to trails and public transport. It is not obligatory but the
proceeds go towards trail repairs, among other things.
Richard Hammond, who runs GreenTraveller.com, told the BBC now was the
best time for change across the world.
"People are becoming more aware of how they are travelling and how they
are living," he said.
"For example, there is suddenly more widespread awareness of plastic
usage - only in the last year - and this is spilling over into other
areas of people's lives, making it more palatable to make changes. The
way is open for governments and local authorities to act because they
won't have the backlash that they had in the past."
3. Peru: Machu Picchu turns to time slots
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Peru's ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is on the must-see list for
many keen travellers.
Its famous Inca Trail allows visitors to hike their way there - through
Andean landscapes and cloud forests - which many say is an even more
fulfilling experience.
However, too many people and too many informal operators were leading to
damaged routes, rubbish pile-ups and out-of-control campsites.
In 2005, the Peruvian government placed a limit on the number of people
allowed to hike the trail per season. It is also closed every February
for cleaning and maintenance.
Tourists have adapted by booking ahead, and tour companies have to abide
by regulations to keep their allocated permits.
However, visitors still flood through Machu Picchu itself, which, for
the vast majority of people, is accessed by road.
Last year, the authorities brought in new system, which involves buying
a ticket for either the morning or the afternoon, in a bid to control
the numbers.
However, one local environmentalist told the BBC they feared this was
just a quick fix. The site is known to be surpassing Unesco's
recommended cap of a maximum of 2,500 visitors per day.
4. South Korea: Jeju Island
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Can you guess the busiest flight route in the world?
Last year, it was between South Korea's capital, Seoul, and Jeju island,
a tourist destination about 90km off the mainland. People come to take
in the volcanic landscapes, picturesque waterfalls - and an erotic
amusement park, which is popular with honeymooners.
In 2017, almost 65,000 flights went between these two airports, working
out at almost 180 per day. Annually, about 15 million tourists visit the
island, according to the South China Morning Post. That is a lot of
people for an area under 2,000 sq km (700 sq miles).
Kang Won-bo, director of a local protest group, told the Korea Times: "[Jeju's]
once-pristine environment has been seriously damaged after it became
popular with outsiders. There is more trash and traffic jams."
Speaking to the BBC, Catherine Germier-Hamel, a sustainable tourism
consultant based in Seoul, said: "The island is also receiving lots of
cruise visitors, who just stay a few hours and do not really contribute
to the local economy."
Ms Germier-Hamel said that across the world, people tended to measure
tourism success purely in terms of the number of arrivals, and this
needed to change.
And how about the carbon footprint from all those flights?
It does not look like it will be addressed anytime soon: the South
Korean government is considering another airport in southern Jeju, which
it thinks could triple the annual number of tourists to 45 million by
2035.
Jeju Island is also particularly popular with Chinese tourists. The
growth of the Chinese travel market is viewed as causing major new
strains across the region.
However, in the case of Jeju Island, things took an odd turn last year
when China banned its travel agencies from selling package tours to
South Korea in protest at Seoul's decision to utilise a US-made missile
defence system, which Beijing saw as a threat to its security. That ban
has now been lifted.
5. Colombia: Caño Cristales starts with a rulebook
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Colombia's Caño Cristales is a surreal site - a river that appears to
run a whole spectrum of colours. Thanks to aquatic plants and tricks of
the light, it ripples red, pink, lime green and yellow. Locals in the
central Meta province call it the liquid rainbow.
This was formerly the heart of territory occupied by Farc guerrillas,
meaning tourism - both foreign and domestic - was pretty much
non-existent.
But in recent years - especially after the 2016 peace deal was signed -
visitors have started to venture into the country's inner depths and see
this much-photographed wonder for themselves, using the tiny town of
Macarena as their base.
Caño Cristales does not see anywhere near the same amount of visitors as
some of the other places on this list (about 16,000 in 2016), but does
have a tough task of balancing an unprecedented influx with an extremely
delicate ecosystem.
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There are concerns that more people in the area might risk an increase
in pollution and damage the precious aquatic plants.
Unusually for an emerging destination, it has started off on the right
foot by instigating a number of rules: no plastic bottles, no sunscreen
or insect repellent in the water, no swimming in certain areas, no
cigarettes, no feeding the fish. On arrival, visitors attend a briefing
to ensure all of this is entirely clear.
Henry Quevedo, president of the Caño Cristales tourist board, said
tourism here was very much a local project, with hundreds of families
playing a role acting as tour guides and hosts. They are now undergoing
training and learning other languages.
However, there are still environmental concerns over a possible increase
in flights (visitors typically arrive from Bogotá, 170 miles to the
north) and SUVs, which drive people from the town of Macarena to the
river itself.
In December, access was restricted to give the river a break. Faber
Ramos, co-ordinator of the ecotourism program, told news site Semana
Sostenible: "Human presence can harm the plants' reproduction processes.
That's why we decided to implement the restriction."
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