Praia Isla Women, Mexico
Cancun in Mexico appears at the top of the list of most disappointing destinations. Already Guangzhou, in China, is the city that most surprises by the positive. The report also points out Lisbon as the city with the worst quality-price relationship.
A new global study that examines tourists’ satisfaction in 100 of the world’s most visited cities has revealed which destinations are most impressed by visitors, as a positive as negative.
Called Paris Syndrome Report 2025, analyzed over 97,000 reviews shows that Cancun, not Mexicoexceeded the previous leaders to become the city where tourists are most likely to feel disappointed, with 14.2% of assessments expressing disappointment.
The term “Paris Syndrome”It refers to a psychological condition that affects some travelers when the reality of a destination-historically Paris-does not meet their expectations. Originally associated with visitors of the French capital, the condition now symbolically represents the disconnection between expectation and reality in any destination.
Cancun is the most disappointing destination
Despite his reputation for tropical paradise, Cancun emerged as the greatest disappointment in the 2025 study, with the highest proportion of negative criticism (14.2%), with many describing it as a “cheating.” Tourists have especially criticized the inflated prices and the little satisfactory experiences.
To follow Cancun, Antalyain Türkiye, and Cana tipin the Dominican Republic, they also qualified at the top of disappointment, with 12.2% and 11.9% of negative criticism, respectively. In Antalya, overcrowded beaches and customer support services are the main culprits, while bad infrastructures are one of the greatest criticism pointed out to Punta Cana.
Beijing It comes below (11.2%), with many problems with linguistic barriers. In fifth place appears Orlando (10.6%), which has already been at the top of this rate by 2022. Pollution is one of the main complaints against Pump (10%) and too high prices are the main problem in Honolulu (9,9%).
Already Johor Bahru (9,4%), Kyoto (9,1%) e Playa del Carmen (9%) sin, respectively, for the noise, the huge lines and the intense sewage smells.
Lisbon is the worst in the quality-price relationship
The study also evaluated which cities left tourists with the feeling of being deceived or circumvented.
Cancun, once again, led the complaints about being fooled, with 0.6% of criticism to mention this problem, followed by Antalya (0.3%). Lisbon has headed the list of bad relationship perceptions quality/price regarding the most popular tourist attractions.
Guangzhou is the biggest surprise by the positive
Not all cities left travelers disappointed. GuangzhouIn China, he headed the list of cities that exceeded expectations, with only 0.8% of criticism to contain negative language.
Lima, masked e Sapporo They also performed exceptionally, with a minimum dissatisfaction of tourists.
Other pleasant surprises included Vilnius, Santiago, Tallinn, Shenzhen, Deli, Meca e Guilinhaving all these destinations percentages consistently low of negative comments.
With regard to compliments, Istanbul It emerges as a more “beautiful” city, with more than a third of its reviews to use the word. However, Dublin was considered the most “highly recommended” city by tourists, closely followed by Edinburgh and Toronto.
Rome won the title of city with more “unmissable” attractions, according to visitors, reinforcing their destination status of election that is up to expectations.
