After reading a spate of news stories complaining about the incredibly bad behaviour that tourists are exhibiting this summer, like this one and this one, I thought I’d compile some examples reported in the past week. Judging by this list, those original reports may be on to something.
Tourists arrested for spraying soccer graffiti on 460-year-old Italian landmark (CNN)
Yet another Italian historic landmark has been defaced by tourists in a summer that has seen the country endure a string of brazen incidents resulting in damage to celebrated works of architecture. This time it was the turn of the 460-year-old Vasari Corridor, a beautiful riverside passageway connected to the famous Uffizi Galleries in Florence, which was sprayed with Munich soccer-related graffiti in the early hours of August 23.
Hanoi wants tourists to stop visiting one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions (TIME)
For nearly a year now, authorities in Hanoi have been trying to shut down “Train Street,” one of the city’s most famous unofficial attractions, where trains buzz by mere feet away from where people regularly sip coffee or beer in a row of open-air cafes. But tourists just won’t stop coming, it seems, despite mounting safety concerns over the crowds gathering around the social-media-famous train tracks.
Tourist faces federal charges after stumbling into a Yellowstone hot spring while “under the influence” (Field & Stream)
On August 23, a Michigan man appeared in federal court after he allegedly ventured off-trail in a thermal area of Yellowstone National Park and burned himself in a scalding-hot thermal feature. Forty-nine year-old Jason D. Wicks of Hillman, Michigan pled not guilty to the charges. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice District of Wyoming and shared by the National Park Service, he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident.
American tourist apologizes after blasting Phuket street with weed-laced fog machine (NextShark)
An American tourist from California was made to apologize after blasting a fog machine laced with marijuana on a busy street in Phuket, Thailand, to promote his business back home. Authorities said the man, identified as Angkhan Vorac Chhieng, 55, was using a fog machine filled with marijuana, described in an Instagram post as a “kush cannon,” while walking down a crowded, busy street.
Yellowstone tourist (holding a small child) full-on sprints directly towards mama bear & her cubs (Whiskey Riff)
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that bears are incredibly dangerous creatures, especially when it’s a mama bear protecting her cubs. So, I can’t even fathom why someone would feel the need to sprint up on a bear, ESPECIALLY when it has two young cubs nearby.
Two tourists fell asleep in the Eiffel Tower and woke up to police (Smithsonian Magazine)
In the early hours of August 14, two American tourists were found asleep in an area—normally closed to the public—between the Eiffel Tower’s second and third floors. Security guards discovered the pair as they prepared to open the landmark up to the morning crowds. They “appear to have got stuck because of how drunk they were,” Paris prosecutors told Agence-France Presse.
British tourist, 42, is arrested for ‘groping air stewardess and spitting at her boss’ on flight to Ibiza (Daily Mail)
A British holidaymaker has been banned by an airline after he was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting an air stewardess and spitting on her boss during a flight to Ibiza. The 42-year-old, who is thought to be from Oldham, was held by police August 24 after reaching the island on a Jet2 flight from Manchester.
“This is why we can’t have nice things,” wrote a disgruntled Redditor who shared a photo taken at Maroon Bells Scenic Area in Colorado. The picture showed visitors outside of the designated area blatantly disregarding a sign stating that the area was “closed for revegetation.”
TikTok tourist stopped by police for not wearing shirt after swimming (Dexterto)
An Australian TikToker recently had a run in with the police in Japan after he was spotted walking around the city without his shirt on after swimming.
A summer rite in Spain: coping with the British tourist invasion (New York Times)
On the front lines of a low-cost resort, Spanish residents complain that U.K. visitors drink too much and don’t spend enough.
