I don’t work in the tourist industry. But I too have found the tourists this year particularly difficult. Not all, but a significant minority, have caused havoc in our local area. I don’t know if it is a different demographic than usual or if it is covid/lockdown frustration. Or both.
Last few years have been particularly bad for people acting terribly in terms of wandering where they should not be, with little care about whether they should be there, whether it is safe, acting totally irresponsibly and leaving a mess behind them. Worse than I’ve ever known. To be fair, it’s not just tourists that have been doing this- it is the “semi-locals” too. The tourists have just magnified the numbers. The litter has been terrible, the walking where they should not be (despite signs), leaving gates etc. We have had people parking on our farm road to go for a walk etc- we are a working farm and they are causing obstructions. We’ve had people wandering into the yard, patting the stock and the horses. I’ve said before, we have even had people but their children in with the livestock for “cute pictures”- it is so dangerous, yet when caught and told do, we’re often getting angry responses. The last few years we’ve also had people actually going into the barns and climbing on bales and even machinery! Again, not purely tourists- semi-locals too (travelling in from near-ish town and slightly further away city, for example). But the attitude when asked to stop/leave/get back on the path/take their litter with them (putting non-recyclable litter into our recycling bin is common) has been appalling- you’d think we were advertising ourselves as a tourist attraction or theme park. I have been verbally abused on numerous occasions this summer, more than I can ever remember.
We’ve also had camper vans parking anywhere and everywhere- such as in passing places on rural roads and on private land (then seemingly being mystified when told they should not be there) has been a huge issue. There has been several assaults of locals who have asked people to move on- I’m prepared to believe some locals have been overly confrontational as there is a lot of irritation, but I have witnessed one altercation personally where the driver was furious at being asked to move on “again” and was shouting and swearing and squaring up to my DH who had politely asked them to move on as they had parked in the gateway of the field he was trying to access. He demanded we “go and work on another field, there are lots of them so why can’t you fuck off and leave us alone”. This is not an unusual experience from speaking to others.
My friends husband is the local policeman and he was saying they’ve had more issues than is normal in the last 2 summers with illegal parking, rowdy behaviour, businesses reporting abuse of staff and more altercations/ fights/ assaults/problems in the local pubs and restaurants.
We’ve also have been having issues with the amount of littering. Including dirty nappies and human waste, I assume this is mainly camper and/camping- utterly revolting. But why would you go to a beauty spot and leave it in a mess with your rubbish? It’s sad.
The driving has been…. Interesting… at times completely frightening. I know it’s just because some people aren’t used to our single track roads, but it does get frustrating.
I have been astounded at the number who did not seem to have researched the area they come to. We’ve had people moaning, and quite a few angry, because the small village shop is not open late- the staff are reporting frequently being shouted at regarding this and also the fact that they don’t carry a huge stock. There has been a lot of complaints that they cannot get a takeaway delivered to the village (or even better, their rural cottage which is miles out of the village). We have lots of outdoor activities, beautiful countryside with walks, historic buildings/attractions- all of which is presumably the attraction to visit the area- yet lots of moaning about “nothing to do”- there is, but if what you want is shops/theatre/bars and nightclubs, rural Scotland is probably not the best place to be on holiday, surely? And yet…..
My friend is a Ghillie and has worked the local river for nearly 30 years, so knows it like the back of his hand, and has come across a worrying number of people playing/being on the river in dangerous places/dangerous ways. He says that about 1/3 of the time when he spots them and explains why they should not be doing that, or doing it there, he gets an annoyed/angry response- like he’s trying to spoil their fun at best. He has been quite shaken by some of the verbal abuse, all for having the temerity to try to help keep them safe!
I don’t think tourists, per se, are unwelcome- but we have noticed a change in the behaviour of tourists- it is never normally as awful as it has been this summer and last. I think those people who rely on tourists are happy to have them back. In principle, we don’t have an issue with tourists and welcome them- but the behaviour of a significant minority of them, in our area, have caused issues and behaved unpleasantly. I have noticed that when it gets to a certain level, I start to see the bad more than the good- and I suspect that is true for many people- which is a shame for the lovely, polite tourists! I don’t know what the solution is.