Countries Putting Up “Closed to British Tourists” Signs

[RampantIvy]

I keep seeing articles about how certain countries don’t want British tourists.
IMO what they don’t want is a certain type of tourist – the ones who are loud drunks, who disrespect local customs and traditions, who display antisocial behaviour and basically who are an embarrassment to the rest of us and who know how to behave.

One of the countries listed was Greece, where we have just had a lovely holiday. We met nothing but a friendly welcome from all the locals. We didn’t see any antisocial behaviour, but then we don’t holiday in the kind of places where drinking all day and all day English breakfasts is the main attraction.

If these holiday destinations don’t want these kind of visitors perhaps they should make them less attractive to them – put up the price of drinks, don’t offer cheap AI holidays to include as much alcohol as you can drink, increase the minimum age for drinking alcohol, close down a few bars and nightclubs etc.

It's like people have forgotten how to behave out in public and how to be respectful to other people sharing the same social space.

I couldn’t agree with this more - it’s not just on holiday or abroad, you only have to travel on a bus or go to a town centre to experience selfish, antisocial behaviour. I honestly despair and can only hope a change of government might make a difference.

Wow talk about tarring us all with same brush there @Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice

Standard size thank you for answering my question.

I have absolutely no idea what I wrote that would make you think I'm tarring anyone with any brush?! I'm very confused, did you read my post properly?

Clear your cookies and read a few articles about space. My feed is all about amazing science discoveries as a result.

For every British tourist that does AI and drinks to excess there are 5 who don't . I've seen plenty of other nationalities misbehaving both on AI and other holidays

Talk about tarring everyone with the same brush OP, your doing a bit of that yourself

It's not just drunken tourists - Japan has had problems with tourists not respecting Geisha, tourists hunting them for photos, leaving litter and not really respecting Japanese culture. I doubt Venice has a problem with drunken Brits but they are also experiencing difficulties with the sheer number of visitors. It's easy and lazy to latch onto the reputation Britain has for lager louts but the problem is much more complex than that.
We stayed in Rothenburg ob der Tauber last year, a stunning town in Germany - they said they struggled to cope with the massive amount of day trippers coming in by coach and car - when they visit they don't spend enough money - they wanted to attract the overnighters because they spent lots of money in restaurants and hotels.

I feel frustrated by the hatred of air b nb , does that apply to all self catering cottages etc? Are campsites ok?
Hotels /b and bs are simply not an option for my family. My children have multiple allergies so we self cater. Food is life or death for them and I wouldn't relax on a holiday where someone else was providing all the food.

But when we stay in an air BnB/cottage we spend plenty in the local area. We always visit tourist attractions, museums or activities. We also let the children spend a fair amount on souvenirs (as they don't eat out we let them spend extra in other ways). I am fairly sure we contribute as much to the local economy as we would if we stayed in a hotel

Me too! I love how on MN for many posters, enjoying a full english on holiday is almost a marker of lower class

The problem is taking properties away from the local residents which push up prices. Campsites and holiday camps will obviously not be depriving locals of housing.
It’s air bnbs, holiday cottages and second homes that are the problem.

But a campsite /holiday camp takes away land that could be used for housing. A hotel takes away a building that could be used for apartments. Most traditional b and bs were just in someone's home....

By all means introduce controls to keep numbers of holiday homes down (double council tax , or even a local market like the channel Islands have) but don't hate those of us who need to self cater, we spend a lot in your economy and are the kind of tourists who don't get drunk or leave a mess (unlike the stag dos in hotels etc)

Hotels provide jobs. bnbs as you said are in someone’s home, someone is living there, it’s not empty half the year and causing a decrease in public services. Air bnb locally just takes away housing. Locally the ones aren’t full all year around, so half the year there’s just an empty house, a lot are on croft land, so not being used as they should. There’s a depopulation crisis in some places in the highlands and a mass amount of air bnb are not helping that.

I don't think so.
What makes you say that?

But they don't fall about drunk in the street, vomit, fight and cause mayhem and damage to property etc.

Just because there's cheap or even free alcohol does not mean people are forced to drink it

Does anyone actually have any self respect any more?

I think you're spot on. "Society" as a construct seems to be on the way out, it's every person for themselves with very little respect for others. (I know that's a hugely sweeping generalisation, but I think generally people's behaviour has got worse since COVID.)

I've recently returned from a tour of Andalucia. When planning I obviously did lots of Googling. As a result my Google news page was full of stories about protests against over tourism in Seville and about accomidation being rented out to tourists in both Seville and Malaga instead of being used as housing for locals, with tales of notes being stuck on doors telling tourists to go home.
I visited 4 Andalucian cities on my trip and did not encounter any anti tourist vibes at all, let alone see physical evidence of it, and yet Google news would have had me believe we'd be facing pitchforks at dawn.

This.

Very quiet before but since the pandemic it is so busy. It is overwhelming and many don't take their litter home, go into land that is private and disturb the livestock and don't respect where they are.

The objections are to tourists generally. The reference to "British" is the gutter press (by which I mean all the UK press) slanting the story to sell it in the UK.

But we provide jobs when we book activities in the local area, visit the museums, purchase gifts and food in the local shops.

Hotel catering isn't an option due to allergies. I'd bloody love a hotel holiday where we didn't have to think about cooking but with children with multiple allergies it just isn't a possibility.

The problem with Airbnb is it takes residential property away and disrupts residential neighbourhoods. Hotels and holiday parks are purpose built for that use and have been subjected to planning law and additional safety requirements, especially fire safety etc..

It is no fun living in a residential block of flats and suddenly finding yourself living next door to a holiday apartment with a stream of people coming and going at all hours. Even the best behaved visitors can be disruptive.

If you need to self cater apart hotels are a good option.

Holiday apartments have always exisited and there is not issue with that but online platforms like Airbnb have made it a lot easier for everyone to clamber aboard - great for holiday makers, not so much fun for residents.

I agree. If it was the proportion of housing it was 20 years ago there would not be the issue.

As for behaviour, Downing St parties are an example closer to home.

I go to Majorca regularly but avoid anywhere with tons of young Brits or Germans so all has been fine- can I just say though it's not just gangs of young Brits- it's families too - many of the parents drink all day- and end up letting the children run wild in an evening. I've seen plenty of 40 and 50 somethings who have had way too much to drink- often golfing groups of men etc. The Germans and Dutch aren't far behind the uk either - but other countries less so

Our museum is volunteer run, a lot of the tourist attractions are free with no staff or summer only jobs and the shops tend to be only open summer only, because of the lack of people outside of summer season and because a lot of the houses are empty then.

no one is “hating” people who use air bnb or even saying they all need to shut down, but they are unsustainable at the rate they are currently at. They should be a small amount, not a vast majority of a village that means it shuts down after tourist season.

I actively avoid any holiday destination that attracts the type of tourists that these countries want out. I don't blame them, who wants a hoard of load, drunk, rude entitled people invading their towns for the summer. We have all seen them at the airport and on the flights, it has just become increasingly worse. Having said this I am certain that a lot of these stories are exaggerated click bait.