Perhaps ruining specific parts of Europe, but I think it’s unfair to say tourists have ever ruined an entire country or even city. Usually there’s just small easily avoidable areas if you don’t want to deal with crowds and overpriced food. That said I will never travel to Rome, the Bahamas, or Paris unless forced.
> Usually there’s just small easily avoidable areas if you don’t want to deal with crowds
I recently visited Madrid, a city I lived in nearly 20 years ago. What struck me was not just the suffocating crowds of tourists in the very center of the city compared to back then. I also found that what used to be quiet residential neighborhoods (after all, they lack any particular sights) now had a distinct amount of tourists walking around with suitcases or backpacks – I assumed that AirBnB was now spreading tourists throughout the whole city.
For the ones in local neighborhoods, as long as they're not overcrowding the place, or committing crimes or something, you have to remember that all those tourists are pumping money into the local economy. They're eating food at the local eateries, they're paying for transport (probably helping fund the local public transit), they're giving money to local homeowners who then spend at least some of it locally and hopefully pay some extra taxes, etc. I fail to see how this is a problem, unless it's just too many of them of course.
