Thailand’s Phuket tops a global list of the world’s most overcrowded holiday destinations, with a ratio of 118 visitors for every local resident, as popular spots from Venice to Rhodes grapple with the pressures of mass tourism.
Phuket has been named the world’s most overcrowded tourist destination, with 118 visitors recorded for every local resident, according to research published by MoneyTransfers.com. The Thai island, known for beaches such as Kata and Karon that rank among the best in the world, welcomes almost 10 million international visitors a year, cementing its status as one of Asia’s busiest holiday hotspots. Thailand dominates the wider list of the world’s most crowded destinations, claiming three of the top ten spots, ahead of Greece and Turkey.
Thailand’s Grip on the Rankings
Alongside Phuket, Thailand’s Pattaya and Krabi rank second and third respectively on the list of the world’s most overcrowded destinations, giving the country more entries in the top ten than any other. Phuket’s busiest period runs from November to April, when the dry season brings the highest visitor numbers along with the steepest accommodation prices. In response to the pressure on its most popular resorts, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has been encouraging travellers to explore lesser-known parts of the country and to visit during the green season, in an effort to spread demand more evenly and ease strain on hotspots such as Phuket, Pattaya and Krabi.
Venice Considers a Much Steeper Entry Fee
Venice also features prominently on the list, with 21 tourists recorded for every resident. The city made history in 2024 as the first tourist destination in the world to introduce an entry fee for day-trippers, initially set at €5 on the busiest days between April and July, before rising to €10 (roughly £8.60) for last-minute visitors as more dates were added to the scheme. The charge was designed to ease overcrowding in the historic city, which attracts an estimated 30 million visitors annually, and to discourage travel during peak periods.
Simone Venturini, Venice’s newly appointed mayor, is now pushing to raise the fee dramatically, to as much as €50, in a further attempt to manage visitor numbers during the city’s busiest periods. Venice has already taken other steps to protect its historic centre, banning large cruise ships from entering its lagoon since 2021 over concerns about damage to the city’s fragile environment and historic buildings.
Other European and American Hotspots
Greece also has a strong presence on the list. Heraklion, on the island of Crete, ranks seventh with 22 tourists for every resident, while Rhodes follows close behind with just over 20 tourists per local. Miami, in the United States, is the only non-European or Asian entry in the upper half of the list, with 18 tourists recorded for every resident.
The full list of the world’s most overcrowded destinations, according to the research, is: Phuket, Thailand; Pattaya, Thailand; Krabi, Thailand; Mugla, Turkey; Hurghada, Turkey; Macau, China; Heraklion, Greece; Venice, Italy; Rhodes, Greece; and Miami, USA. Closer to home, Edinburgh Castle has separately been named the world’s most overcrowded landmark, according to the same research.
A Global Problem With Shifting Rankings
Overtourism has become a pressing issue for destinations around the world, with governments increasingly turning to tourist taxes, visitor caps, cruise ship restrictions and reservation systems in an effort to manage overcrowding. However, rankings of the most overcrowded destinations can vary significantly depending on methodology. A more recent 2025 analysis, for instance, found Orlando to have the highest tourist-to-resident ratio among the locations it examined, underlining how differently overtourism can be measured depending on which destinations and criteria are included.
