The bigger the orchard, the more bad apples there will be.
It is estimated that nearly 5 billion people traveled by air in 2025, a record number, with even more tourists traveling by ship, train and road. While most travelers enjoyed their vacation without incident and pumped a lot of money into the local economy, not all of them were on their best behavior.
This is CNN Travel’s list of resolutions to help us all become better global citizens in 2026. It also provides examples of this year’s biggest failures. Let’s hope some of it sticks this time.
1. I respect local culture and do not lie about my nationality or cause trouble to remote island communities.
The biggest problem many locals had with international tourists this year was getting them there in the first place, especially in cities struggling with the pressures of overtourism. This was a problem that affected almost every continent.
In Europe, protesters against mass tourism took to the streets in Spain and Italy, and in Barcelona, angry locals used water pistols as weapons. In Asia, Indonesia’s Bali, Japan’s Kyoto and Thailand’s Phuket were hotspots where the quality of life of residents was threatened by crowded roads and bad tourist behavior.
In South America, thousands of tourists were stranded around Machu Picchu due to protests over transportation rights. In Nigeria, economic pressures and greedy cash grabs are threatening the good times of Deti December, an annual party packed with visitors from the diaspora.
This year, there has been increased scrutiny of Americans traveling abroad to see if they voted for Trump. It’s becoming a common question from confrontational locals. Some Americans even resorted to “flagjacking” (disguising their nationality by pretending to be Canadian), much to the chagrin of Mapleland’s actual residents.
Even the Sentinel Islanders, the “world’s most isolated” indigenous people, weren’t safe from visitors this year. The 24-year-old American was arrested in April after illegally traveling to his home 750 miles from mainland India to try to contact them.
Influential people are flocking to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
Several ill-advised TikTok trends made headlines this year as people prioritized social media influence over catching a flight or avoiding injury.
The “airport theory” trend meant that people were trying to get through the terminal from the parking lot to the gate in just 15 minutes. Copycat twirlers inspired by the Dancing Canadian have popped up at airports around the world, and a dangerous TikTok “travel hack” has prompted passengers to fasten their seatbelts around their ankles when sleeping on a flight.
The trend of recording videos of “get ready” beauty routines on planes also raised hackles, but the only real risk was poking yourself with an eyeliner pencil during turbulence.
Trouble erupts in Italy’s mountains after a TikTok influencer told her 2 million followers to descend on a ski resort in central Italy. In the Dolomites, fed-up farmers installed turnstiles in the mountains and started charging for access to Instagram hotspots. Tourists also flocked to see the eruption of Sicily’s Mount Etna, blocking rescue workers from reaching the scene.
In Afghanistan, CNN’s Isobel Yong reported on a particularly worrying trend. Despite US warnings against travel to the region, influencers have traveled to the country in droves and praised Taliban hosts online.
3. Avoid the temptations of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
In the Irish capital of Dublin and the Italian city of Verona, it remained popular for tourists to fondle the breasts of the fictional fishmonger Molly Malone or Shakespeare’s teenager Juliet Capulet. These “good luck gestures” damage the patina of the statue and, as an aside, are completely bizarre and disgusting.
The French resort of Les Sables d’Olonne has announced a crackdown on “semi-naked” visitors, with fines of up to 150 euros. In the United States, Spirit Airlines was also keen to ask travelers to cover up. The airline updated its terms of carriage in January to deny boarding to passengers who are “inappropriately dressed” or have clothing or tattoos that are “obscene, indecent or offensive in nature.”
Three years after Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, the government in June imposed new rules aimed at curbing the country’s “green rush.” Thailand’s public health minister told CNN at the time: “While there may be a loss in income initially, the change is necessary given the social harm caused by unregulated use.”
The annoying tendency of people to play music and media loudly on their phones without headphones has been given the unnecessarily suggestive nickname “barebeats” as attempts to crack down on the phenomenon grow around the world. Most criminals get away with this etiquette crime, but in February, a man was fined $200 for using his cell phone’s speakerphone inside a train station in Nantes, France.
Surveillance footage captures the moment a visitor breaks a crystal-covered chair at the museum.
In 2025, Italy once again becomes ground zero for trouble-making travelers. If they’re not jumping into Venice’s Grand Canal or Rome’s Trevi Fountain, they might be found stranded on the Italian capital’s famous Spanish Steps or vandalizing the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Tourists damaged artwork while posing for photos in several Italian cities, including a man breaking a crystal-covered chair at Palazzo Maffei in Verona and a man staggering backwards into a 17th-century painting at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Hikers around the world are in dire straits. Climbers had to be rescued twice in one week from Japan’s Mount Fuji, but the 27-year-old climber suffered from altitude sickness the first time and had to return to retrieve his belongings. A British hiker who needed to be rescued in the Italian Dolomites has been fined $16,000 after ignoring signs, climbing over a warning fence and getting into a scrape.
The headline-grabbing frauds involved not only stupid accidents but also malicious intent. An Australian man has been charged with “malicious mischief” after smashing a case containing the Stone of Destiny, an ancient symbol of Scotland’s nation. Meanwhile, in China, a restaurant apologized after a video of a customer urinating into a pot of soup went viral.
In March, an Air India flight from Chicago to New Delhi was forced to turn back within hours after passengers clogged the toilet with rags, clothes and plastic bags.
US influencer adopts baby wombat from mother and flees to Australia
An American influencer has sparked outrage in Australia and around the world after allegedly separating a baby wombat from its mother and running away with it. The video of the incident was widely shared, and the woman apologized, saying, “I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.”
In March, a Pennsylvania man was found with a live turtle hidden in the crotch of his pants while going through security at a New Jersey airport. The turtle did not appear to have been harmed by the man’s actions, and it was not clear whether the turtle was the man’s pet or why he hid it in his pants, according to a statement from the TSA at the time.
From creatures to cobblestones: In May, the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges asked tourists to stop stealing stones from its UNESCO-recognized medieval streets. Local politicians said an estimated 50 to 70 cobblestones were disappearing every month, and repairs and replacements would be costly.
That same month, a German tourist on an electric scooter was chased by Italian police after he was spotted carrying the 30 kilogram (66 pound) marble base of an ancient column between his legs. He told authorities he had acquired the Roman artifacts as “souvenirs.”
The new year began with Europe’s largest airline Ryanair taking a tough stance against fraud. A passenger who intercepted a flight from Dublin to the Spanish island of Lanzarote has been sued by an Irish low-cost carrier for $15,000 in damages after the plane was diverted.
Drunk passengers on airplanes will continue to be a problem in 2025, but there is little agreement on how to deal with it. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has urged people to limit their intake to two drinks at the airport (though not particularly on its own planes), but alcohol remains one of the airline industry’s biggest sources of revenue, both on the ground and in the air.
Etiquette is a perennial issue in pressurized cabins filled with people in a hurry, but Air New Zealand was one of the airlines to offer a novel solution to the debate over reclining airplane seats. The Turkish government has drawn attention to the problem of passengers standing up too early after landing and has threatened fines for violators.
A JetBlue passenger was arrested after opening an emergency exit door at Boston Airport, and in a separate incident, a passenger on a Jetstar flight from Bali, Indonesia to Melbourne, Australia was forced to turn back after trying to open the plane’s door over the Indian Ocean.
In March, a passenger on a Delta flight from Atlanta to LAX had to be detained for biting one person and punching several others. That same month, a man who told investigators he was heading to Washington, D.C., to speak with President Trump was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a passenger and threatening a flight attendant.
Miami International Airport has been the scene of several major incidents. In March, a 40-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of trying to board a plane without permission, forcing their way onto a restricted jet bridge and shoving another passenger. That same month, a passenger on a regional flight from Georgia was charged in connection with a violent incident. According to court records, the 31-year-old attacked the flight attendant, kicking and punching her in the seat in front of her and swallowing a rosary.
But on one trip on United Airlines, the passenger in question was the pilot. A flight from Los Angeles to China had to turn around two hours after departure and make an unscheduled stop in San Francisco because one of the pilots forgot his passport.
