12 destinations travellers might want to avoid in 2018

Tourism backlash has been in full effect over the last 12 months, with several destinations announcing they'd had enough of foreign visitors flooding their streets or disrupting their fragile ecosystems.

Unsurprisingly, this has posed a dilemma for mindful travellers planning their next vacation.

From Venice and Barcelona to the Galapagos Islands and even the Taj Mahal, here are the places conscious tourists might want to think twice about visiting in 2018.

Isle of Skye, Scotland

The Isle of Skye has been struggling with increasing numbers of tourists.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

In 2017, the infrastructure of Scotland's largest island creaked under the pressure as thousands of tourists in coaches and cars plied its narrow lanes, making a beeline for the remote fairy pools at Glenbrittle, the iconic sunset spot at Elgol and the rocky Old Man of Storr, with traffic snarl ups an inevitable result.

Eventually the residents of beautiful Skye said enough was enough after complaints of noise, overcrowding and even visitors urinating in public.

Police advised visitors to stay away unless they had already booked places to stay.

If you must go then...

Visit outside the summer season, when tourist numbers drop and iconic sites can be explored without having to battle crowds.

Alternatively...

Explore the Small Isles of Rum, Muck and Eigg or go south and get lost on Jura.

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelonians have been protesting against tourist overcrowding.

Josef Lago/AFP/Getty Images

The Catalan capital saw 34 million tourists visit in 2016, a 25% jump from 2012. This has led to anger from locals, with anti-tourist graffiti emerging across the city.

Protesters even stormed the beach at Barceloneta in August 2017, decrying rowdy behavior as well as those using the sand to sleep off a night on the sangria.

Residents say services like Airbnb have sent rents soaring, forcing them from their homes. However the city's government has passed a law to limit tourist beds in a bid to tackle the problem.

If you must go then...

Remember there's more to Barcelona than walking along Las Ramblas.

Alternatively...

Why not head to Valencia for a less hectic break, with food and culture to rival the best of Barcelona.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik plans to impose a 4,000 visitors a day cap to reduce tourist numbers.

ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

With UNESCO threatening to take away its World Heritage status due to extreme overcrowding, Dubrovnik has decided to take drastic measures in order to cut tourist numbers.

The city is capping the number of people who can scale its 15th century ramparts at 4,000 a day -- 10,388 did so in one day alone bay in August 2016, many drawn by the city's starring role in "Game of Thrones."

The mayor is also planning on cutting the number of cruise ships entering the ancient port. Nearly 800,000 people disembarked from cruise liners in 2016, most staying for just three hours.

If you must go then...

Travel independently and spend freely at local businesses that often miss out on money from those on cruises.

Alternatively...

Stay in nearby Cavtat, which has a picturesque old town and empty beaches, perfect for escaping the crowds.

Venice, Italy

Mass tourism in Venice has driven many residents away from the canal city.

Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Sick of selfie stick-wielding tourists on the Rialto Bridge and cruise ships plying the Giudecca canal and back, Venetians took to the streets in 2017 to vent their frustration.

The city's population has plummeted to just 55,000 in response to mass tourism, which sees around 30 million people travel there each year.

In fact, there are now plans to prevent cruise liners sailing up the Giudecca canal, instead forcing them to take a new, longer route into the iconic lagoon.

If you must go then...

Put down the selfie stick and try to explore quiet back waters. Also, try to dine in local restaurants and bars rather than the major tourist hotspots.

Alternatively...

Annecy in France is home to a network of canals, a gorgeous lake and stunning architecture, all without the inescapable, overbearing crowds of Venice.

Santorini, Greece

Santorini welcomed around two million tourists in 2017.

Courtesy Maggie Meng/Creative Commons/Flickr

There are few places in the world with sunset views as spectacular as Santorini, but the tiny island in the Greek Cyclades is reaching breaking point.

Almost two million people visited in 2017, 850,000 on cruise ships which drop anchor in its caldera, with passengers staying for a matter of hours rather than days.

While those numbers have been capped to 8,000 a day by the island's mayor, with a rising population due to the tourist boom, Santorini is in serious danger of losing its charm.

If you must go then...

Stay at a local B&B and avoid the ethically dubious donkey rides which take tourists up and down to the harbor.

Alternatively...

Naxos is within the same group of islands as Santorini, with rugged hills and beautiful beaches. Patmos, in the Dodecanese, is also a worthy, peaceful alternative, with excellent beaches and restaurants.

Bhutan

Bhutan has been attempting to minimize the impact of tourism by charging travelers a daily fee.

Bhutan Tourism

Although it operates a "high value, low impact" tourism policy and charges visitors $200 or $250 per day depending on the time of year (with a $40 surcharge for groups of two or single travelers), there are increasing worries about how tourism is affecting the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Locals have cited concerns about the environmental impact on its fragile ecosystem, as well as an over reliance on foreign visitors.

If you must go then...

Be respectful of the country's Buddhist traditions and avoid leaving any litter behind.

Alternatively...

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