The worst-behaved travelers of 2025

(CNN) — The bigger the orchard, the more the bad apples.

Close to five billion people were estimated to have traveled by air in 2025 — a record-breaking number — and plenty more tourists were also gadding about by boat, train or road. While most enjoyed their vacations without incident and pumped plenty of dollars into local economies, not all of those travelers were on their best behavior.

Here’s CNN Travel’s list of resolutions for us all to be better global citizens in 2026, with examples of some of the biggest failings this year. Let’s hope some of it sticks this time.

1. I’ll respect local culture and I certainly won’t lie about my nationality or go bothering remote island communities

The biggest problem many locals had with international visitors this year was with them being there at all, particularly in cities struggling with the pressures of overtourism. This was an issue that affected nearly all continents.

In Europe, protesters against mass tourism took to the streets in Spain and Italy, with water pistols the weapon of choice for angry locals in Barcelona. In Asia, the Indonesian island of Bali, the Japanese city of Kyoto and the Thai island of Phuket were hotspots where the quality of life for residents was threatened by overcrowded streets and bad behavior by visitors.

In South America, protests over transportation concessions led to thousands of travelers being stranded around Machu Picchu. In Nigeria, economic pressures and greedy cash-ins were threatening the good times at Detty December, the annual party that sees an influx of visitors from the diaspora.

Americans traveling abroad were under increased scrutiny this year, with “Did you vote for Trump?” becoming a common question from confrontational locals. Some Americans even took to “flag-jacking” (lying about their nationality by pretending to be Canadian) much to the chagrin of actual citizens of the Land of Maple.

Even the Sentinelese islanders, the “world’s most-isolated” indigenous people, weren’t safe from visitors this year. A 24-year-old American was arrested in April after making the illegal voyage to their home, 750 miles from the Indian mainland, in an attempt to contact them.

2. I won’t try to turn every experience into social media content

Several unwise TikTok trends generated headlines this year, as people prioritized social media clout above, say, catching their flight or avoiding injury.

The “airport theory” trend had people trying to get through the terminal from car park to gate in just 15 minutes. A dancing Canadian inspired copycat twirlers in airports around the world, and a dangerous TikTok “travel hack” encouraged passengers to secure their seatbelt around their ankles while sleeping mid-flight.

A trend for recording in-flight “get ready with me” beauty routine videos also raised hackles, although the only real risk there was jabbing oneself with an eyeliner pencil during turbulence.

There was trouble in Italy’s mountains, as a TikTok influencer instructed her two million followers to descend upon a ski resort in the center of the country. Up in the Dolomites, fed-up farmers set up mountain turnstiles to charge access to Instagram hotspots. Sightseers also flocked to see an eruption at Sicily’s Mount Etna, blocking rescue workers from reaching the scene.

In Afghanistan, CNN’s Isobel Yeung reported on a particularly alarming trend. Despite the US warning against travel to the region, influencers have been heading to the country in droves and praising their Taliban hosts online.

3. I’ll avoid the temptations of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll

Statue-groping continued to be popular in Dublin, the Irish capital, and in the Italian city of Verona, where tourists rub the breasts of fictional fishmonger Molly Malone and Shakespearean teenager Juliet Capulet. These “good-luck gestures” damage the statues’ patina and, as a side note, are just plain weird and gross.

The French resort town of Les Sables d’Olonne cracked down on “half-naked” visitors by announcing fines of up to 150 euros. In the US, Spirit Airlines was also eager for travelers to cover up. In January, it updated its contract of carriage to deny boarding to passengers who are “inadequately clothed” or whose outfits or tattoos are “lewd, obscene, or offensive in nature.”

Three years after Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, the government imposed new rules in June designed to curtail the country’s “green rush.” “Revenue may dip at first, but considering the social harm caused by unregulated use, the change is necessary,” Thailand’s public health minister told CNN at the time.

The annoying trend of people playing music or media out loud on their phones without headphones got an unnecessarily suggestive moniker, “bare beating,” as attempts grew around the world to crack down on the phenomenon. While most offenders get away with this etiquette crime scot-free, in February a man was fined $200 for using the speakerphone on his cell phone while in a train station in the French city of Nantes.

4. I won’t break precious artifacts, swim where I shouldn’t, or release fluids where I shouldn’t

In 2025, Italy was once again ground zero for troublemaking travelers. If they weren’t diving into Venice’s Grand Canal or Rome’s Trevi Fountain, they might be found getting their car stuck on the Italian capital’s famous Spanish Steps or ransacking the altar at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Tourists posing for photographs damaged artwork in multiple Italian cities, with one man at Verona’s Palazzo Maffei breaking a crystal-covered chair and another at Florence’s Uffizi Galleries stumbling backward into a 17th-century painting.

Around the world, hikers got themselves into some tight spots. A climber had to be rescued from Japan’s Mount Fuji twice in one week, after the 27-year-old returned to retrieve his belongings after experiencing altitude sickness the first time round. A British hiker who needed rescuing from the Italian Dolomites faced a $16,000 fine after he ignored signs and crossed warning barriers to get himself into the scrape.

The misbehavior that made headlines covered ill intent as well as foolish accidents. An Australian man was charged with “malicious mischief” after smashing the case holding Scotland’s Stone of Destiny, an ancient symbol of the country’s nationhood. Meanwhile, in China, a restaurant apologized after a video of diners urinating into hotpot broth went viral.

In March, an Air India flight from Chicago to New Delhi was forced to return hours into the journey after passengers clogged toilets with rags, clothes and plastic bags.

5. I won’t smuggle or steal, whether it be Belgian cobblestones or Australian wombats

An American influencer caused outrage in Australia and around the world after taking a baby wombat from its mother and running off with it. The video of the incident was widely shared, and the woman issued an apology, saying she was “truly sorry for the distress” she had caused.

In March, a Pennsylvania man was found to have a live turtle concealed in the groin area of his pants while going through security at a New Jersey airport. According to a TSA statement at the time, the animal did not appear to have been harmed by the man’s actions, and it was not clear if the turtle was the man’s pet, or why he’d concealed it in his pants.

From critters to cobblestones: Belgium’s picturesque city of Bruges issued a request in May for tourists to stop stealing stones from its UNESCO-recognized medieval streets. A local politician stated that an estimated 50 to 70 cobblestones disappeared each month and repairs and replacements were a costly business.

That same month, a German tourist on an e-scooter was chased down by Italian police after he was spotted transporting a 30-kilogram (66-pound) marble base of an ancient column between his feet. He told authorities that he had obtained the Roman artifact as a “souvenir.”

6. I will not cause a ruckus at 30,000 feet

The new year started with Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair, taking a hardline approach to tackling bad behavior. A passenger who disrupted a flight from Dublin to the Spanish island of Lanzarote was sued by the Irish budget carrier for $15,000 in damages after the plane was diverted.

Drunk plane passengers continued to be a problem in 2025, but there is little consensus on how to deal with it. Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary has called for a two-drink maximum at airports (though notably not on his own planes), but alcohol continues to be one of the biggest money-makers in the aviation industry, both on the ground and in the air.

Etiquette issues are a perennial problem in a pressurized tube filled with people in a hurry, but Air New Zealand was one airline with a novel solution to the airplane seat recline debate. The Turkish government turned its attention to the matter of passengers standing up too early after landing, with warnings of fines for offenders.

A JetBlue passenger was arrested after opening an emergency exit door at a Boston airport, and in a separate incident, a Jetstar flight from Bali, Indonesia, to Melbourne, Australia, was forced to turn around after a passenger tried to open a plane door over the Indian Ocean.

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to LAX in March had to be restrained after he allegedly bit one person and hit several others. That same month, a man who told investigators he was flying to Washington, DC, to speak to President Trump was arrested after he allegedly attacked a passenger and threatened a flight attendant.

Miami International Airport was the scene of a couple of high-profile incidents. In March, a 40-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of forcing their way onto a restricted jet bridge and pushing other passengers as they tried to board a flight without authorization. That same month, a passenger on a regional flight from Georgia was charged after a violent episode. According to court records, the 31-year-old man attacked a flight attendant, kicked and punched the seat in front of him and swallowed rosary beads.

On one United Airlines journey, however, it was a pilot who was the problem passenger. A flight from Los Angeles to China had to turn back two hours into the journey and make an unscheduled stop in San Francisco after one of the pilots forgot to bring his passport.

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