Dubrovnik, Croatia
The city’s famous walls have failed to keep away invading hordes of visitors, Responsible Travel says. “Thanks to cheap flights, cruise ships and ‘Game of Thrones’ fans bent on seeing the living film sets, Dubrovnik’s Old Town is drowning,” says Francis.
“The worst thing is everyone comes here to do the same things such as walking the city walls.” In fact, 10,000 tickets to do just this were sold in one day in August 2016, according to Responsible Travel.
As visitor numbers rise, the local population dwindles. There were 5,000 residents of the Old Town in 1991, now there are under 2,000. “The city has a drastic two-year plan to cut visitors, partly because UNESCO warned the Old Town would lose its World Heritage Status,” added Francis.
