- The Myth of Caring: 85% of travelers claim they care about sustainability, yet littering and costs continue to skyrocket.
- Locals Are Tired: 40% of residents are fed up with traffic, while 37% are left to clean up visitors’ trash.
- The Solution: Booking.com offers six ways to stop being a walking headache for the people who actually live in your “bucket list” destinations.
Booking.com has released its latest sustainability report, and on paper, humanity looks like it just discovered a conscience. While 85% of global travelers pat themselves on the back for saying sustainability is “important,” the reality on the ground is a mess of traffic congestion, rising rents, and discarded plastic.
If you’re tired of being the person locals whisper about behind their hands, here is how to stop being a burden on the world’s most beautiful places.
Stop Clogging Up the Icons
Stop pretending you need another selfie at the Eiffel Tower. 43% of travelers claim they want to avoid crowds, yet they keep showing up in the same three cities. If you actually had a personality, you’d realize Bordeaux has better wine than Paris and half the ego. Stop being a sheep; go to Lyon or explore Ari in Bangkok instead of Thonglor. You get a better story, and the residents of overcrowded hubs get a much-needed break from your suitcase wheels rattling on the cobblestones at 4:00 AM.
Visit When You’re Not Wanted (In a Good Way)
Traveling during peak season is for amateurs who enjoy paying triple for a lukewarm espresso. 25% of locals are begging you to reschedule to a different time. Go to the Amalfi Coast in November when you won’t be shoved off a cliff by a tour group, or try Australia’s beaches in the winter. It’s better for your wallet and doesn’t push local infrastructure to a breaking point.
Use Your Legs, Not a Rental Car
41% of locals are desperate for better public transport because tourists keep idling in rental cars and blocking the bus lanes. You have a smartphone; use a map app. Walk. Take the Subway. Unless you enjoy being stuck in a London Black Cab watching the meter climb while you sit in a gridlock you helped create, act like a local and get on a bike. Or take the bus.
Stop Feeding the Corporate Machine
If you travel halfway across the world to eat at a Starbucks or a generic chain, stay home. 45% of people claim they want to “shop local,” but the souvenir shops at the airport say otherwise. Spend your money at the family-run bistro or the independent artisan. At least then, the “economic growth” Booking.com brags about actually reaches a human being, rather than a shareholder’s offshore account.
Pick Up Your Own Trash
It’s pathetic that this needs to be said, but 37% of residents cite littering as a top grievance. Bringing a reusable bottle isn’t “revolutionary”—it’s the bare minimum. If you’re trampling sensitive habitats in the Galápagos just for a photo, you aren’t a traveler; you’re a vandal. Try visiting the Pacific Coast of Ecuador or Samburu in Kenya instead of the Serengeti. Give the overworked ecosystems a rest.
Learn a Word of the Language, for Once
Residents in tourist zones aren’t background actors in the movie of your life. 28% of locals want you to understand the laws and basic customs. Read a book before you land. Learn how to say “please” and “thank you.” If you can’t bother to respect a dress code in a sacred space, you shouldn’t be there. A little basic human decency goes a long way toward making locals hate your presence just a little bit less.
For destinations already stretched thin, like Crete, this conversation isn’t theoretical. Extending the season, pushing inland, attracting “better” tourists—it all sounds reasonable. Until volume stays the same and pressure simply spreads.
