Tourists exodus today relieved

[justasking111]

Well it's over today the tsunami of tourists will be gone.

We have never experienced such, rudeness, aggressive behaviour from them as we have this summer. Our businesses have limped along short staffed, been abused, threatened as have locals. The littering has been something else.

I know everyone has had a bad year but so have the Welsh our lockdowns harder and longer than others.

We still wear masks in shops fgs

So hopefully you all had good holidays but glad of a bit of peace now

I guess the OP has never holidayed in the UK herself .

What an utterly bizarre post from OP. So you don’t like trade for your business, then?
And if you’re short staffed, it’s because you’re not paying people enough. So your service is not very good. Yet tourists are the problem?

[quote Topia]@HesterShaw1

But it's the truth. You know it is. Where else have you heard locals talk about burning people's homes down apart from Cornwall and Wales? Imagine hearing that on your holiday. It's awful. Sorry - you might not like the truth but there it is[/quote]
It's not the truth at all. I am from Wales originally and now live in Cornwall, working in tourism in a tourist area, so I'm in a pretty good position to disagree with you.

It's a gross generalisation designed to cause upset and divisiveness.

WRT burning down cottages, Meibion Glyndŵr did a bit of that in North Wales in the 70s, granted. Mebyon Kernow are a small political party who certainly do not advocate cottage burning, and neither does the average Cornish person. People might get tetchy when they're sitting in yet another traffic jam on the way home to or from work, and the hospital situation is utterly unsustainable, but this does not equate to most Welsh and Cornish hating outsiders. Please stop posting such inflammatory nonsense.

I've just had a message from a friend who works in a shop in town who has expressed exactly the same sentiment OP, she cannot wait for the tourists to leave. I've known her for years and she's worked in the same place all that time, she usually loves her job, I've never heard her complain about tourist behaviour before but she said they've had people be so rude they've had to ask them to leave. She's very laid back and mild mannered so it must be pretty bad.

I usually love the buzz the holiday season brings. On good weather days the beach is often packed late into the evening with people swimming and having barbeques, it's a great atmosphere but the last two years have been different, some people have no respect for the places they visit or the people who live there. There are arseholes every year, we have home grown ones too, but pre covid they were mostly friendly and respectful.

I haven't taken the OP personally, I'm a tourist too when I visit other places but I'm respectful of the local area and people so I don't think I'm one of the rude arseholes she's talking about.

@Explosivefarts

I guess the OP has never holidayed in the UK herself .

You guessed wrong

Oh yes, the friendly Welsh shop keepers. Had one moaning that all the tickets for a local festival had been sold to the tourists, which she said like it was a dirty word, instead of the locals who should have got preference, and moaning about tourists in general. If it hadn’t been the only swim wear shop in the vicinity I would have gone elsewhere.

This is why I’m so glad I live in a city where you rub shoulders with hundreds and thousands of people everyday and you would have no idea who is a “local” and who is a “tourist.” No idea of “incomers” or any such nonsense. Just people from all across the planet, living here, working here, passing through and everybody doing what they need to do and minding their own business without judgment from anyone who id under the delusion they own the place. And no, we don’t tell anyone to “go home” in September. Not do we blame congestion or anti-social behaviour on “incomers” or do the whole woe-is-us act - “Wah... I want ‘them’ all to go away so I don’t have to queue for the Natural History Museum - wah wah wah.” Imagine! The parochial mindset in some places does my head in. OP, I’m afraid you do Wales no favours with this thread.

@OlympicProcrastinator

Unless you never leave your house to visit anywhere, we are ALL tourists at some point.

It’s just some of you believe you are the ‘right kind’ of tourists because you are middle class and visit ‘better places’. Reading the sneery comments about larger drinkers who like to sit by the pool who throw litter and are rude; do you really believe it’s only people on those holidays who throw litter and are rude? The ones who visit Blackpool and Benidorm? Give over.

Because I can tell you there are absolute arseholes talking to people like shit, being demanding and creating mess from all walks of life. And the way some of you talk about others on here, I expect you are just as sneery to waiting staff in real life. It might just be that YOU are the arsehole tourists or ‘cottage people’ the locals hate.

This is a good point. We live in a popular holiday destination and in my experience there are definitely lovely people and arseholes in all parts of society. My DD worked as a waitress in a local cafe when she was a student and it was often the well heeled customers who were the rudest (and the worst tippers). This year is massively busier than normal though and I think we are seeing more arseholes simply because we are seeing more people. But other things have compunded the issue. Staff shortages because of the ping-demic and/or Brexit have led to big queues, shortages and so on, which can be stressful on both "sides". Nobody is at their best if they've queued for ages in the sun with a couple of fractious children only to find the ice cream runs out just as they get there. The number of people can overwhelm the infrastructure in a "normal" summer but this year it's been horrendous. I can understand the OP's frustration but often its not actually the fault of individual holiday makers that problems arise. In fact it's not really anyone's fault a lot of the time, it's a combination of largely uncontrollable factors creating problems. I can't deny that I will be pleased to be able to get to places more easily, go out for an impromptu meal and so on, once things quieten down, but I am also acutely aware of just how much our area needed the injection of cash to start to recover. Nobody in our family is directly employed in the tourist industry but there are loads of knock on effects if tourism struggles so it's in almost everyone's best interests that it thrives - even if it is annoying sitting in traffic jams etc. Got to grin and bear it really.

Really looking forward to our Cornish holiday in a couple of weeks. We've been visiting the same place for 20 years and we're happy to be spending there.
I must admit it does make me think twice about visiting with all the horrible comments about tourists, and agree some will be horrible wherever they choose to holiday whether it be the U.K. or overseas.
When I turn up should I be wearing a badge declaring 'I'm not one of those kind of tourists' ?

I live in Bournemouth and everyone is welcome here!

A break at the English coast or in our countryside like the Peaks or Lakes has a different rhythm to going abroad on a package. I think people who haven't traditionally gone on hols to the UK have perhaps just not been prepared for the differences, leading to frustrations and bad behaviour.

An English family owned pub with rooms won't do a lot of "hotel" things because it's a pub with rooms. There won't necessarily be a mini mart around in the way a lot of med resorts have, and small pubs might only have narrow windows for food, or very short menu so you might end up going hungry if you haven't brought some supplies with you.

Beaches are much more of a free for all in the UK, as opposed to resorts abroad where you have areas managed with loungers and attendants to keep rubbish under control. And the weather is so changeable you really do need to have brought everything from sunhats to wellington boots - or pay over the odds for them when you arrive. This means SO MUCH STUFF to pack and bring - that can be stressful. I remember being in Greece and putting on a bikini in the morning and not taking it off until I went to bed! Holiday in Greece - one suitcase. Holiday in the Peak District - A CARFULL plus roofrack

And somewhat specifically I've seen family groups ill prepared to tackle mountains - that can lead to upset and aggro.

People who've holidayed in the UK a lot pre-pandemic probably just have the benefit of knowing the ins and outs of it and don't stress out the locals or stress out about the way things are.

Anyone holidaying in U.K. must be a fool.
Clearly not wanted, and charged a small fortune.
Cornwall is very unwelcoming as are parts of Wales from what I hear, yet we have gazillions of tourists where we live and people don’t moan.

Don’t worry, we will all be spending our money abroad next year. Cheaper, friendlier and with guaranteed weather.

Yes that, with bells on. Already booked.

[quote Puzzledandpissedoff]Locals have sold out across the board

I know, OP - so why do so many blame only the incomers and not the local who sold to them also?

Burning homes in Wales is not a myth

You're right it's not - though it's true it was a while ago

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/8408447.stm[/quote]
Thanks for this article, really interesting.

@stepupandbecounted

I live in a tourist area, and we have seen a huge influx of extra holiday makers, and yes it is impossible to get a table anywhere or park etc but honestly what a joy it has been to see so many happy families again smiling, laughing and playing. Perhaps if you were happier for the guests that would feel welcome, and would feel cross in the first place.

Perhaps the reason for their four letter rants is because what you are offering is so bloody shit!

The idea that the middle classes will come rolling back, I am sorry but we won't. The service has been dire, the locals unfriendly, the food quality is dreadful, the packed out masses is no fun for anyone and the weather is awful. Why would we come back?

I hope you have saved some money op, because some parts of the UK have done themselves a positive disservice with the golden opportunity that was this year's staycation bonus. You have squandered the chance of a loyal following and money does not grow on trees and mortgages don't pay themselves! So ungrateful.

Not quite sure how the service industry was supposed to cope with the numbers in a limited timeframe.

How much of the service industry relies on teenagers or Uni students rather than actual professionals? And that’s because no one local can afford to live in the lovely tourist areas on minimum wage hospitality money. Noticeably outside of the 18-30 resorts, France , Spain, Greece etc have grown ups as waiters and bar staff.

Presumably, without the tourists you would be financially affected. Of course, there is no excuse for rudeness but surely not all incomers are rude and you must also have local people who are rude.

ragamuffins3

You can't compare London to rural counties. The infrastructure is vastly different.

The short staffing which has made things worse should entirely be blamed on Mr Johnson and those who voted him in as Prime Minister. If India had been on the red list at the same time as Pakistan, the numbers self-isolating with or without Covid 19 would be much less, and they would have been less also if face coverings had been retained. The so-called 'get Brexit done' deal and the impact on workers from overseas could have been less if sense had prevailed and the implementation postponed to focus on the pandemic.

I haven't RFTF (haven't the time) but I live in a moderately touristy area and this year and last have both been a bit of a nightmare.

Usually, the tourists are absolutely fine and very welcome. There's some inconsiderate parking, but that's about the limit. DD used to work in a very touristy cafe and never had a complaint about it; I have set many a lost walker or cyclist onto the correct route. We are a pretty helpful family.

During the past two summers, the parking has been ridiculous, the amount of litter is obscene, fences have been cut so the cows get out, and the livestock has been disturbed (complete with comments along the lines of 'the farmer shouldn't put his cows there then'). I think it's a combo of pressure of numbers, and people who wouldn't normally come but are bored and restless and have no manners and no understanding.

The minority who treat the countryside like a theme park are the problem.

People have definitely become ruder over the last year or so. I don't live in a tourist area but I do work in food retail and it's been very noticeable. Dread to think how it's been in tourist hot spots.

We live in a small touristy area, just over the border, and there have been exactly the same complaints here, levelled at the Welsh tourists. Apparently they buy ALL of the beer as there's no minimum pricing here, they go mad and clear the shelves when they see the prices. And the only ones not wearing masks in the supermarket are the Welsh. Apparently they're often very rude too, possibly alcohol fuelled, although that could just be their manner. Works both ways.

Well said @ragamuffins3!

My DD was a student in Wales. The locals could not have been more welcoming.
Once, she and her friend got caught out in bad weather in Beddgelert. A local lady found them shivering at the bus stop and offerred to take them into her home (as the roads had closed) when out of nowhere a bus appeared. The bus driver who took them there that morning had remembered they would be stuck and had gone back to get them, through the floods and road closures.
I bloody love the Welsh.

Haven’t read the whole thread but it’s been an unusual holiday season with more frayed tempers and antisocial behavior than usual. Not only much higher numbers of tourists to share the same facilities, the hospitality businesses have had to cope with low staffing due to Brexit, pandemic and a lack of affordable accommodation for seasonal workers. I will be glad when it’s quieter.