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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by Pixel@lemmy.ca to c/travel@lemmy.world

I'm curious to learn about places around the globe that have a significant amount of underutilized tourism infrastructure. In many cases, I suspect that governments are propping up unsustainable tourism operators or investing in tourism with a "build it and they will come" mentality.

Here are a few examples that I'm aware of:

  • Qatar - The country has an oversupply of hotels relative to the number of visitors, and its tourism economy heavily relies on layover tours due to the strength of Qatar Airways' network.

  • Saudi Arabia - In an effort to diversify its economy away from oil, the country is pushing a massive tourism development agenda, despite having many factors that make it less appealing to visitors. Religious tourism seems to be a primary focus.

  • North Korea - For obvious reasons... For example, only a few floors of the Ryugyong Hotel are ever occupied.

  • Northern Japan (Aomori, Akita, Sendai) - These places are heavily fueled by domestic tourism, and are basically deserted for half of the year (despite attractions and so on still functioning).

  • EDIT: Maybe the Caribbean islands outside of Cruise ship season?

To clarify, I'm not looking for hidden gems or places that are simply underrated travel destinations. Instead, I'm interested in learning about locations where there is a clear mismatch between the available tourism infrastructure and the actual number of visitors.

I want to find places where I might end up being the only visitor to a museum or one of few tourists on an airport bus. The fact that these museums and airport limo buses even exist is where the question stems from.

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[-] Winter8593@lemmy.world 22 points 6 months ago

I was in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, recently and it was like a ghost town. Can't say I'd recommend it but our hotel put all the guests on one floor and it was still deserted. Great free breakfast but it felt weird being there. There's lots of tourist infrastructure there. Multiple cruise lines, hotels, night markets, etc. But unfortunately the country experienced a lot of corruption and COVID cut off their tourist supply. Now a lot of buildings lay half finished or abandoned. Would highly recommend other places in Vietnam but this seemed apt for your question.

[-] CameronDev@programming.dev 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Thats bizarre, i was in Vietnam a few years ago, and it was packed full of tourists. I would have thought that given covid is basically over for most people, that it would have bounced back.

[-] bl4ckblooc@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

I was in Cambodia in the summer, and I had been there for quite a long time before Covid . I thought that it seemed like the amount of people was about the same, but when someone posted the numbers from immigration about the amount of visas handed out in a certain major port, it was still about 10% down.

[-] HidingCat@kbin.social 6 points 6 months ago

Huh, Ha Long Bay is a ghost town? It's one of the most crowded places in Vietnam, I didn't go there when I went because it has a reputation of a factory; tourists in, tourists out, on a schedule.

[-] Pixel@lemmy.ca 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

This response definitely took me by surprise too. I've heard it described as one of the most overrated, overtouristed places in Southeast Asia.

[-] superweeniehutjrs@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Ho tram resorts were very normal December 2022, still a great experience

this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024
63 points (93.2% liked)

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