To detest people that think they own beautiful parts of the world?

I went on holiday to a tropical australian island recently. The locals were so welcoming and lovely, even though the island was clearly 90% tourists. I mean super friendly. The bus drivers seemed to regard being a tour guide / stand up comic as part of their duties.

At the same time, the protests against tourism were happening in europe. I mentioned this contrast to an aussie friend. Who just replied "they were clearly hit hard by the pandemic".

It made me think. Those people in beautiful tourist towns with little other sources of income should be careful what they wish for regarding tourism.

Also lack of affordable housing and working infrastructure is a political issue that should be managed by councils and government. Being arsey to tourists won't help.

I think there is an idea in many people’s minds, whenever they look at a pretty and touristy place, that “In the old days before tourism, this place was a farming and fishing village” etc.

And the thing is, sometimes it’s true and sometimes it’s not; some touristy places were pretty much purpose-built for tourism (as in, there was very very little there before leisure tourism took off in the mid-19th century). No, it’s not true of all touristy places, before I invite a bunch of angry responses.

In places like this, it’s harder to make the argument against tourism, as the place may not be very well located for anything else.

I think there would be less anger about second homes if it was easier to purpose-build your own second-home in attractive places. In some parts of Japan, you get little neighborhoods of besso (second homes) in seaside areas, mostly built by the owners themselves. Nobody seems to care much that they are empty for part of the year, as there is plenty of other housing. Perhaps it’s hard in the UK because a) the UK makes building new buildings and self-build so difficult, and b) the UK tends to really love and value old buildings.

OP, I don’t disagree with you, but I think you’ve created an argument that doesn’t exist.

Yes people from the pretty places dislike outsiders coming and buying up properties and pricing them out.

But most of this is aimed at second home owners or airbnbs, which form by far the bulk of the problem. Not people coming to live permanently, do a local job, make it their home - like you want to.

If second (third/fourth etc) properties were taxed and regulated much more heavily then I suspect a lot of the problems, and resentment, would disappear.

Of course there would be less tourism too but the “pretty place” locals sound like they’d be ok with that.

So if the son of a 'born and bred type' from Cornwall or similar gets amazing qualifications and decides to move to Spitalfields to take up his £200k banking job in the City, should the Spitalfields yokel locals moan that he is pushing up prices in Spitalfields, while their kids are having to move out into Essex? As if! Things work both ways, otherwise everyone is stuck.

As long as it's not a second home or a holiday home (which does ruin communities) then I don't see the issue either. I was fortunate enough to be born in a really beautiful area, I don't think people born in crappy, run down cities that have little employment opportunities should be condemned to live there forever. The housing market, lack of social and actually affordable housing, stagnating wages etc is the issue rather than people wanting to move somewhere nicer.

In hot spots people should be forced to sell their houses cheaply to other local people.

The people from those areas should be banned from purchasing a house anywhere else.

See how ridiculous the reverse sounds.

I'm torn on this, I do think anyone should be able to visit anywhere however I also feel that if an area is a tourist "hotspot" then while that community will benefit from some tourist trade there will also be other pressures on services in that area as a result. For example pressure on hospitals and healthcare services, transport and infrastructure, and policing etc plus higher levels of asb and littering/dog fouling/ noise issues etc so an environmental impact as well. This needs to be offset somehow so its not negatively impacting the local community who do live there full time. I also think it's unfair that so many scenic places are filled up with holiday homes that are only occupied part time, driving prices up for the people who actually need to live there full time to work or care for family etc. Or short term lets which can create a 'party town' feel which local residents won't want while lining the pockets of people or businesses who may not even live in the same country.

@Pyroleus I applaud you.

I agree to an extent but locals do need affordable housing too

This is a local mountain for local people.

I do love London over Christmas, so many people leave!

It's absolutely not entitlement to want to be able to afford to stay in the community you, your parents, grandparents etc were born in and where all your friends are.

It IS entitled to believe that affordabliity should be the primary criteria for determining whether or not people get to stay in a desirable "beauty spot" and that having people having more money than others trumps local (typically less monied) communities having a say in preserving the very things that make their landscapes and communities precious in the first place.

Tell me you are clueless about rural life and rural communities without telling me...

The 'born and bred types' need to get with the rest of the world, frankly. Everything changes.

Yes and God knows where immigrants are supposed to live.

I agree. I live in central London which I think was the second most visited city in the world last year. It does get very crowded in the summer but I missed the tourists during covid. I was born in a random hospital and then moved around a lot so I’m not sure where I would be allowed to live according to the born and bred only types. Fortunately, London takes all comers, so long as they can afford it!

People who moan about price rises in their area - what do you think happens in London? How do you think young people buy their first home 'near to their family and the community they drew up in' in parts of London. where a one bed flat is £500k? Answer - they don't. They have to move away.

Nobody or their children has a right to live anywhere. Nobody owns anywhere. Prices rise with demand - think yourselves lucky if your house prices rocket. Would you rather live somewhere in negative equity?

I’m afraid the privilege that you clearly feel does not seem to allow you to see how cruelly selfish you’re being. Your logic denies people the chance to live near their families; it denies them access to somewhere familiar where they have roots. It means that they cannot access the employment that is available because they are forced to live too far away. Currently many tourist areas cannot find staff because there aren’t people living near enough.
Tourists don’t always bring money with them. In my experience increasing numbers shop in the big supermarkets before they arrive and bring little or nothing to the local economy. Campervans don’t even pay for a site to stay on in some cases. They park illegally on the side of the road leaving their rubbish.
Holiday homes are a menace leaving many touristy hotspots desolate out of season and pricing local people out of the market. National Park authorities don’t help with their building restrictions being for holiday homes, much better to allow building for houses that must be occupied 365 days of the year.

I think a lot of places would love to be like the CI where the restrictions are crazy.

In Jersey, if you aren't a Jersey bean, and are only a registered resident not entitled or licenced, then you are restricted to only being allowed to rent certain properties. Licenced people can rent most properties and depending on the terms of the licence, may be able to buy qualified properties.

Same as jobs, unless the employer is willing to obtain a permit for you and make you a licenced resident, you are only registered and are restricted to what jobs you can apply for as a registered resident. You have to have been residing and working there for 10 years before you can apply for entitled status so you are free to apply for any job or buy any property.

Then of course there are high value residencies, which can be granted to people who they think will make a valued social or economic impact on the island.

I've both been priced out of where I grew up and live in a different (cheaper but busier) tourist hotspot. So I have mixed feelings. We've considered downsizing to where we grew up but we have a family of 4 in a 3 bed semi and we feel a 2 bed flat (all we could afford) wouldn't be big enough. It's really hard being so far from elderly relatives. I also envy local friends who have a family network. I like where we live, it is beautiful and it's very close to what I experienced growing up. But I don't think we will ever belong here. Not deep down in our heart. I don't begrudge others being able to afford it. We're just an ordinary family with an average income so we're incredibly lucky to live where we do. Our dream is to move home, but it's unlikely to happen.

It's not what the OP is asking but I don't quite agree with that. I also live in the Lake District and rural areas need all the same jobs and services urban ones do. I have a job which isn't tourism related and the jobs my friends do include college administrator, solicitor, social worker, council officer, civil sevant, teacher, charity worker, nurse, teaching assistant etc.

Obviously there are lots of hospitality jobs but plenty of people work outside that sector.

Exactly; we all want freedom to roam but we also want want freedom from the roamers!

I agree with you OP - and it even makes me loathe to visit, never mind move to such a place, however beautiful it is. The thought that people are merely putting up with me for economic reasons and would ideally have me not visit really crushes the spirit. No lovely vistas can compensate for that feeling.

in reality, a local who has lived or worked there for 3 years could buy a house and make it a holiday let, whereas we want to build our future there.

This is the heart of it, IMO. If you start second-guessing people's motives/trying to ask or regulate and control what they're going to do in the place, you quite quickly get into very choppy waters.

That being said, I do get that locals being priced out by incomers with more money buying holiday homes is an issue. And I sympathise with the 'Disney' feeling and the sense of living in a theme park. I went to Split a while ago and there were signs on people's fences and gates saying, 'Stop taking photos! This is my home' etc.