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

Im ok for income personally, thanks.

Wales does absolutely fine every other year with regard to visitors. Just this year we’ve had too many who cant be bothered to respect the way and where we live.

@Hairbrush123

I can remember reading an article on The Telegraph about a Cornish surfer crying out for business during the first lockdown last year. Wondering how he’ll survive and if business will ever recover for him. I hope he was more grateful for the income than you appear to be!

It's this attitude that we should be grateful for any amount of sh*t thrown at us that creates the huge animosity.

Yes the tourist sector is massively important in Wales, but I live in Snowdonia and in my little cluster of 3 houses, of the adults living here, 2 of us are NHS, 3 are in education (uni, charitable education company, private post grad education company) and one works doing rope access in the renewable energy sector. So, we don't need to grovel at the feet of tourists, and even the local people who work in tourism shouldn't have to.

@RockingMyFiftiesNot

If you live in a touristy area then the inconvenience of tourists goes with the decision to live there. However, there is absolutely no excuse for people being rude or aggressive or leaving litter whether on holiday or in their own area. FWIW I have been horrified by the litter being left in local parks and walking hotspots near us - and that has to be mainly locals as we're not in a touristy area.

Not everyone decides to live in a touristy area. Some will have been born and grown up there.

It's this kind of attitude that stopped me holidaying in the UK. Overpriced everything and bad attitudes. We are extremely polite people, and I work in a tourist town ( nothing to do with Tourism), but the attitudes I have come across are appalling.

@MondayYogurt

There's a wider issue here with littering being seen as acceptable by many people in the UK. We have the most litter in Europe.

I completely agree with that. The people that are littering in tourist spaces are the exact same ones that do it on their own doorstep. They just don’t care. I live at the edge of a city and have farm and woodland (not touristy) to one side of me. The first lockdown their was just bags and bags of rubbish dumped all over the place as the tips weren’t open. If you go for a walk in the woods there are empty cans and used disposable barbecues all over the place where people have camped out (it’s not a campsite and it was lockdown so they shouldn’t have been) and just dumped their stuff after. I’d love to go after them with a cattle prod until they picked it all up and disposed of it properly. 😡

@justasking111

Just been out for my normal morning run, no motor homes or van campers monopolising the parking, only saw 2 other people, the lake was beautiful and I saw all of last years and this years cygnets swimming past. It was so tranquil.

I blame TV programes. Instead of visitors who come here because they love the are we are getting epople who saw it on TV

Couldn't agree more. The number of TV programmes featuring celebs swanning around Cornwall over the last year or so has been ridiculous. Latest one is Portillo I gather (not that I'm watching it).

Litter baffles me folks pack a bag full of heavy liquids schlep up hills and mountains carrying them. When they're empty and light because you've drunk up they're tossed aside. 🙈

Actually stellaroses whilst justasking111 is maybe over egging things a little, she makes some valid points about recruitment to rural hospitals. I've worked in NHS recruitment in a rural area in the past - England admittedly but I don't suppose it's that different in Wales - and it is, as a general rule, harder to fill most posts than their equivalents in urban areas. Of course, like in any other profession, there are some young consultants and other HCPs who actively seek a rural lifestyle so you're bound to come across such people, but they are in the minority. The reasons are multitude, and not the subject of this thread so I won't go on about it, but limited opportunities for career and service development and lack of employment for spouses/partners, especially if they are not also HCPs,are oft quoted issues. There's a lot more to it than that of course, but recruitment and retention are big problems across the NHS in general, and rural areas often hardest hit which does often impact on quality of care in those areas.

Looking at teaching posts for partners of NHS workers Welsh speaking is required here

www.jobsite.co.uk/jobs/teacher/in-gwynedd

For government jobs in our area you need to be bilingual now an ambitious job hopping professional may baulk at this

diogel.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/ADNSwyddi/rhestr_swyddi.asp?iaith=en

It's this attitude that we should be grateful for any amount of sh*t thrown at us that creates the huge animosity

Yes, I agree.

I live in a tourist area, and I normally love the summer and the buzz holiday makers bring, but I do object to the attitude that we should all be doffing our caps and be grateful to the generous tourists paying our bills.

This year we’ve seen some pretty horrendous behaviour from holiday makers - massive fights at campsites, litter, wild campers leaving huge mess (including faeces) in beauty spots. Everywhere is packed - we’ve had far, far more visitors this year than normal.

@Hairbrush123

I can remember reading an article on The Telegraph about a Cornish surfer crying out for business during the first lockdown last year. Wondering how he’ll survive and if business will ever recover for him. I hope he was more grateful for the income than you appear to be!

You cant sell things twice at the same time- income this year doesn't amex up for lost income last year

100% full typically. Lost income last year. 100% full this year. No gain only loss

OP I feel the same when the students leave for vacation. We are a university town and they leave the parks in a shocking state. They also spend hours in coffee shops taking up the tables with one drink

There are just too many people.

We need a Keep Britain Tidy campaign. Although now it would be a different campaign in the four nations so slightly different in each country just to make sure that Welsh rubbish is different to English or Scottish Rubbish.

What a difference a week makes

Walked into town and stopped spontaneously into local bar/pizza place for drinks and a pizza. 2 couples came in after us and the staff asked why they hadn't been it- they explained that they don't want too book 3 weeks in advance for a 1.5 hr slot. Staff looked sheepish

Got collared by our local we we walked back asking why they hadn't seen us. Ducked the issue and said we would be in soon. They had empty tables for the first time in 3 months and the clientele looked back to normal. Felt like reminding them March 2020 when we were consistently the only customers pre lockdown. We spend as least £500 a month in there usually.

Lots of bridge building required by local businesses I think.

You spend six grand a year in your local pub?

@HesterShaw1

You spend six grand a year in your local pub?

At least. Actually closer to £600 and big tippers as well.

Its a gastro pub (£40- 50 per person for dinner without drinks).
We had a set table each Friday for 4 and also popped in during the week.

My family and I had a holiday in Wales recently and found the service in cafes and shops to be dire. Staff were so rude it was bizarre. The accommodation was very expensive and of a very low standard. Don’t worry OP, I won’t be going back to that particular place again.

@Perky1 did you not choose the accommodation?

Surely the real issue here is why we have so many feral badly behaved people.

Yes. The litter, the discarded nappies, disposable barbecues, the general loutishness I saw in my area. I guess usually they go on those cheap package holidays to Spain.

@MrsDThomas, yes but the photos did not highlight the grime and the smell. The poor quality of decor and furnishings was also not apparent from the photos. I reckon some parts of it had not been decorated for decades 🤷🏼‍♀️

We travelled throughout Wales this year in a Campervan (always staying in designated sites before anyone asks).

Apart from a pile of banana skins halfway up Snowdon, we didn't see any other littering.

Staff in all the shops, restaurants and bars were lovely and friendly and we felt welcome everywhere we went.

Wales is a beautiful and friendly part of the world and we can't wait to go back.

@KaycePollard

Surely the real issue here is why we have so many feral badly behaved people.

Yes. The litter, the discarded nappies, disposable barbecues, the general loutishness I saw in my area. I guess usually they go on those cheap package holidays to Spain.

Yes because no one who goes on an expensive holiday could possibly drop litter

There was an interesting article in today's Independent, which suggests that a reason there have been so many impatient, abusive, furious tourists in the West Country this year, is because people have felt so ripped off by the accommodation sector. While this is clearly not the fault of the poor hospitality staff, it would be a massive shame if the sheer greed of the accommodation providers (particularly self catering accommodation) has helped create this beast.

As for the people paying those prices, why didn't they simply go somewhere else? There are places just as nice as Cornwall, with fewer crowds and better weather. And this is coming from someone who works in the tourist industry in Cornwall. The sooner normality is restored the better.

As for the people paying those prices, why didn't they simply go somewhere else? There are places just as nice as Cornwall, with fewer crowds and better weather. And this is coming from someone who works in the tourist industry in Cornwall. The sooner normality is restored the better

Prices have been equally as high everywhere this year to be honest.