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.

I also think there is an issue that a lot of the badly behaved British tourists are more used to suburban living. They have no concept of living close together in a city or town and see city and town centres as just places for drinking and fun, not as places where people also live.

The AI hotels aren’t that much of a problem, because by their very nature, most holiday makers stay at the hotel /resort (why go out to get drunk in town and pay for cheap drinks when you can drink for free in your hotel bar?) but they have different complaints- using up resources but not putting much money into the local economy via restaurants and bars. (Think this is why the Neilson policy of only including dinner on 5 of 7 nights to push the families staying at their hotels to go to the local villages for dinner started).

the Airbnb development is a huge problem. The over development with hotels using up so much local resources (water, electricity, producing waste etc) is a problem, particularly when the hotels aren’t owned by locals, so the profits go to the UK/Germany/Sweden/USA.

Also I know that increasingly, the big chains bring in most of their customer facing staff, so not just entertainment but waiting staff, reception etc - when we were in Rhodes a couple of summers ago, the waiting staff were greek but when we got chatting, not from the island.

seemed only cleaning and gardening staff were locals. Can see if none of the main benefits of these big tourist numbers go to locals but all of the downsides felt by locals, they’d have enough.

I've seen plenty of other nationalities misbehaving both on AI and other holidays

Exactly.
I'm currently at an AI hotel in Spain and it's a mix of nationalities and I've seen selfish, anti social behaviour from all of them.

Why should prices go up because people cant behave? Locals also drink there

Locals won't usually be drinking in the same bars as tourists, though, will they? At least that's been my experience when I've visited Greece and other Mediterranean holiday destinations.

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

Yes - presumably that’s because the punishment for such behaviour would be pretty draconian and they’d be booted out of the country.

Im a local in a 'foreign' country. Of course we do!

Oh. As someone married to a Greek "local", I've found we tend to go with local friends to bars and restaurants which are not dependent on tourists for their living, so prices tend to be cheaper. We expect to pay more when visiting a known tourist spot. To be fair, we've also often been offered cheaper rates for cash in hotels when my OH presents his Greek passport, although that isn't supposed to happen any more, I believe.

I don't want those types in the UK tbh. We put up with far too much because of the denial of the alcohol culture we have.

You can go to countries that have political upheaval and violent attacks all the time, and yet they're still more than capable of holding a football match without riot police and with zero violence, where people are allowed glass containers, where both sides go home after like normal people.

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.

Of course it’s the fault of those countries being cheap that they have rowdy tourists.
Not the fact that people are behaving very badly. That they can’t control themselves and their alcohol intake.

Got it.

Oh I dunno about the football thing. The UK has worked really hard to sort out football violence. Whereas countries like Turkey, Russia and Italy still have significant issues with Ultras.

And here is the French struggling with a boozy sports crowd

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/may/30/tennis-french-open-ban-booze-alcohol-curb-rowdy-spectators-iga-swiatek-david-goffin

But the reality is that if some countries/areas, like in Spain, are deciding that they dint want British tourists it’s because in numbers or %, it’s British tourists who are causing problems.

It might be unpalatable but that’s their experience. Who are you to judge and tell them theyre wrong? You’re not living there day in and day out.

Tbh my experience is that, as soon as British people (or is it English? Not sure) go abroad, many inhibitions are social rules fall by the wayside. Things people would never do in the U.K., due to social pressure, suddenly become ok. And it’s crap tbh.

There is also the attitude, which is prevalent in the the news media, that these countries are reliant on tourism and therefore need to put up and shut up or 'we'll show 'em' by going elsewhere to drink all day and be generally vile.

Yep.

I mean why would they need to make an effort and behave? British exceptionalism at play too.

That's nonsense about football matches. The Uk has mostly cracked the problems of hooliganism, racism and drunkenness, unlike many other countries.
I live VERY near a big, popular open space in London Z2 and, if the sun comes out at a weekend, the place is mobbed. I like it because it's fun and lively but we live peacefully nearby. Our local pub, which has a huge garden so gets very busy, gives locals 20% off, total bargain! 🍺

Ah. Doh!

But the reality is that if some countries/areas, like in Spain, are deciding that they dint want British tourists it’s because in numbers or %, it’s British tourists who are causing problems.

It might be unpalatable but that’s their experience. Who are you to judge and tell them theyre wrong? You’re not living there day in and day out.

Tbh my experience is that, as soon as British people (or is it English? Not sure) go abroad, many inhibitions are social rules fall by the wayside. Things people would never do in the U.K., due to social pressure, suddenly become ok. And it’s crap tbh.

I'm not saying British people don't cause issues. I'm saying that in my experience it's not a trait exclusive to British people.

I've been to Greece twice in the past two years. No problems with drunken behaviour. Not been to Spain for a good few years but again, no problems . I think it depends upon where you go. The places that encourage stag/hen parties are bound to have more issues, but let us not forget who is selling them the cheap booze and encouraging them. As for blaming tourists for renting AirB&B, we'll if its available and the price is right, who would turn it down?its up to the Spanish/Greek/etc people to lobby their governments to step in and ban them. But why would they when they bring in revenue 😉

And yet many people (men?) go abroad, get drunk and behave in anti social ways.

The question is then:

• if they manage to behave themselves at football matches nowadays, why can’t they when they are abroad?
• and are they really behaving well when in the U.K. or it’s done behind doors/in smaller numbers so it’s seen as ‘acceptable’?

So again it’s the fault of the tourist resorts/places for being cheap?

Blaming the victim for people antisocial behaviour because who on earth can dare asking people on a hen or stag do to behave, eh? Especially if they are ‘poor’ and can only afford a cheap hols.

Very interesting take there.

It's about mass over tourism which is driving up the cost of living for locals to a point that it's unsustainable and impossible to live combined with anti social behaviour.

There is an understanding that some tourism is essential. Thus they want to limit tourist numbers and place restrictions and protections to improve the quality of life for locals. Which is reasonable tbh.

I personally can't stand being on holiday near a load of Brits because of the huge amount of disrespect we have for locals. It's deeply unpleasant.

What I suspect will happen is the governments in Spain, France, Greece and Italy in particular will introduce measures to contain tourists / limit numbers / prohibitive measures for behaviour with heavy fines for those who breech them. This won't make Brits behave. It will push them to other destinations instead. I strongly suspect that Albania will be high on the life for this type of holiday in future as they are desperate for the revenue.

One of the problems is that a lot of investors buy properties to rent out as holiday lets - often illegally - because they generate far more income than long term rent. Air BnB enables that. Governments need to force the likes of Air BnB to crack down on illegal rentals by requiring proper certification before you can list a property as a holiday let.

This is why there is something of a clash. Local are not the ones who own the property or hotels so are at odds with them. They instead struggle to find accommodation at an affordable price and are at the mercy of big conglomerates who drive wages as low as possible to satisfy tourist demands rather than locals being in control of businesses and able to dictate wages to a price that reflects local costs.

There are so many places that people can go on holiday but people only want to sit on beaches mindlessly or drink to excess or have cheap poor quality food that suits their taste rather than experience local cuisine. The money spent their isn't going into the pockets of locals as a result. It's going into big businesses.

If you go on holiday to somewhere slightly away from hotspots, go to local restaurants rather than tourist places and don't act like a dickhead you will be welcomed because you aren't the problem.

Quite frankly I don't blame any of the protesters. It must be awful to have to live with the conditions that over massively tourism creates. And yes Brits are the worst offenders for poor behaviour but they aren't the only offenders.

It doesn't take much to consider whether you are behaving like a dickhead or not. Would you behave like that on an average wednesday night on your own street? If the answer is 'well I'm on holiday it's fine' you are a cockend.

Aye, Spain was better under Franco

Completely agreed that for many countries, it's more about mass tourism than specific countries (but UK may be targeted for signs like these as UK holidaymakers make up a larger percentage of tourism in certain places).

I currently live in a big city in NZ, and the awful invasion of cruise ship tourists - especially over the summer - makes me wish there would be a limit. I live close to the harbour, and I have to check the cruise ship schedule because the days when the ships dump thousands of tourists in the same concentrated space are horrendous. They treat the people who live here either like information points or like photo opportunities.

As per Stats NZ, cruise ship tourists make up less than 2% of international tourism income, and 0.6% of retail spending. Smaller towns benefit more, but all my Kiwi friends are truly over it as the benefit is so small. Although our behavioural issues tend to be with North Americans.

@RedToothBrush yep - all that -