Advice please RE: touristy areas

[0rion]

Hi,
I would like to ask people for their experiences of living in a touristy area, whether it's a town or the countryside (UK).

I have been offered a new job and it will involve a house move. I'm getting cold feet about it as the area I am moving to is quite touristy. How do you feel about the crowds of visitors; do they make you feel proud of living somewhere everyone wants to visit or is it overwhelming?

Considering my options as to whether to move right to the centre of it all or a bit of a drive out and your thoughts will assist me greatly!

Thank you for reading this.

OP, something you should bear in mind in advance so that you can decide what policy to have: if you move to a tourist area, you might find that "friends" you haven't seen for ages suddenly want to come and stay with you. I've seen several threads on here where someone complains about a visitor who wants to stay for two weeks and never lifts and finger to help, or someone who owns a holiday cottage and all their friends want to stay there for free etc. Don't let that put you off moving, but just bear it in mind.

if you move to a tourist area, you might find that "friends" you haven't seen for ages suddenly want to come and stay with you.

Yes! We had the same when we moved here.

All sorts of people that I hadn’t heard from in ages popped out of the woodwork.

The first summer we were here we had back to back guests. The second summer I put my foot down.

I live in Cornwall, near a popular tourist town & the coast. Summer holidays are a drag with traffic, busy beaches, restaurants, car parks etc. Generally what we do is steer clear of the popular areas until out of season - we're lucky enough to be able to enjoy the area for the rest of the year so we accept that we live in a hotspot and let visitors get on with it, we rely on visitors coming.
The other downside is that it can get so quiet in winter it's a bit like a ghost town - lots of restaurants etc close for the winter season.
But it's worth it.

I've always lived in a touristy area. Brought up on beaches of North Devon and now live in Cornwall.

One thing to remember - tourists are our bread and butter. I remember years as a child where it went dead in winter and places literally shut up shop for months - I think that, in some ways, was better as people appreciated the busy summers to earn a decent crust.

Luckily now, although the summer is still the manic time, we are lucky in that people seem to keep coming all year around for short breaks. So, it gets quieter, but not deathly so. Accordingly I don't think many people appreciate exactly what the tourists do for our economy and you do get moaning. I just see it as part and parcel of where we live.

I love tourists. I am not in the tourist trade but I know that I would not do as well as I do without them. I am lucky to leave home each day and live somewhere so beautiful. It is a large community too where I am, which may not be the case in smaller places with a greater number of second homes. So, look for that when you choose where to buy.

Indeed, wages are low and house prices high. That's a sad reality of living here and one which I do wish I could change. It will get to the stage that businesses wont be able to source local employees as they just won't live there (and we have little public transport to get them there). Both of my children have moved away for careers, sadly.

@tectonicplates 25/02/2019 10:47
if you move to a tourist area, you might find that "friends" you haven't seen for ages suddenly want to come and stay with you

Haha, so true! Sorry to reawaken my own zombie thread but I have discovered this is true! Parking here is expensive, refreshments are expensive so I guess I'm really popular now with my friends from my previous place.

Thank you everyone for your comments. I took them into consideration during the decision-making process and a year later, I moved and took the job. It's fabulous and although the tourists can be very annoying, they add a real buzz and vitality to the place that you don't get elsewhere; everyone is happy because they want to be here.

Another plus is that because the scenery is fab, I can interact with it immediately instead of jumping in the car to get there.

Thanks again everyone for your insightful input.

My parents live in a place like this... They are mostly retired & just don't plan to travel at all on bank holiday weekends. They used to let my cousins & other relatives stay in their large flat when my parents were away (often travel). And they still let friends borrow the parking spots if they are away. But they have now banned almost all the family from entering the premises (I am among the privileged few allowed to visit). Because parents have a very expensive engineered wood floor now... that can't handle sand... they live 5m from a huge beach.

I won't be staying any long periods in future either.