Magaluf is so fed up with the raucous behaviour of drunk tourists it has published a strict rule book. Photo / Getty Images
Magaluf is so fed up with the raucous behaviour of drunk tourists it has published a strict rule book. Photo / Getty Images
It is a good thing that travel has become more accessible than ever. Seeing the world teaches us tolerance and acceptance, gives us perspective, and pushes us out of our comfort zones.
But, for some, give an inch and they take a mile.
The behaviour some tourists partake in while travelling the globe is not just disrespectful, but downright stupid. And it's ruining it for the rest of us.
It is getting so bad that some of the world's most beautiful cities - and our favourite bucket-list destinations - are beginning to openly revolt against visitors from other countries.
If they're not just blatantly hostile to tourists already - such as what is happening in Barcelona right now - they are forced to launch campaigns telling tourists how to behave, or forced to impose fines or bans on certain behaviours.
Hostility towards tourists in the Italian city of Venice has been brewing for a while, but last month The City of Bridges announced its #EnjoyRespectVenezia campaign.
Aiming to promote better behaviour among the 25 million holiday-makers who visit the city annually, it will be spearheaded across social media and on posters at prominent tourists sites.
Visitors will be reminded not to swim in canals, make picnic stops out of public areas, pause too long on bridges, drop litter, ride bikes through the city or sightsee in swimsuits, according to The Independent.
Yes, despite all that seeming like a primary school textbook definition of how adults should not act, it's all apparently common tourist behaviour.
Transgressors will be fined anything from $30 to $590.
Posters will be displayed at prominent tourists sites in Venice, reminding visitors not to swim in canals, make picnic stops out of public areas or pause too long on bridges. Photo / 123RF
FLORENCE
Less than a month after Venice, another Italian city launched a similar campaign to remind adults how to act like adults. Florence's tourism chief Anna Paola Concia unveiled #EnjoyRespectFirenze to help the historic city preserve its heritage and dignity under the immense weight of a tourism boom.
"People come to Italy thinking they can do whatever they want here, but it's time to let them know that they should act as they do at home; that Florence is a beautiful city that needs to be preserved and this is a responsibility that falls also to our visitors," Ms Concia said, according to The Florentine.
Like #EnjoyRespectVenezia the Florence campaign targets simple points of basic behaviour to be respected, involving the cleanliness and hygiene of the city, the monuments and its residents.
The campaign will run on social media and the council has produced souvenirs including T-shirts, mugs, keyrings and tote bags with some of the offending behaviour printed on them. These will be distributed to hotels, restaurants, and tour operators and doled out for free to tourists.
The campaign comes after the mayor of Florence, fed up with loitering tourists, dealt with disrespectful visitors in a more abrasive way.
In June, Dario Nardella announced that the steps of the Renaissance city's most popular churches would be hosed down with water, around lunchtime, so people wouldn't be able to sit down and eat their lunch there - often leaving their rubbish behind.
Florence is turning the hose on tourists who do the wrong thing. Photo / 123RF
ROME
Italy is clearly fed up with bad behaviour because Rome has also introduced tourist bans of its own.
The mayor of the Italian capital recently signed an order aimed at protecting its ancient fountains, some of which have been vandalised or soiled over the years.
Tourists caught climbing on, bathing in, or picnicking near the capital's monumental fountains risk fines up to 240 euros ($387).
"Everyone must respect Rome's beauty," Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi said of the ban.
Rome is sick of tourists disrespecting its historic fountains. Photo / Getty Images
HVAR
Hvar, a popular Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, is loved by tourists across the world chasing the sun and sea. But Hvar doesn't love tourists so much.
The island, which has a permanent population of about 11,000, is fed up with visitors who just treat it like one big summer party.
"We are genetically disposed to tourism," said Riki Novak, mayor of the island's main town, also called Hvar, The New York Times reported.
"But this party tourism is not something that we asked for. It's not something we wanted." The island has prominent public posters warning men to keep their shirts on or face fines of 500 euros ($807).
Sixty-four new rules prohibit bad behaviour among boozy visitors, after locals called for more action to curb the anti-social incidents that occur every summer.
Magaluf is so fed up with the raucous behaviour of drunk tourists it has published a strict rule book. Photo / Getty Images
They include everything from dropping cigarettes in the street to "balconing" - a practice where people jump from balconies into swimming pools.
The "rules" were passed late last year - but it's amazing they ever needed to be passed or published; considering it should be basic common decency.
In addition, authorities in the Balearic Islands, home to the islands of Ibiza and Magaluf, have asked Spain and the European Union to ban alcohol on flights and in airports as they battle "anti-social tourism".
