The most unruly tourists of 2023
The most shocking misbehavior displayed by tourists worldwide in 2023, ranging from disrespectful acts at sacred sites to irrevocable damage done to ancient statues A comprehensive overview of the year's horrifying antics
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In 2023, tourists engaged in a range of destructive and unethical behaviors, such as damaging heritage sites, consuming endangered species, and even committing grand theft. They have also reportedly disrespected border guards and engaged in inappropriate behavior in front of children. When caught, many have claimed ignorance. Here are the top 25 worst incidents of 2023.
January
A bridge too far: The Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
mustafacan/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Italy has long been a center of bad behavior for tourists who treat it like a theme park, and the year kicked off in a predictably grim manner when an American was caught driving across the pedestrianized Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence. Italys most famous bridge, built in the medieval period and then rebuilt to connect Palazzo Pitti to the Uffizi Galleries under the rule of the Medici, who lived in the former and worked in the latter, the Ponte Vecchio was allegedly so beautiful that the Germans left it intact in World War II because Hitler had fallen in love with it on a visit with Mussolini. The 34-year-old American was fined 500 euros for driving across it.
February
The start of the year was also unfortunate for wildlife and heritage. An incident in February involved a Chinese influencer who received a fine for live-streaming herself cooking and consuming a great white shark, a protected species in China. She was fined 125,000 yuan, equivalent to $18,600.
March
Dispirited away: Studio Ghibli cracked down on visitors taking "indecent" photos.
In March, a Russian tourist sparked outrage by taking a semi-nude photo at a sacred site in Bali, just as spring had started in the northern hemisphere. The incident was captured by Franck Robichon/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.
Yuri Chilikin, the man who went partially naked during a spontaneous photo shoot at Mount Agung, a volcano considered sacred to the god Shiva, later issued an apology. He sought the help of Ni Luh Djelantik, a Balinese businesswoman known for her expertise in assisting tourists in difficult situations, to mediate between him and the local community. Despite participating in a temple ceremony and praying with Hindu priests, he still faced deportation.
Chilikin wasn't the sole misbehaving tourist in Bali. In a similar timeframe, authorities imposed a ban on tourists renting motorbikes due to the accidents they were causing. At the same time, in Japan, authorities cracked down on visitors to the Ghibli Park theme park, dedicated to the work of popular animation company Studio Ghibli, for taking "indecent" photos.
Photos posted to social media in February depicted men "pretending to sexually assault young female characters" in Ghibli Park, according to Singapore's Straits Times newspaper. Hideaki Ōmura, governor of Aichi Prefecture, expressed his disapproval, stating, "For those who come to the park to do this kind of thing, I would much prefer them not to come at all."
As spring arrived in Hong Kong, residents observed the return of "begpackers" who were busking, selling items, or asking for money from locals to finance their travels. A resident named Ashley James shared with CNN, "Hong Kong is a highly expensive place to live... The locals themselves struggle to afford living here. So, why are you in one of the most expensive places in the world asking us to purchase your beads? Travel is a luxury worldwide, and expecting others to pay for your travels is ignorant and self-entitled."
In Italy, Florence was once again dealing with the consequences of another American tourist's reckless behavior. A 43-year-old man was hit with a hefty 470 euro ($506) fine for illegally driving his rental car, a bright red Ferrari, into the pedestrianized Piazza della Signoria, the main square of the Renaissance city.
Meanwhile, Venice has seen its fair share of unruly tourists, but in March a visitor took it to a whole new level by risking his own safety and jumping into a canal from the top of a three-story building. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro promised to issue the perpetrator "a certificate of stupidity and a lot of kicks" once he was tracked down, placing the blame on social media for encouraging such foolish behavior: "They do these stupid things for the likes."
Europe's season began with some good news. In March, a couple was sentenced to jail for stealing $1.7 million worth of wine from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain in 2021. The pair left restaurant Atrio in Caceres, Western Spain with 45 bottles of wine wrapped in hotel towels and hidden in travel bags, including a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem from 1805 worth 350,000 euros. The couple had visited the restaurant three times, had a 14-course dinner, and a guided tour of the wine cellar before breaking in during the night from an adjacent hotel.
Not just individuals, but entire countries can also behave badly. In March, Amsterdam launched its "Stay Away" campaign to deter young British men from causing chaos on "stag dos" or bachelor parties in the capital. The campaign used targeted ads to caution potential rowdy travelers of the risks of getting arrested, fined, or ending up in the hospital from drug binges gone wrong when searching for terms like "cheap hotel Amsterdam" or "pub crawl Amsterdam".
April
Rescuers were called in when the fungi fun stopped.
From Keswick Mountain Rescue Team
May
One group of "young adult males" in the UK's Lake District got into trouble when they decided to enhance their experience of the beautiful panoramas with magic mushrooms. Their disorientation led to volunteer rescuers being alerted by passersby.
Let it go: The Austrian village of Hallstatt built a fence to stop selfie takers.
Reinhard Hörmandinger/AFP/Getty Images
As the European summer season began, an Austrian village became frustrated with tourists taking selfies and decided to build a fence to block the view. Hallstatt, rumored to be the inspiration for the Disney movie "Frozen," constructed the fence due to the overwhelming number of visitors - up to 10,000 per day - in a village with only about 800 residents.
Behaving irresponsibly can have serious consequences, as witnessed in Yellowstone National Park on May 20. A visitor disturbed a newborn bison calf, going against park regulations, resulting in the calf being rejected by its herd and ultimately euthanized. In another incident, pilot and skydiver Trevor Daniel Jacob narrowly avoided tragedy by deliberately crashing his plane in California while shooting a promotional video, leading to a guilty plea after the footage went viral.
Not all bad behavior comes from humans. In the UK's Lake District, an "exhausted" and possibly injured dog had to be saved after refusing to walk any further. A mountain rescue team successfully transported him down from Scafell Pike in just over four hours. Weighing 77 pounds, he's a hefty dog, but no match for a team of professionals with a stretcher. "Despite being quite a large dog at 33kg, it was a pleasure to carry such a relatively lightweight casualty. The dog remained cool, calm, and positively regal throughout," the rescue team stated.
June
Who knew the Colosseum was old?
Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
July
In June, a visitor to the Colosseum in Rome was apprehended for carving "Ivan + Hayley 23" into the ancient monument, which is over 2,000 years old. He grinned as he was being recorded, but his mood changed when the police located him just a day later. According to a spokesperson for the carabinieri police force, the British citizen immediately pleaded with the Italian authorities for forgiveness, claiming that he was unaware of the monument's age. It is now believed that he is awaiting trial in 2024.
The writing's on the wall for Colosseum vandals.
Tourists in Italy continued to harm the country's fragile heritage as summer went on. In July, two teenagers were caught vandalizing the Colosseum on two consecutive days: first a girl from Switzerland, and then a German boy. Both were apprehended after carving their names into the historic structure.
August
Naked people became a problem on a UK sunflower farm.
Sams Sunflowers
As temperatures soar, people are increasingly tempted to shed their clothes, prompting a plea from the owners of a UK sunflower field. Visitors to Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island, off England's south coast, have been asked on social media to refrain from posing naked among the flowers. Owner Sam Wilson described the situation as a unique issue for 2023.
Amsterdam requests that young British tourists refrain from engaging in inappropriate behavior, after reports of risque photos causing issues for locals. "We've always had people take risque pictures but this is the first year it's been a problem, which is why we've put up signs," a spokesperson stated, noting that the decision was made after children witnessed the behavior.
Two German tourists were taken into custody in Italy for defacing Florence's Vasari Corridor, which connects the Uffizi Galleries to the Ponte Vecchio. The offenders, who were part of a larger group in Florence for a soccer match, caused more than $10,000 in damages by graffitiing their team's insignia. Meanwhile, in northern Italy, a group of German tourists accidentally knocked over a valuable statue while trying to take a photo at Viggiù, near Lake Como.
In Rome, the scorching temperatures led to a tourist being captured on video wading into the Trevi Fountain to fill her water bottle. It is unknown what happened to the woman, but she was seen being detained by authorities. Stepping into the iconic fountain can result in fines of 500 euros.
Meanwhile, in Paris, two intoxicated American tourists were discovered at the Eiffel Tower one morning in August, with the Paris prosecutors office telling CNN that they had allegedly been trapped there due to their excessive alcohol consumption.
September
Air Canada apologized after passengers were left sitting in a wet and dirty seating area.
James MacDonald/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Airline passengers are often quick to criticize the behavior of other travelers, but sometimes it's the airlines themselves who are guilty of questionable conduct. In September, Air Canada staff made paying passengers sit in seats that were still dirty with vomit from a previous flight on a trip from Las Vegas to Montreal. "They placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume to mask the smell. When the clearly upset passengers tried to explain to the flight attendant that the seat and seatbelt were wet and there was still visible vomit residue in their area, the flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do," wrote one passenger on social media.
The airline apologized when news of the incident went viral.
October
Whoops!
The Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit reported that in 2022, a tourist caused chaos at the Vatican Museums by destroying ancient sculptures. This alarming trend continued into 2023 in Israel, where an American tourist damaged two Roman sculptures dating back to the second century CE. According to police, the man intentionally knocked over the statues, claiming they were "idolatrous," while his lawyer argued that he was suffering from "Jerusalem Syndrome," a condition in which tourists become detached from reality due to being overwhelmed by history.
November
Forty four foreign nationals have ben denied entry for "disrespectful" behavior.
Rouelle Umali/Xinhua/Getty Images
The winter season has seen a continuation of negative conduct. In November, an American traveler was permanently banned from visiting the Philippines after being accused of writing offensive language on his immigration form. Officials stated that he had provided a fictitious address, omitted his full name, and inputted offensive words in his form. The 34-year-old was denied entry and added to the permanent no entry list due to his "disrespectful" behavior, as reported by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration. Authorities claimed that upon his arrival, he allegedly displayed disrespectful behavior towards an immigration officer when reminded to complete an online travel form, and threw his passport and mobile phone at another officer.
The passenger told CNN that he disputed the countrys account. He is the 44th foreign national this year to be denied entry for "disrespectful" behavior.
