Concerns About Tourists/2nd Home Owners Visiting At Easter

[EternalOptimist7]

I am lucky enough to live in Cornwall. Things are getting better ( actually we have had some of the lowest Covid death figures in the country) but I do worry that the floodgates will open in the next school holidays. It’s such a difficult situation because Cornwall is a poor county & gets a lot of income from tourism & we have to think of the economy. But equally, loads of people coming down on holiday could set things back. Second home owners are a whole different ballgame. I am aware that feelings are running high. Just wondering what people’s thoughts are, whether you are local or not.

@joanna67

And this is why I'd like to go abroad this summer. Some of the attitudes on here are appalling.

This is why I won't go anywhere.

I won't go to a tourist place here because of the awful attitudes of the locals and I certainly
Won't be going abroad.

Oh I was so hoping to go to London...
Na...will still go anyway as it is one of my favourite cities. Swapping my beach for the big smoke! 🏖🏖🎡🎡🌃🌃😉😉

N Wales our outbreaks have been out of season, yes second home owners came and went in lockdown, they didn't bring covid that's down to community transmission, nursing homes and hospital infections. Being locked up not being able to enjoy tourism free months has been a downer the last year

I'm not in Cornwall but 1/3 of my development are second home owners, back in December when London was due to go into tier 4 at midnight they started to arrive around 11pm and traffic was still bad at 2am!, (3 hour ish drive from London traffic on the a4 out of London was gridlocked with all the escapees). Our previously low covid rate doubled within a week and quadrupled in 3 weeks.

I got a job 2019 a 6 hour drive from where I live. Bought a house in Dec 19 so I could stay up there while working. The plan was 5-10 days a month, but then covid hit.
It needed a lot of work. It's been a nightmare trying to get the work done on the house/ not let it fall further into disrepair whilst not being able to visit. The house isn't insured if you don't visit regularly. It's not quite as simple as it is being made out to just lock up a house and leave it for months at a time, especially when you planned to be back in a week or two. Visiting a second home isn't quite the holiday it's made out to be in my experience (I'm a key worker so have had to visit it a couple of times in the last year - luckily).
I'm sure my opinion won't be popular - but some of the social media views on rich second homer's is infuriating.

because of the awful attitudes of the locals
Why is it awful to say you don’t enjoy crowds of people surging into your area? Are you grateful for seething crowds when Christmas shopping? Do you enjoy queues and traffic?

I live in Cornwall but not a particularly touristy part. If you are talking about the Easter school holidays, for us they run from the 5th-16th April. Barely anything indoors will be open yet. So the tourists will be coming and getting takeaways and going to the beach. The science has always said the virus spreads most easily indoors.

We are going down to Cornwall in early October, elderly DF lives there and we generally visit once a year but try to go a bit out of season.

@5zeds

because of the awful attitudes of the locals Why is it awful to say you don’t enjoy crowds of people surging into your area? Are you grateful for seething crowds when Christmas shopping? Do you enjoy queues and traffic?

Because no one has the exclusive right to enjoy an outstanding view/cliff top walks/stunning beaches simply because they were lucky enough to be born there (luck of the draw) or moved there (deliberate choice). Why should they have exclusivity to it all? The modern world, well pre COVID, was all about travel and experience and I can never understand why Cornwall expects special treatment from that. Tourists bring much needed money into remote areas to keep locals in livelihoods. Yes you get tourists who are dicks but I bet they are in the minority.

I can’t believe that you don’t accept that your attitude against visitors is awful; you want to keep your stunning scenery to yourself and keep everyone else away even though it is within their own country 🤷‍♀️, and they are keeping hotels, guest houses, restaurants, cafes, artisan shops, art galleries, gift shops etc in business.

Well it won’t be me coming down, I don’t like the sea , i prefer exploring cities.

@Dowser

She should not refuse entry to exempt people without masks. End of. No wonder she got grief. She was overstepping the mark and could’ve got sued. One woman got £9000 compensation when she sued someone for doing that. She was lucky the people she challenged did not know the law

Could you post a link to that please @Dowser

I’m interested to read that.

Cornwall is busy every year, COVID or not, and this year will be the busiest of all. I accept the crowds but I find it difficult when people who spend two weeks a year here act as though they own it. Extremely patronising to locals, who they often treat as below them.

I generally smile and suck it up as it's only for a few weeks. If only they would take their litter home...and not bring their jet skis!!

Cotswolds here, and you are you are all very welcome to come for Easter. It's lovely and we have the best tea rooms ☕️ Please be sure to pick up your dogs poo/take home your litter/ shut the farm gates after you 😁

I live in a tourist area for work, in work accommodation. My own house is in North Cornwall, I’ve moved around a lot so Cornwall is the one constant- it feels like home although I’m not there as much as I’d like. Haven’t been there since October - haven’t been able to check that it’s been ok through the winter. Now I just really want to go there- I can’t be stopped from visiting my own house indefinitely.
It is an odd attitude the Cornish have - so many of them have made lots of money through selling and letting their houses. Many of the holiday lets are owned by Cornish people. Prices are high now so if they don’t like it, it’s the perfect time to cash in and move inland away from the crowds where it’s cheaper and quieter. As for the not having any choice about where you live because you were born there - really? Nearly everyone I know has moved around, often for their first job after uni.

Because no one has the exclusive right to enjoy an outstanding view/cliff top walks/stunning beaches simply because they were lucky enough to be born there (luck of the draw) or moved there (deliberate choice). Why should they have exclusivity to it all? I don’t think I can or indeed would dream of saying I had exclusive access to beauty spots. if you are asking how I feel about the influx of tourists then expect to get an honest answer. Traffic, rubbish, queues, strain on resources...honestly a pain in the neck.

Tourists bring much needed money into remote areas to keep locals in livelihoods. this is true, and true of many big cities too. Yes you get tourists who are dicks but I bet they are in the minority. I think you probably underestimate the magnitude of the “dickishness” and the number of people who make up that minority. It’s possibly more noticeable for my family as we have severely disabled members who, as in all situations, are disproportionately effected by crowds and loutish behaviour. I doubt there are many who genuinely enjoy the influx unless their livelihood depends on it.

No I doubt there are many locals who would enjoy an influx, they’d prefer to have all their area all to themselves, however thankfully it’s not their decision whether visitors come or not.

Surely everywhere has its own issues that come with it, whether it's tourism or something else. I live in a big student area - we had a huge influx of them in September and yes, they have brought covid with them.

Many of them continue to have parties and large gatherings but that's just how it is round here. I accept that by living where I do this is what happens and they (the students) have as much right to go where they want as I do.

Same goes for tourists.

I grew up in the Lakes and the attitude of the some of the people in the village where I grew up (near Ullswater) is awful. No one owns an area.

It's not the tourists I object to; it's lovely when a sustainable number of people enjoy the scenery, etc but I imagine the negative reaction here is about when it becomes unsustainable, such as thousands of people everywhere, looking for their 'peace and quiet in the countryside', camp fires going out of control and burning/destroying SSSi land, bad tempers causing fights, traffic, illegal off-roaders, broken tents left all over the place, litter, dogs attacking and killing sheep and the rest.

How can that be pleasant for anyone, local or visitor?

We live in a historic city very popular with tourists from home and abroad, a huge student population and an enormous retail park fairly close by.

I don't see Fuck off Home banners aimed at students, shoppers or visitors.

Or don't folk from seaside tourist areas go to uni, shop or travel?

@ErleighBird

I'd like to go and spend time and money somewhere in a few months but I don't want to be treated as a human biohazard. ☹️

Well said!

The issue is the infrastructure, most notably the roads, often small and narrow can't cope. Last year was awful the roads were gridlocked. I had to start leaving home earlier and earlier to get to my shift at the hospital on time.
Home care teams and district nurses were struggling to get to their vulnerable and elderly clients. Dangerous parking meant roads were blocked and ambulances couldn't get through. It's things like this that people are rightly concerned about happening again.

Please remember that a lot of people that live in these touristy areas are elderly, or live alone or simply haven't seen family for over a year.

eg. my in-laws, which is why we'll be visiting after 12th April (staying in self-contained accommodation nearby and visiting them in their garden)

I have to say though I'm dreading that potential anti-tourist vibe that might be around.

I feel like getting DP a Tshirt made saying " I WAS BORN AND BROUGHT UP HERE"

@flower11

The issue is the infrastructure, most notably the roads, often small and narrow can't cope. Last year was awful the roads were gridlocked. I had to start leaving home earlier and earlier to get to my shift at the hospital on time. Home care teams and district nurses were struggling to get to their vulnerable and elderly clients. Dangerous parking meant roads were blocked and ambulances couldn't get through. It's things like this that people are rightly concerned about happening again.

This is so true. For me, its less about COVID and more about the lack of infastructure to support the 1000s of people who want to go to the beach. Going to the beach is fine, but dont block roads because you've parked somewhere stupid because you JUST HAVE TO GO TO THE BEACH. I know im in Bournemouth so its no way as bad as Cornwall, but at peak times the coastal part of the town (which includes the high street) is a no-go.

We're also Cotswolds @AuntLucy and welcome tourists here. Yes the centre of our small town gets packed but the shops will be full, people will be enjoying the beautiful countryside (and wonderful tea rooms) and we will see life again.

@BoKatan, my sister lives in a tourist hotspot in the lakes. She said the locals were awful. When her employer asked the mood of the locals in the National parks, she replied "pitchforks and broomsticks"

I live half my life in a tourist area, and have enjoyed the empty roads during lockdown. But that has been offset by seeing friends’ businesses suffering. The locals have kept them ticking over, but really they need the money from tourism.

We have to change our travel routes and journey times during the summer months and this year we are expecting more traffic than usual as people are unable to travel abroad. A 15 minute hoisin winter is sometimes 1.5 hours on Bank Holiday weekends!

Unfortunately a number of tourists will spoil it for everyone, by behaving anti socially, and there will be more of those idiots than usual, simply because of numbers.

But I really can’t wait for things to be busy just because I want normal back. I will actually welcome having to wait 45 minutes in a queue for the best ice cream in the world because it means that the company that make it will still be there next year and the year after that.