If you live in a place popular with tourists, how do you feel about?

[Crunchymum]

Currently in a lovely little Airbnb cottage, in a pretty seaside town and I wonder how the locals feel about us tourists.

I get that tourism has major positives - employment / local economy benefits but I'd hate to live next door to an Airbnb or share my lovely beach with a billion others on BH weekend or deal with the noise and rubbish left (not even litter per just the sheer volume)

We are Londoners so are well versed on avoiding tourist hotspots unless we actually want to be in the hub but in smaller places it must be hard for the locals to avoid the tourists?

I'm English. I used to live in a beautiful yet less popular semi-rural location and the English tourists were shockingly badly behaved in comparison to everyone else.

Drinking, swearing, too few clothes and not enough sun tan lotion. I can see how this would not be so outrageous in popular tourist destinations but it stands out so much in quiet spots. The children stand out as generally being a bit badly behaved and unsocialised too.

This week isn't particularly pleasant here, but it is needed. It's going to be a challenging summer.

We are getting out of county as much as we can. Or doing things early or late in the day.

I live in London - not a bit that attracts any many tourists - and used to work right next to Tower Bridge. I still go there a lot with my toddler. I love the tourists. I like seeing their wonder in the city - I feel like it stops me taking it for granted. I like seeing them pose happily for photos or Facetime their relatives with the bridge in the background. It makes me feel really grateful to live here.

I think it'd be different if I lived somewhere that was feast or famine with tourists, or that had a concentrated second homes issue like Cornwall.

I live in a very touristy area by the sea. It's very beautiful and I love it in the winter when it's quiet. So many people I know make a living off the tourists being here though, and from those who buy/build second homes. We can't complain too much.

The only time tourists are a pain is when they treat the place like it's a resort and act like everyone is here to serve them or also on holiday. A lot of them park badly because a parking ticket is cheaper than a day's parking in London. And a lot of tourists drive terribly!! Which is frustrating when you're trying to get to work.

Other than that, no issues!! Enjoy your holiday

I grew up somewhere that is now very touristy - full of car campers (who would say they were wild camping, in the wilds of a village, a few metres from their car...), campervans motorhomes, motorbikes, rubbish, human waste. Jobs in tourism are generally pretty crappy, unless you’ve the capital to start your own business.

I moved away as soon as I could and would never choose to move back: it’s commutable for decent jobs, and it’s sad not to be near childhood community. But it’s not for me.

I live in a seaside town which attracts tourists.
I have no issue with the visitors, know the seafront and key attractions will be busy at certain times (like this bank holiday weekend) and plan accordingly. What I really hate are the ones who leave the beach an absolute state, discard inflatables out to sea, and the ones who dispute the sea front being littered with information and warnings, show a complete disregard/ understanding of tides and walk out at low tide, end up getting stranded by the incoming tide and need to be rescued by Coastguard /RNLI. Checking local coastguard page and there have been 5 rescues today and 8 yesterday on a 7 mile stretch of beach

I live in a pretty tourist spot it’s not seaside but it does have a lot of walkers and day trippers.
I don’t mind as they bring a lot of income and life to the town and lots of locals do benefit if they have a holiday place to rent or a cafe or shop. It can get a bit busy around the main beauty spots but locals can avoid those.
I personally don’t subscribe to the locals wont be able to buy, I don’t see why just because you live in a place you should have a claim on it. If my kids can’t afford a house they will have to start out in the nearest affordable area.
Having said that my area is a place people move to live not second homes and I can totally see that kills seaside towns local communities and schools etc.
I’ve just been to Tenby for the day and said to DH I can see this sort of place just becoming a theme park in the future and not a real town, it almost needed tickets sold as it was too busy to sustain.

I'm originally from York. I don't have a problem with tourists as such, but they do clutter up the place. I very rarely went into the city centre on a weekend. Same with Races. Just too busy.

I now live in a town in the NE that is just not touristy at all. It's not the sort of place where people would say hey let's go there for the day/weekend. I much prefer this way. Less people on the streets, less cars on the roads. So much easier to get about.

I live in a small city popular with tourists and am fine with it most of the time, after all I like going and visiting places too. But I detest Air BnB and think it needs to be heavily regulated, possibly other types of self catered accommodation too. We used to live next door to an Air BnB (it wasn't one when we bought) and it was an endless lottery as to who rocked up, parked where they shouldn't, stayed up all night shouting and laughing inside/outside/both then dumped their rubbish, unsorted, down the shared alleyway rather than into recycling bins etc before slamming the door on their way out. It was awful. The owner did no maintenance which impacted our property and there was simply no recourse. Air BnB didn't care. At least with hotels they bring employment and there is some recourse for locals, if only via social media pressure and sad faces in local newspapers.

I don’t mind tourists but there’s a special place in hell for Air BNB. They are destroying communities.

I also live nd to a B&B.
They regularly throw lit cigarettes in my garden.
I have a very hairy ddog.
Twats..

I’m in a tourist area. I don’t mind the holiday makers (I quite like them) but do change my behaviour for the busy months.

I avoid certain beaches and order food online to avoid the crowds. Today I had to go to the supermarket and couldn’t get any bread, milk or salad but it was bad planning on my part.

I feel lucky to live where I do.

I might change my mind if I had an air B and B on my doorstep though

I've lived in and around the Lake District my entire life.

I used to enjoy things being a bit busier over summer, I liked that we had more stuff to do than we should because it was a tourist destination.

But something has changed in recent years and it's not just 'pandemic'.

So much rubbish. Too many people not understanding the countryside code. Everyone in big cars that can't pass each other. Disregard for all the stuff that made it a tourist attraction in the first place - damage to the fells, damage to the water sides, dogs every where, people parking in farm gateways etc.

Local news was reporting over the last couple of days that local routes were gridlocked.

In one place illegal parking was so bad the emergency services were unable to reach an incident.

When we do venture into the main touristy bits now in quieter times everything just feels a bit well trodden and grubby.

Don't mind tourists per se but the second home owners are a bit annoying, particularly the ones whinging loudly in Waitrose that they don't have some exotic ingredient stocked in the Hampstead or wherever branch, or and they take all the brunch slots on weekends at the local nice brunch place, oh and them aggressively jogging on pavements shouting at people walking to get out the way, and don't get me on cyclists ... they are only here in school hols and their teenage kids are pretty rude too and dive into the no swimming marina

I’m in central edinburgh. Loads of tourists with wheely cases about. I get that tourism matters to the economy and I welcome people, but AirBnBs are a nightmare. They are hollowing out the city and turning tourism into a 2 day “experience”, like a Scottish theme park. Key boxes chained to historic railings annoy the crap out of me.

@Autumnchill

I live right by the beach and to be honest when I see tourists I'm just pleased they're bringing money into the local economy.

Same here, I like to see people enjoying our town. My main bugbear is the litter that they leave.

I know where to go if I want to avoid the tourists, bank holiday Monday I was in a peaceful, deserted place, but literally minutes away from the local beach.

I live in Edinburgh too and I hate how busy it is. It has been much nicer over lockdowns but I appreciate businesses have suffered because of the lack of tourists. Like @winched I avoid the city centre as much as possible but sometimes I do have to travel through it and the busier it is the longer it takes.
I would also ban Air BnB if I could and I wish they would have the Festival only every 2 years and stop the big Hogmanay celebration altogether. The pandemic paused these events which would be a good opportunity to review and make changes but it'll never happen as the Council/promoters want the money too much.

I live in Devon- being local means you know not to go anywhere near a beach when the ‘grockles’ arrive! We do the moors and sea out of season and avoid the main roads. Cornwall & Devon can’t survive without tourism but. I do wish people would take their bloody litter home or put it in a bin!

I like them.

They make me feel grateful to live where I live.

However, the tourists tend to be well behaved campers and it’s not difficult to avoid them.

We were talking about this the other day. On a very superficial level I groan when I can't park at my normal, favourite beach, or when my usual quiet haunts get busier.

However when I think about it again it doesn't bother me. I like seeing the place thriving, and feel hugely lucky to live somewhere others will travel to for their holidays.

The only annoying ones are the overly loud, show offy types who simultaneously seem to want to make sure everyone knows they're not as provincial as the locals while raving about how quaint the whole place is.

Also, those with super large cars who aren't prepared to let them anywhere near a hedge.

I’m a lifelong resident of a city very popular with international tourists. It’s never bothered me, you just get used to the summer crowds. I’ve worked in various locations and yes it can be tricky getting a spot for lunch but the buzz adds to the atmosphere. Pre Covid I’ve walked down a long street without hearing any English but a variety of foreign languages being spoken. I like living somewhere so special that people from all over the world want to visit.

But my city is geared up for tourists. I might feel differently if I lived in a small town/ village bombarded with U.K. day trippers who cause parking chaos, bring their own food, and leave rubbish and dog poop everywhere.

Hate tourism. Live in a coastal town that isn’t normally too crowded except for high summer. This year has been terrible already. Today it took an 90 mins to make a 20 min journey due to day-tripper traffic. I’ll be glad when they call all back abroad again.

I live in Barnard Castle. It’s always fairly busy at holiday time, but this year has been crazy (thank you Mr Cummings).