Panelists exchanged comments, which were kept anonymous to maintain survey neutrality, during the rating process. These excerpts offer a glimpse of panelists' varied points of view and the reasoning behind each score. They are not the views of the National Geographic Society.
Salzburg Historic Center, Austria
Score: 72
"Excellent historic preservation, outstanding aesthetic appeal, both natural and human-made, a lot of historic sites, the best state of environment one can imagine."
"Very charming old city and remarkable landscapes, but really too crowded."
Canary Islands
Score: 52
"Perceptions in tourism trade are that Canary Islands have been overdeveloped and degraded."
"Large masses of tourists in concentrated areas a serious threat to environment; commodification of local culture."
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Score: 71
"Damage from recent conflict is almost imperceptible. The old town is a wonderful heritage site. Mass-tourism developments beyond the central area are not well thought out but could be a lot worse. Croatians have recognized the need for land-use planning and are going in the right direction."
"Very good condition, but pressures and threats are grossly underestimated."
Prague's Historic Center, Czech Republic
Score: 64
"Positive: aesthetic appeal and future outlook. Negative: air pollution and social integration."
"Very authentic city, one of the most beautiful settings, but tourism impact too aggressive."
"Needs protection from neon lights and westernized fast food restaurants. Western influences are changing the social structure."
Brittany, France
Score: 69
"Wonderfully low key and authentic in feel, even in places with high tourist numbers such as St. Malo. The French and Bretons seem to know how to protect their heritage and culture."
"Largely unspoiled, but future pressures are likely to increase."
"Development not always appropriate."
"Spoiled nature! Lost most of its charms due to overbuilding—quality management of public space is insufficient."
"Wonderful physical setting but abysmally overdeveloped. No sense of being in France. Degraded, overcrowded beaches."
Loire Valley, France
Score: 69
"Cultural landscape well maintained."
"It's well preserved, but not as attractive as it seems in brochures."
"Considering the enormous amount of visitors: good visitor management; historic sites well kept."
Mont-Saint-Michel, France
Score: 61
"Superb site physically, but extremely overvisited, inappropriate guiding for a religious site."
"Overrun by visitors in peak periods. Opening the bay to tidal flows will be a positive step."
Baden Baden, Germany
Score: 70
"Beautiful city center, very ecologically oriented city administration."
"Baden Baden is trying hard to manage its success. Marketing needs to attract a public that will respect the tremendous history."
Bavarian Alps, Germany
Score: 70
"Unusually pristine for such a long-inhabited region. Even towns are attractive, being generally compact."
"Ski resort proliferation."
"Example of best practice in urban environmental destination management."
"Good authentic quality, well maintained."
Rhine Valley, Germany
Score: 66
"Road traffic along the river is a problem."
"Pockets of quality but real intrusions."
"Real feeling of Germany."
Acropolis, Greece
Score: 51
"Fantastic view and sense of history—need for care/maintenance."
"Many places like the Acropolis lack a good interpretation program that can help visitors better understand the meaning and significance of the site as well as to manage visitors in a way that reduces impact."
Corfu (Kerkira), Greece
Score: 57
"Beautiful, but pressures likely to increase, so local integrity and environment need to be carefully maintained."
"It is under siege, and serious intervention should be done now."
"Larger hotel developments not always in keeping with local character."
"Excessive shoreline development in the northern part."
"Good environmental condition in inner areas of the island, but beach areas in serious danger."
Ring of Kerry, Ireland
Score: 71
"Has coped well with recent drive to encourage tourism."
"Great, atmospheric place but traffic problems on narrow roads."
"Quality of some of the heritage tourist attractions is poor and development of golf courses could be seen as inappropriate."
Amalfi Coast, Italy
Score: 61
"Has reached the limits of carrying capacity in terms of impact on the physical environment."
"Tourism numbers increased at a quick rate in recent years, putting stress on infrastructure and the environment. The Italian government has invested very little in planning; local municipalities rate a little higher."
"Ecological vulnerability of being a small island. Well-preserved historical center."
"Has reached the limits of carrying capacity."
"Amazing site within terrible surroundings. It will need much better conservation measures to help preserve the ruins and the surrounding environment."
"Authentic, genuine, agritourism effective in retaining local benefits."
"Many beautiful landscapes available, relatively unaffected by signs of development. Traffic in Florence very intense; countryside still has narrow and dirt roads through beautiful scenery."
"As a whole it is remarkable how well the area maintains its integrity
notwithstanding the amount of tourism. The city is a different story."
"An ecological and social mess."
"A riddled situation where authenticity equates to decay, heavy-handed schemes to control water levels in the lagoon could have huge irreversible impacts on the city and its surrounding ecology; the 'life within' is continuously being eroded in favor of a predominantly tourist experience."
"This is an endangered city. The sinking buildings and the ongoing global ocean level rise will lead to severe problems for this city in the future."
Amsterdam Historic Center, Netherlands
Score: 65
"Sleaze, tack, and takeaway food."
"Amsterdam does a great job with visitor experience. The historic area is well preserved."
"Good aesthetic view of buildings, channels and streets. Not so good condition of water and air."
"This place has wonderful, living traditional culture, wonderful landscape, not crowded. I am very happy how this destination is managed. Excellent environmental quality, local people involved in a very smooth way. Very good."
"Need to pay attention to environmental impacts, built heritage well preserved, great scenery."
Krakow Historic Center, Poland
Score: 70
"Environment is the most negative aspect. Social integration with tourism better than many comparable destinations."
"A historic center with many potentials, but investment required for reuse of historic buildings, for improvement of the hospitality sector."
Algarve, Portugal
Score: 46
"Uncontrolled shoreline development."
"Developments aimed at capitalizing mass-market tourism have destroyed the natural environment."
Porto Historic Center, Portugal
Score: 61
"Very interesting town but problems with litter and traffic."
"Efforts to improve attractions, infrastructure underway, but difficult to move around now."
St. Petersburg Historic Center, Russia
Score: 56
"Buildings in poor state of repair, and crime. Most of what you see is restoration. Some bad. Some good. Well worth the visit."
"A great cultural monument, masterpiece of classic architecture, including landscape. Unfortunately, care for it was poor during last decades."
Balearic Islands, Spain
Score: 50
"The destination is mass-tourism oriented. There have been attempts to revise the tourism product. However, the pressures and the intensity of development are so high that a reversal is unlikely."
"Traditional tourism is now replaced by secondary residence tourism and the built environment is growing every year. Sustainable regional development has not been adequately addressed, and the islander culture, as well as the language, is in danger."
"Overcrowded, mass tourism, unappealing, beaches in poor condition."
"Contrast between coast (heavy impacts) and interior (fewer impacts)."
Costa del Sol, Spain
Score: 41
"The epitome of overdeveloped mass-tourism."
"Bulldoze and start again. Jerry-built flats and hotels, abysmal architecture, degraded beaches. Too much built, too quick with too little forethought—the antithesis of sustainability."
Alpine Regions, Switzerland
Score: 71
"For such a densely populated nation, Switzerland's innate awareness of aesthetics and land husbandry make for a comfortable proximity of towns and wild/open space."
"Heavy high altitude ski-development is troubling."
Azure Coast, Turkey
Score: 58
"Paradise lost."
"The coastline is somewhat saturated and disfigured by buildings and urbanization. But the historical sites and landscapes are still unique. A little further from the coast, you can discover the Turkish way of life, and people who are very welcoming."
Cotswolds, United Kingdom
Score: 67
"Some intrusive development."
"Environmental quality difficult to sustain because of traffic."
"The Cotswolds may be the original theme park. Delightful to the eye. Best in the off-season."
Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
Score: 65
"Archaic and expensive transport links to the mainland are likely to restrain rapid change. Young people will continue to leave the island, retaining the Isle's 'retirement town' image."
"Ecosystem fairly intact."
Lake District, United Kingdom
Score: 64
"There are certainly crowding problems, including serious traffic jams. Despite all this, development is tightly controlled, and it is a site with the interaction between natural and cultural as one of its key attractions."
"Considering the pressures, this National Park has been successful in managing its tourism industry so as to preserve the landscape that people go there for. It has maintained its customs and atmosphere in the face of large tourist numbers."
"Authentic substance but serious problems with conservation of recovered remains; frustrating lack of information on site."
Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom
Score: 75
"Mostly in good shape except for occasional hot spots. Still retains the aura of remoteness and mystery."
"Needs more tourism of the cultural and natural heritage kind. Too much cheap coach traffic with little economic benefit accruing to community or for conservation of natural and cultural resources."
"Beautiful place to travel. Locals appear to have accommodated tourism without sacrificing their traditional way of life."