It seems reasonable to discourage travel to Myanmar because of human rights abuses there. Or the Galápagos Islands because of their ecological fragility.
But why would one of the most respected travel promotion and guidebook companies tell people to stay away from the state of Missouri?
That's what Fodor's is doing with its No List 2018, which lists Missouri as one of the top 10 places in the world for travelers to avoid.
"The Show-Me State is full of wonders that belong on anyone's travel bucket list," Fodor's says in explaining why Missouri came in at No. 7.
"It's home to breathtaking limestone caverns, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Kansas City-style BBQ, great jazz, the Silver Dollar City Amusement Park, and even a museum that purports to house the holy finger of John the Baptist." (The Route 66 attraction Uranus is profiled on page G6.)
"Unfortunately," the guide continues, "Missouri is also the place where SB 43 was passed, making it more difficult to sue employers for discrimination, a state representative argued that homosexuals weren't human beings, a tourist who got lost and ran out of gas was later found murdered in his jail cell without ever being put under arrest, and two men were hunted down and shot on suspicion of being Muslim on the outskirts of Kansas City. And that's just in 2017."
That last one was a reference to the fatal shooting of one Indian man and the wounding of another at Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, which is in Kansas, not Missouri.
Fodor's reasoning echoes concerns of the NAACP, which last summer also discouraged travel to the state. Missouri chapter head Nimrod Chapel Jr. told Fodor's that Missouri has "a separate standard of laws that are only applicable to some people," including people of color, women, the disabled, senior citizens, foreigners and people of faith.