Do you Live in a tourist area? Blessing or curse?

[justasking111]

We live in a tourist area, personally I see them as a blessing, yes they clog the roads at times, yes some leave litter. BUT their contribution to our economy enables our shops to operate 52 weeks of the year no empty high streets so on the whole they are of benefit to us. We know they are coming so plan our lives accordingly. We know the beaches they have not discovered so have our own fun. We enjoy the childrens activities which run for a whole spring summer season whether they are here or not.

I live in a village just outside Cambridge. The tourists tend to be day visitors and yes, they do clog up the narrow streets and congregate in large groups, but I don't mind. I used to work in the city centre and had to pass the punting station on Bridge Street on my to/from town in my lunch hour. I used to wear my work lanyard quite openly or I would be accosted constantly by punt touts.

Blessing. We get income from hosting foreign students and can get great house swapping holidays as people want to visit here

A friend of mine lives in a lovely seaside village and gets people staring in her windows the whole time, like they think it's a museum! It would drive me mad, she just gives them the finger and laughs when they get offended

But with the rise of AirBnB and similar there are getting to be more and more holiday lets and fewer and fewer actual residents. Residents still let their kids play in the streets but they feel it's becoming more dangerous because the visitors don't understand how the roads in these kinds of villages work - and it is reaching the point where community groups and even the school may struggle to stay open because there aren't enough permanent residents.

I live in a popular tourist area, I can't move for fucking cyclists.

I live in the New Forest. It’s an amazing place to live and you can easily get away from the crowds, even in the summer holidays. The tourists also mean we get lots of great pubs and cafes. Annoys me when tourists feed the animals outside our gate though, as we then get hassled by ponies whenever we leave the house.

There is no state income tax in my state of Florida largely because of sales tax revenue, much of which is generated by tourists. Bless them, and keep them coming, I say.

I live by the sea in one of the most popular villages on the South Coast, famous for its beautiful beach. Apart from the traffic - can't leave the peninsular and expect to get back home - the disgusting amounts of litter, there is the relatively new phenomena of visitors shitting in the sand dunes. Lovely photo on our local FB page of a residents dog, smeared all over in human excretia as the idiot dog rolled in it. It's not the only time this has been mentioned either. Makes me so angry when people moan about dogs on beaches - if they saw the absolutely disgusting state our beach is left in by the humans every day in the summer. I'm yet to to see a dog dragging a barbecue, chairs & a dozen 6 packs up a beach. Our verges are filled in summer with rubbish thrown out of car windows, McLitter etc. The noise, the screaming, the walking up the middle of the road en masse and the filthy looks as you try & drive past them. About 1st week in May you get the first car horn toots of the summer.... like the first cuckoo.
Most of our visitors aren't like that, but we get so many, the 10% that are is a significant amount.

I live in a largish village popular with walkers. People come from all over the country and abroad to visit. It keeps the village shop and pubs ticking along and it’s nice to chat to visitors.

I'm between Stratford and Warwick.

Stratford is hellish on weekends and school holidays. The shops are pretty average anyway, and barring Jo Malone there's nothing that wouldn't be there anyway. But it's pretty and I still love it.

Warwick bus more bearable as most tourists are contained in the castle, and merlin are good at sending them round via the main roads and not through town.

But I am aware both town rely on the tourists. They add hugely to the vibe and the economy.

But I was brought up in a touristy area so I don't really bother. They tend to add amusement value (Americans and Japanese in particular) and usually are just so lovely. So as a local I try to be helpful.

I used to live in Canterbury and the packs of gormless foreign language students that arrived by the coachload used to drive me loopy.

I lived in Paris but that was actually pretty good as long as you avoided the tourist hotspots.

I lived in Hong Kong and it was so overcrowded that any tourists didn't make much of an impact.

The worst is where I live now....central London. Tourists and out-of-town day trippers are a constant. There's no respite from it. Weekends are especially bad and it will only get worse as we move it summer. Argh!

I live in a touristy town. It's dead in the winter and busy the school holidays. Annoying in some ways as I'm a teacher so when I'm free to do things it's too busy to do them unless carefully planned! Can never get a table in my favourite cafe!

I live in a touristy place (mentioned upthread already) and next to one of its attractions. It is nice to have a wide variety of people and the economy is generally good--will possibly be less good after Brexit but we shall see.

Sometimes it can be difficult to walk down the high street on a weekend day but it is generally a nice place to live. We have a mental list of pubs to visit that tourists haven't really gotten wind of. I probably wouldn't be able to work in my city without the tourists as well, and would be facing an expensive commute to London.

I live in an AONB. Lots of day visitors. I live it as it keeps the town alive and buzzing. Us locals know where not to go out for a walk on bank holidays etc. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

We do but it's more of a B&B place than second homers so it's less of an issue.

It keeps the small town economy going and we just pop to the next town where the locals shop to get away from the tourists.

I live in a touristy areas but it’s more blessing than curse apart from 6 weeks of the year. Apart from that you get to spend all your free time in a place most people only get to see in their holidays. However you do get a bit blasé about it at times

I live and work in Central London. Tourists all year round. I mostly like them and am pleased to be asked directions because I'm proud of where I live and want people to have a good time on holiday. I frequently go up to people who look a bit lost. I offer restaurant recommendations too and interesting things to see. I'm just a needy person who craves approval

Teenagers are annoying. But that's the same the world over. I photobombed some Italians in Carnaby Street today but I was late and they were taking up the whole pavement trying to get the perfect shot.

I always cut in front of large groups getting through the ticket barriers at one station I use for work. I feel a bit bad, but if I queued politely I'd be there for 10 minutes while they try to negotiate them. They've got all day, I haven't.

When I'm on holiday I like it when locals are nice to me.

I used to live in Canterbury and the packs of gormless foreign language students that arrived by the coachload used to drive me loopy.

Yes, but they have to come along the river path from Kingsmead so you can follow along at snail's pace fantasising about pushing them in And if they annoy you outside the Cathedral with their endless pointless surveys, you troll them straight face.

Oxford is worse, somehow. They just all mill around like confused insects.

If you choose to live on the coast, or countryside and then make a year round pass time from moaning about tourism, you're just a self sabotaging misery (relative thinking of you here).

I live near a fairly niche historic attraction that attracts people for short visits.

The only negative is the sheer idiocy of parking

Grew up on the south coast - busy in summer, dead in winter. That didn't bother me.

What really used to annoy my Mum and I were several of our neighbours who had retired from London, based on 2 weeks summer holiday to our town. They were always moaning about the lack of buses, the closed roads (sea would crash over in bad weather ) the bad weather, seasonally closed shops etc.

Some of us really are born there though RubberTree (Although when we grow up we have to move away cos we can't afford anywhere of our own to live.)

It feels like half the country is a refugee from their home town now

I live in the Lake District, it used to be okay when I was younger, much, much busier in summer but otherwise life continued as normal.

But the last 20ish years it's steadily got out of hand. Young local couples can't afford to buy even modest properties in popular villages, decimating small local schools and shops in the process, the shops that remain just sell tat. We sit for ages waiting to turn out of roads and people have become so inconsiderate towards the natural environment, straying off footpaths to get good photos irrespective of whether they might be trespassing or causing damage.

The lakeshores are all just a bit dirty and worn down with litter, fab ends, dog poo and general overuse.

It's a beautiful place to live, but I wish people would have more respect that it's a living/ working environment and not a theme park where the cleaners come in every night to tidy up after everyone.

Small market town here. Tourism is important, but luckily there's a couple of big employers that provide work.
Most annoying thing? Our house is on one of the narrow yards going to town, so hearing yet another person say "ee, it's a tight squeeze down here" or "Oo you'd think the council would widen this" or finding someone has wandered into our garden yet again looking for a way to town.

I live about 20 minutes outside an historic city. Tourism is a great help to the economy. Race days, stag & hen do's are much more of a problem!