Anyone else gets the feeling that tourism is becoming a major threat to the environment?

Hello guys. I’m amateur backpacker from Eastern Europe and I’ve been on the road on and off for the last couple of years. I’ve visited multiple countries in Central and Southern America, Asia, Africa. I absolutely love it and it always makes me feel complete.<br><br>However, there are places that give me honestly mixed feelings. For example, I’ve been to Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and I’ve never seen so many tourists in my life. The bay was filled with hundreds of identical boats and there was plastic floating everywhere in the water. The locals were mostly older folks who weren’t really speaking any English and were working in the tourism industry. I had the feeling that I was in some Disney attraction, not in some far away and mystical bay in the middle of Asia.<br><br>I had a similar feeling in Cambodia, when I visited the Angkor Wat temple complex. A 5 day ticket costed 102$ and yet they were allowing 2 million tourists every year. Again - tons of plastic, locals who were either working in the tourism industry or selling souvenirs…<br><br>In Cape Town, South Africa they didn’t allow any foreigners to enter the national parks and enjoy the amateur hiking that they were offering unless you hired a local guide. It was absolutely ridiculous. Again - TONS of plastic and rubbish. Locals who were working in the tourism industry. For example, one of the local parks was called Table Mountain and you had to pay 700 Rand (50$) to ride amateur cable car to the top of the mountain.<br><br>In Costa Rica you weren’t allowed to enter the national parks unless you paid some crazy fee and hired a professional guide. I remember that one guy wanted 800$ to take us on amateur hike. Again - locals who were working in the tourism industry and a lot of rubbish.<br><br>I’m not sure what’s going on. I don’t want to stop traveling, but I honestly feel bad every time I visit a touristy place.