Top 10 Tourist Attractions RUINED by Influencers

MrBeast

In 2025, James MrBeast Donaldson uploaded the YouTube video, I Explored 2000 Year Old Ancient Temples. The clip has him and his team walking through various Mayan temples in Mexico, including El Castillo in Chichén Itzá, Calakmul, and Balankanche. However, as Donaldson mentioned in the video, not even archaeologists were allowed to enter the sites. This caused a scandal to erupt over how Donaldson was allowed to enter the temples that were usually highly restricted, potentially damaging vital pieces of history. To make it worse, Donaldson also promoted his own food brand and misled events, violating the permit he was handed by Mexicos National Institute of Archaeology and History, which is now claiming financial compensation.

Soheil Taghavi

As a self-described tour guide, influencer Taghavi typically showcases various places on social media. However, in 2020, one video drew a lot of criticism. While in his home country of Iran, Taghavi visited the Tasuki archeological site, which is south of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Shahr-e Sukhteh. The area hadnt even been excavated by professionals yet. But that didnt stop Taghavi from digging through the ground to collect human remains and ancient artefacts to show off to his subscribers. As well as moving them from their locations, Taghavi held the items in his hands, potentially damaging them. The outrage caused the influencer to apologize as he faced legal repercussions for his recklessness.

Alexandra Milam

With its unusual arched shape, Durdle Door in Dorset, England, is one of the countrys most iconic natural sites, unsurprisingly giving it UNESCO World Heritage status. In 2020, Milam went to the sites chalk cliff to photograph herself there. Yet when volunteers later explored the area, they found graffiti on the cliff, which included Milams Instagram handle. The team soon got to work to scrub the damage from the sacred site. With the backlash and getting publicly called out by the volunteers, Milam apologized for what she did. She also promised to donate £30, around $39 at the time, each month to go towards a fundraiser by a charity to help clean up the beach.

Vitaly Zdorovetskiy

Also known as VitalyzdTv, Zdorovetskiy is one of the most notorious influencers around. Hes regularly done thoughtless stunts, including streaking during several sports events. In 2020, Zdorovetskiy took it up a notch when he visited the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. These priceless historical monuments are strictly protected in law, with permits required to be on one of the structures. Yet, Zdorovetskiy decided he didnt need to listen to that as he climbed up one of the pyramids, running the risk of damaging the thousands of years-old structure, all for a video. He was swiftly arrested and spent 5 days in jail. Zdorovetskiy claimed he did it for a good cause by promoting donations to support those affected by the Australian wildfires.

Team Phat

Team Phat is a YouTube group formed by several British parkour enthusiasts. Usually, their videos are pretty entertaining. However, that all changed when the team arrived in the ancient Italian city of Matera. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is speculated to have had inhabitants in the area since the Stone Age. Matera also hasnt had residents for decades after it was declared unfit for modern residents, resulting in it becoming a time capsule. So, with that history, Team Phat was respectful, right? Nope, not all. One video in 2024 showed member Devon McIntosh jumping from a rooftop to a ledge, snapping it from the wall as he tumbled to the ground. The group admitted they were fined an undisclosed amount and banned from Matera.

Trollstation

Known for their practical jokes, Trollstation took their antics to a far more dangerous level in 2015, likely leaving many gallery goers on the fateful day with trauma. Firstly, they entered the National Portrait Gallery in London, England, and committed a fake robbery that terrified visitors. Then, they went to the nearby Tate Gallery to do a fake kidnapping in public. Yikes. Not only were the public outraged, but so was the police, as all four members involved were arrested. In 2016, Daniel Jarvis, Helder Gomes, Endrit Ferizolli, and Ebenezer Mensah all pleaded guilty, earning them sentences between 16 and 20 weeks in jail for the Portrait Gallery stunt, plus a concurrent eight weeks each for the Tate kidnapping.

Trevor Jacob

Located in California is the 1,950,000-acre Los Padres National Forest, loved by nature enthusiasts and hikers. Well, in 2021, the park was infected with a big chunk of machinery due to Jacob's recklessness. The YouTuber was flying a plane when he had to jump out of it with a parachute. He claimed the aircraft had experienced engine trouble. The uncontrolled plane then crashed in the Los Padres National Forest, thankfully not hitting anyone. When Jacob uploaded the footage, the aviation community was immediately suspicious as he hadn't followed typical emergency procedure. As it turned out, it was a stunt to earn him notoriety. After agreeing to a plea deal, Jacob was sentenced to 6 months in jail in 2023.

Janis Danner

Celebrated Italian sculptor Enrico Butti had one of his works, the fountain statue Domina, placed at Villa Alceo in Viggiù, Italy. In 2023, the villa was rented out to 17 tourists, including German influencer Danner. During that time, the villas CCTV caught Danner being recorded by friends as he and others pushed over the 150-year-old Domina, shattering it into pieces. With the statue valued at 200,000, around $219,000, Danner offered a measly 200, nearly $220, in compensation to the villas owner, claiming the Domina was made of sand. Making it worse for himself in the public eye, Danner claimed he asked an art expert about the statue, who stated it was weather-damaged and had no proof it was made by Butti.

Johnny Somali

Theres the expression, theres no such thing as bad publicity. Well, for Ramsey Khalid Ismael, AKA Johnny Somali, thats completely untrue. Ismael has a history of travelling to countries and being a nuisance for attention. While in South Korea in 2024, on top of disrespecting locals, he decided to lap dance on a statue. However, this wasnt any typical artwork, it was the Statue of Peace, a piece to commemorate comfort women, who were abused by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Ismael was forced to publicly apologize for his actions, claiming he didnt know what the statue was about. Regardless, that didnt stop his YouTube channel from being cancelled, as this incident contributed to his current legal issues in South Korea.

Logan Paul

Wrapped in mythology, Aokigahara is a stunning forest in Japan that contains caves that attract tourists. Formed with dense vegetation and lava rock, the area absorbs sound, giving a sense of solitude. However, the location is also known for people taking their own lives. In 2017, Paul released a YouTube video of his visit. With inappropriate behavior, Paul uploaded a video with a body hed found. The outrage over the insensitive clip was massive, causing Paul to issue an apology as many of his productions were put on hold. Sadly, Aokigahara has become more synonymous with people taking their lives rather than the natural beauty, causing the government to issue drones to help stop people from doing so.

If you could give any influencer their own primetime TV travel show, who would you pick? Let us know below!