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 may not have made money directly from tourists but I still benefited from them.

Same where I have been staying. The local surf school offers weekly kids club that the local children attend. It’s super cheap and brilliant. The owner can afford to offer that (and at bare minimum pricing) because of the tourists who spend £££’s with him in lessons/ kit rental.

The lovely waterfront pubs/ dining establishments? The locals get to enjoy them year round? Why? Because the money they make off the tourists in holiday season sustain their businesses.

There’s no excuse for rudeness/ littering. But this is a very divisive post. With some horrible comments after. Fortunately it’s a free world and many of us will continue to holiday where we wish, when we wish. Hopefully the vast majority of us are not the isolated few who spoiled it this summer.

I don’t know where youve witnessed what you’ve witnessed. But where I have been, people have queued patiently. With good humour. Daily. I’ve not heard one cross word/ one person being rude. People are happy to be back on holiday. Business owners are happy to have the money.

Locals? As I said before, if you live somewhere touristy. It’s part of life. I’ve lived in London for years and for about 2 years lived very central. Summer was a nightmare in some areas with the tourist influx but as locals we simply would be accepting, try and help where possible and avoid the tourist hotspots (Covent garden, Leicester Square etc).

Fortunately for us overseas travelling is now back on, so we no longer need to put up with it!

Wow, you have just generalised every tourist that visited wales this year!!
Stop moaning. I Live by the coast and I am delighted that we brits are piling our cash into our country for the summer instead of abroad!
Long live staycations

Summer was a nightmare in some areas with the tourist influx well exactly. All people are expressing is the “nightmare” as you have put it. There seems to be little understanding that the beautiful fields are not maintained for tourists, they’re homes and businesses. That the beautiful quaint country pubs would and have been there often for hundreds of years serving and funded by the local community. These places weren’t built like Lego land for people to visit and holiday in. For those who don’t work in hospitality, there is little positive in the sudden influx of hundreds of thousands of people. To express relief that it’s nearly over isn’t rude it’s just a fact.

I live somewhere touristy and the tourists have been mostly fine. What we have noticed is the locals who haven’t gone away as they usually do…some of them are prettY bad….

@5zeds

I think it's fine for people to be relieved tourist season is over. I can imagine it's a nightmare with 10 x the usual amount of people and traffic.
What's not fine is making sweeping generalisations that all tourists are rubbish at driving or parking and are rude, ignorant and entitled. Its possible to feel glad everyones gone without being rude about them.

It’s not really that all tourists are (using your examples) rubbish at drinking and parking it’s that if you don’t drive on single track roads often you may not be used to backing, timing your pass to coincide with a wider stretch of road, judge what road can accommodate your vehicle, judge appropriate speed, understand gates are not parking places. If you drive predominantly in a city you will push into traffic in a way that isn’t appropriate in less dense areas, may leave smaller stopping distances and probably won’t even notice those you are cutting up, crowding or blocking in. Most of us get it, and obviously don’t enjoy it but accept that like ice/snow we can avoid and mitigate. The attitude of “well you should be grateful we turn up and spend money” isn’t true for large sections of the community you think you are improving. As for the rocking up and not wearing masks or distancing so infection rates soar, it’s upsetting as we unlike the tourists who return home have very few hospital beds.

I dont live in a tourist area. I don't live in a city though, and am not used to driving in London although I have done in the past. I drive in narrow lanes near where I live and I think its insulting to tourists to think we're all too thick to realise a gate isnt a parking space.we do have lanes with gates (that farmers/landowners need access to) in other areas!!
I dont expect local people to be grateful to me after all I book my holiday for my own enjoyment, but I'm not rude or entitled, and wear a mask in places where it's appropriate.

I am rubbish at drinking though, I'll give you that!

Then you are highly unlikely to even be noticed @fizbosshoes.

I think its insulting to tourists to think we're all too thick to realise a gate isnt a parking space.we do have lanes with gates (that farmers/landowners need access to) in other areas!!

Of course it isn't all tourists - but some of them are apparently "too thick" - or they know but don't give a crap because they're on holiday.

We went on holiday to Wales this year. We managed to be polite, we wore masks in all the shops, and followed the Covid rules (We still wear masks in England though)

Is it just that the OP does not want the English there?

Which is sad, Wales is a beautiful country and we had a lovely time. The staff in the places we went to were friendly.

I grew up in a tourist town in England, and i loved the bustle of the summers- particularly as a teenager. However if you live there year round you get these places to yourselves for most of the year.

I am genuinely sorry that some tourists were awful, please try not to tar everyone with the same brush though.

@category12

I think people have been ruder, less tolerant and more grabby since they've been let out.

The attitude seems to be "but how I've suffered over the past year - I deserve everything right now!" as if everyone else hasn't been through the same.

I don't think it's a tourist thing, as such, but pretty widespread.

This!

I truly think lockdown has made nice people nicer, but awful people are a lot more awful and stupid people are a lot more stupid. I noticed this massively in my customer facing job this year (not at all tourist related), and I've had customer-facing roles in various forms my whole life.

I used to live in Tenby, so tourist central. I may not have made money directly from tourists but I still benefited from them. The nice shops, pubs, cafes which were open throughout Pembs and which I sometimes visited were there mainly because of tourists. Plenty of friends worked directly in tourism which meant they stayed local and contributed to the economy including the more “locals” pubs and normal shops….so they stayed open. They had kids who attended the local schools so the schools stayed open. 🤷‍♀️ Yes the traffic could be a nightmare and there is no excuse for rudeness but overall I liked the tourists.

This is what so many people have trouble understanding down here in Cornwall. And unfortunately a lot of them "serve" on town and parish councils.

Justasking, you sound like you have had an incredibly tough time. I sympathise as I worked in restaurants in a top tourist destination for ten years. Im glad I don't have to do it now. Ive heard some real horror stories from friends still working. I love Wales, beautiful place and great people. I hope to return some day. Go easy and all the best to you.

I think people have been ruder, less tolerant and more grabby since they've been let out.

Yep.
I also think that some areas of the UK have had to deal with the obnoxious people who usually travelled to Spain and the likes. Unfoprtunatley, Brits in Spain are well known for their drinling, and not caring about 'the locals' attitude (Yes not a generalisation but I am sure most of us see the type of person I am talking about). And this year, it's the locals in the UK that have bear the brunt of it.

The nice shops, pubs, cafes which were open throughout Pembs and which I sometimes visited were there mainly because of tourists. Plenty of friends worked directly in tourism which meant they stayed local and contributed to the economy including the more “locals” pubs and normal shops….so they stayed open.
Yes to that too as long as said tourists ALSO realise that they are benefitting from the locals using thoe facilities when the tourists arent there. The touristic season lasts a few months and wo the locals also 'keeping the economy going' there would be no nice villages to visit, no nice coffe shops etc...

Basically, RESPECT is a two way street. It is clear that SOME tourist attitude have been attrocious and entitled. And they've made life harder for the 'nice' tourists who then had to deal with 'locals' who were pissed off to be treated so badly....
Eg the attitude that says 'I am paying therefore you should be grateful I am here' found on this thread would have been very annoying in RL tbh.
And yes having tourists there also benefit the local economy and it's a good thing too

@5zeds

It’s not really that all tourists are (using your examples) rubbish at drinking and parking it’s that if you don’t drive on single track roads often you may not be used to backing, timing your pass to coincide with a wider stretch of road, judge what road can accommodate your vehicle, judge appropriate speed, understand gates are not parking places. If you drive predominantly in a city you will push into traffic in a way that isn’t appropriate in less dense areas, may leave smaller stopping distances and probably won’t even notice those you are cutting up, crowding or blocking in. Most of us get it, and obviously don’t enjoy it but accept that like ice/snow we can avoid and mitigate. The attitude of “well you should be grateful we turn up and spend money” isn’t true for large sections of the community you think you are improving. As for the rocking up and not wearing masks or distancing so infection rates soar, it’s upsetting as we unlike the tourists who return home have very few hospital beds.

So, if you live in a rural area will you be making a nuisance of yourself visiting cities? Driving with dangerous hesitation because you're not used to the roads? Causing delays at stations at rush hour while you faff with the ticket machine, block the escalator with your slow moving children, come to a standstill while you consult your tube map? Will you be adding to the queues in city centre lunch spots while you take an age to decide what you want, because you're not used to the breadth of options, while the office worker behind you has a limited lunch break and is in a hurry? Of course not, because that's just an unpleasant stereotype, and it works both ways.

I 100% understand where you're coming from.

I have a holiday home in west Wales (live in South Wales) on a usually quiet and lovely holiday park. I know I'm not a west Wales 'local' and I'm not trying to dodge my tourist badge, but we spend a lot of time there, love the area and consider it our second home. We make an effort to support small local businesses and have gotten to know business owners and staff.

This year has been like no other. The number of times I've had to complain about noise and anti social behaviour on the park has been insane. The level of rude and disrespectful behaviour from visitors towards staff when we have ventured to 'tourist' areas is disgusting. The amount of people refusing to comply with Welsh face mask laws since the English dispensed with them, and becoming aggressive and abusive when politely reminded they should be wearing a mask, has been astonishing. And yes, judging from accents, it is English tourists behaving this way.

West Wales is a tourist area and people's livelihoods are geared around the industry, but that doesn't make us the church mouse cousins who should just grovel and be grateful for "the tourist dollar", certainly not when it comes with such a huge dollop of disrespect. Cases in Pembs were very low UNTIL the influx of English tourists was allowed back in, then they soared. This is due mostly to the absolute disregard for Welsh requirements for masks and distancing.

OP I am sorry you've had such a tough season. I've seen first hand what you've been subjected to. It's not pretty. We have had lovely friendly service everywhere we have been, in spite of the pressures, and I'm grateful to retail and hospitality staff for trying so hard to serve everyone.

My theory is that unfortunately a small percentage of people are morons. This is their behaviour generally, not just on holiday.
Your tourist town will have local morons (who , according to this thread, are never tourists elsewhere, so must be in their home town) plus the % of tourists that are morons. If there are twice as many tourists this year there will naturally be a larger number of them making life unpleasant for both the local population and the tourists who behave in a civilised manner.

It's a bit like the 3 or 4 naughty kids in the class necessitating a whole class detention when, in fact 20 odd kids hadnt done anything wrong.

I think a lot of people are reading things into OP's posts which aren't there . She hasn't said she dislikes all tourists . She is not in tourist industry herself but some of her family members are . She has said that this year she has experienced a different type of tourist to normal , tourists who are rude and disrespectful. It is these tourists she is pleased to see leaving .

I would agree on both sides it has been a difficult summer for hospitality due to there being staff shortage due to the staff from outside the UK not being available and the number of times people are being asked to isolate due to Covid contacts , or indeed illness .

I'm currently away in north Wales and the first couple of pubs we visited , the first wasn't doing food due to kitchen staff isolating and the second was limiting the number of food services . In both cases we had a drink, booked for later in the week and went back to eat in our cottage . We are aware of similar difficulties closer to home . I can see though that if it was your first holiday for 18 months you were really looking forward to , that it would be frustrating . No reason to take it out on bar staff who are working but I understand why someone may feel upset .

In terms of attitudes posters are reporting from locals in tourist towns I have visited a few tourist destinations in Wales and West Country and I haven't seen this at all. We were in Cornwall earlier this year and chatted to a few of the locals, very friendly . (Although maybe we were united in being unhappy with G7 summit!). Have also chatted fo some locals this holiday, very pleasant and recommended somewhere for us to visit they thought we would like.

I agree it's a small number. We experienced some right arseholes in our one all inclusive some years ago, ruining everyone's time. No doubt they went to Wales or Cornwall this year! I was in West Wales myself, and didn't encounter them or their ilk.

Anyway OP sorry to burst your "thank god the horrible English tourists have gone" bubble but I've just been looking at a hotel which is fully booked for the entirety of September and others which have very little availability. So you might be waiting a few weeks yet to get rid of the tourists.

@lockdownmadnessdotcom

Anyway OP sorry to burst your "thank god the horrible English tourists have gone" bubble but I've just been looking at a hotel which is fully booked for the entirety of September and others which have very little availability. So you might be waiting a few weeks yet to get rid of the tourists.

Ah but the September tourist is a better class of tourist, darling. Less ghastly altogether, and certainly less Covid ridden.

My Mum lives in a tourist town in NZ, and every year there are three distinct and identifiable 'waves' of tourism. The first wave is the well and truly stuck up, rude, arrogant entitled arseholes. The second wave is better, and the third wave thankfully is even better, because by that stage, the locals are well and truly over the bullshit!

@lockdownmadnessdotcom

Anyway OP sorry to burst your "thank god the horrible English tourists have gone" bubble but I've just been looking at a hotel which is fully booked for the entirety of September and others which have very little availability. So you might be waiting a few weeks yet to get rid of the tourists.

Bubble not burst I know we are fully booked in hotels Airbnb as always. The difference is they are a type who don't 💩 in sand dunes flower beds. They don't threaten staff, they've waited until kids back at school. They're walkers, diners, delightful bunch who don't dump water bottles all over their country walks, don't leave farm gates open, don't give farmers the middle finger when asked to. Don't climb Snowdon in flip flops or stilettos . Don't walk out into the channel ignoring shouts from council workers, locals which means an RNLI shout.

You're showing your ignorance here