Tourism in Asia is on the rise, but with the growing number of people crowding delicate World Heritage sites, the monuments and locations are beginning to show signs of wear and damage, reports Agence France-Presse.
Angkor National Park in Cambodia saw over 1.5 million visitors in 2010, an increase of 25 percent over the previous year. Because tourists at the site are free to wander, many ignore one-way signs, touch the walls, and clamber over the rocks.
"Angkor is highly endangered from this lack of control," reports the U.S. non-profit group, Global Heritage Fund. Angkor is not the only site struggling to keep up with tourism demands.
The Great Wall of China has over 10 million visitors a year, and as it struggles to protect its 5,500 mile-length, it is slowly becoming covered in graffiti and litter.
In the first ten months of 2010, Vietnam’s Halong Bay had over 2.3 million tourists – an increase of 114 percent over 2009. With many of the visitors arriving by boat, the region is struggling to keep up with the amount of litter being thrown into the water.
"The big question is when will we treat our heritage sites with the funding and respect they deserve?" asked Global Heritage Fund executive director, Jeff Morgan.