US magazine tells tourists to 'reconsider' travel to Ha Long Bay, 8 other destinations

The American magazine's 2024 No List focuses on three main areas of tourist impact: overtourism, trash production and water quality and sufficiency.

Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province is famous for its cruises through limestone karst mountains rising out of the waters.

But the magazine said: "Overtourism and marine pollution have been putting pressure on the ecosystem for decades. The number of visitors to Ha Long Bay in 2022 was more than seven million and is expected to be around eight and a half million in 2023."

Tourists often see water bottles, plastic bags and styrofoam waste floating on the water along with diesel from tourist boats.

Ha Long Bay is full of floating styrofoam waste, April 8, 2023. Photo by Pham Ha

Trash also comes from residential areas and fishing communities living along the beaches.

Earlier this year many foreign tourists had complained about trash in the bay, saying they would never return, goading local authorities into a months-long cleanup campaign.

They claimed most of the styrofoam waste was from seafood farming households.

Besides Ha Long, there are eight other destinations in the 2024 No List: Venice (Italy), Athens (Greece), Mount Fuji (Japan), San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (California), the Atacama Desert (Chile), Lake Superior (North America), the Ganges River in India, and Koh Samui in Thailand.

The magazine said the No List of destinations "is not a round-up of spots we revile - but a declaration of places we revere," and hoped the annual list encourages tourists to find new ways to interact with some of the world's most iconic attractions.