- Ricardo Senra
- BBC World Service
8 hours ago
Credit, tiktok.com/@angelalopeze
caption,
A tourist climbed and danced on top of the Mexican pyramid, considered one of the new “Seven Wonders of the World”.
They’re a minority but they’re loud, abusive, and occasionally dangerous and harmful.
As tourism booms after many of the Covid19 restrictions were lifted, incidents of misbehaving tourists from around the world have been common news.
In a recent case, a woman ignored a ban and climbed to the top of a nearly 1,000yearold Mayan pyramid in Mexico.
An angry crowd protested, and she was eventually escorted by security guards the episode’s video instantly went viral on TikTok.
But visitors must “behave as if they were at home,” says Marcelo Risi, communications director of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
In 2022, some have not, in cases ranging from drones and scooters to graffiti and nude selfies to damage to several countries’ cultural and historical heritage.
1. Dancing on top of a Mayan pyramid in Mexico
Climbing the 91 steps of the Mayan pyramid of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá has been banned since 2008.
It is a sacred site and was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2007.
But on November 20, a tourist not only ignored the rule, but began dancing and entered the temple room at the top of the pyramid, built between the 8th and 12th centuries AD.
As the unidentified woman was escorted from the venue, bystanders yelled at her, had her hair pulled and had water poured on her, and her behavior was widely criticized online.
According to local media, the woman was released from prison after paying a fine, and Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a statement that the pyramid was undamaged after the incident.
2. Scooter, drone and gondola theft in Italy
Credit, Polizia Roma Capitale
caption,
Tourists on motorcycles cause $27,000 worth of damage to Rome’s historic Spanish Steps
Italy is one of the top destinations for international travelers and one where tourists often misbehave.
In June, two American tourists rode scooters down Rome’s historic Spanish Steps, damaging a fourinch piece of marble in the process. In a statement, the capital’s cultural heritage office said the restoration of the 18thcentury site would cost US$27,000 (R$141,000).
In April, an Argentine visitor was arrested after losing control of his drone, which crashed into the ceiling of the 15thcentury Palazzo Venezia (also in Rome). And a few days earlier, two Mexican tourists smashed the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a similar device.
In October, two French men were arrested on charges of stealing a gondola and throwing its ornaments into a Venice canal.
In 2022 alone, 43 tourists were spotted swimming in the city’s canals, which is prohibited an increase from 2021 when 24 were spotted, according to local authorities.
3. Dancing naked on a sacred mountain in Indonesia
caption,
Mount Batur, an active volcano, is considered one of Bali’s four sacred mountains
In April, a Canadian was deported and barred from visiting Bali, Indonesia, after he posted videos on social media of himself dancing naked on top of Mount Batur, an active volcano considered one of the island’s four sacred mountains is applicable.
The foreigner, who later deleted the videos and apologized for his behavior, went viral on social media, where he was accused of disrespecting the haka, an important ceremonial in Maori culture.
“To all foreigners visiting Bali, please act accordingly and respect our law and Balinese cultural values,” the Director of Bali Immigration Services said after the episode.
4. Naked selfie in front of the Sphinx in Egypt
caption,
A woman tried to take a nude selfie near the legendary Sphinx in Egypt
On November 7, security officials at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt asked a woman to put on the clothes as she attempted to take nude selfies in front of the famous Great Sphinx, believed to be between 2600 and 2500 BC.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released an official statement on the incident on Facebook, which said: “Taking off one’s clothes is a violation of Egyptian laws, customs and traditions.”
After dressing, “the tourist is allowed to conclude her visit to the archaeological site,” Egyptian officials said.
5. “Irreparable damage” to petroglyphs in the United States
Credit, National Park Service
caption,
A panel of ancient rock carvings was ‘irreparably damaged’ by tourists in the US.
Petroglyphs are rare images carved or painted on stone surfaces by ancient civilizations. But that didn’t stop visitors from painting their own names on some of the most important ones in Big Bend National Park in Texas, United States.
In a statement released in January, the park said: “The panel of ancient cave paintings was damaged beyond repair when vandals scratched their names and dates into the prehistoric art.”
“Big Bend National Park belongs to all of us. Damage to natural features and rock art is destroying the beauty and history that the American people want to protect in our parks,” Big Bend Superintendent Bob Krumenaker said in a statement.
“With every instance of vandalism, a part of our nation’s heritage is lost forever.”
6. Arrest after Nazi salute in concentration camp in Poland
Credit, Portal
caption,
The gate with the inscription “Arbeit macht frei” in Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp
A 29yearold Dutch tourist was arrested in January after giving a Nazi salute at the entrance to the former AuschwitzBirkenau death camp in Poland.
The unidentified woman was later accused of engaging in Nazi propaganda after posing for a photograph of her husband. Prosecutors imposed a fine, which they agreed to pay.
She said the act was a bad joke, Polish news agency PAP reported.
Nazi Germany built the death camp in the city of Oswiecim in southern Poland after occupying the country at the start of World War II in 1939.
In just over four and a half years, Nazi Germany systematically murdered at least 1.1 million people in Auschwitz. Almost 1 million were Jews.
What is being done against tourist misconduct?
Credit, Portal
caption,
Venice charges up to 10 euros per person to enter the city
The United Nations (UN) estimates that 700 million tourists traveled internationally between January and September 2022 a 133% increase compared to the same period in 2021, but still less than in the first nine months of 2019 before the Pandemic.
As cases of tourist misconduct increase (as you’ve seen in the examples above), some cities and countries are trying to fight back.
In cities like Sorrento, Italy, tourists seen wearing swimwear in urban spaces have been subject to fines of up to US$520 (R$2,700) since July.
In Spain, the city of Vigo fined anyone caught urinating on the beaches US$670 (R$3,500).
And California authorities announced a $5,000 (R$26,000) fine and up to six months in jail for anyone who insists on seeing the world’s tallest tree (though visiting the 115meter facility is banned by many). Tourists have recently damaged the tree and its surroundings on their way there.
“Nobody could condone this kind of behavior,” says Marcelo Risi, director of the UNWTO.
“We are fully aware that the vast majority of tourists are eager for new experiences, travel and learning about other cultures and that they basically behave appropriately,” he admits.
“We believe there is a major advance in general awareness of the footprint they leave behind, be it economic, social, cultural or environmental.”
While noting that the examples in this story are “single cases and not representative of the whole”, he told the BBC his advice to tourists was simple:
“The basic recommendation is a lot of common sense: behave abroad as you behave at home.”