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Original poster

Tourists exodus today relieved

840 replies

justasking111 · 30/08/2021 09:16

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Hobnobswantshernameback · 30/08/2021 10:12

I take it those in tourist area won't be heading to my lovely city soon
Taking up the restaurants, clogging up the shops, making the centre of the city hell on match day, making it impossible to commute across town to work?
Strange
Was chatting to a shop owner in one small west wales town who was telling me about her drinking trips to Cardiff
We're all tourists at some point
Strange how my home is fair game all year round and particularly for big events which cause utter chaos and we're not allowed to complain

Roselilly36 · 30/08/2021 10:12

I always find it odd, when people live in a tourist hotspot and then do nothing but moan about it. Sweeping generalisations etc.

Rudeness cuts both ways, if someone is rude to you, most people will be rude in response.

I know someone, who lives in an extremely popular tourist location, they have a thriving business that caters to tourists, they are millionaires due to tourists, and still moan about traffic & tourists, it just doesn’t make sense at all.

KatherineJaneway · 30/08/2021 10:13

I was holidaying in wales and couldn't get anywhere to serve me or speak to me in my first language

Sounds like you didn't go to the right places. Waitresses at one restaurant we went to asked if we wanted to be spoken to in Welsh or English.

Neverrains · 30/08/2021 10:13

If we’re doing lockdown top trumps… I live in Leicester. Does that make me more entitled to a holiday, or am I just taking my dirty Covid germs elsewhere?

OP I get that badly behaved people ruin things. But guess what? They ruin things for the other, well behaved tourists too. And it does sting a bit after going somewhere, spending £1000’s in the local economy and being polite and courteous to the locals to then be told we’re not welcome.

CatMandarin · 30/08/2021 10:13

@Princessandthepeas

I hate posts like these and have seen a few on here now.

I’m local in a busy South West tourist spot, and worked in hospitality throughout the summers as a teenager (and as my teen DC do now, and I haven’t actually heard any moaning about rude tourists, just coming home with lots of tips and happy to be saving up for things they want)

I love seeing people on holiday here, enjoying the beaches, especially young families where children are all kitted out with their buckets and spades and excited about seeing the sea Smile

Please don’t be put off by nonsense like this as it does not reflect the view of the majority of locals.

It’s a small minority who are so negative but they are the vocal group (as the happy, normal people are generally too busy going about their lives to waste time starting nasty threads about tourists on the Internet!)

There were some years when we had a lot of stag parties and I didn’t feel especially warm to them when working as a teenager but, compared to that, today’s tourists are a dream.

Yes, it has been very busy. Hard to park and there are traffic jams. But it’s always been that way and we have the whole rest of the year to enjoy the beaches and drive around more easily!

We avoided some of the local madness this year to travel abroad… which meant we were the tourists making a lovely area extra busy instead. We were treated with nothing but respect and made to feel welcome by the locals and I hope that is how families feel when they come to the area I live in.

Thank you. It's good to hear from someone who isn't hostile and unwelcoming.
Hobnobswantshernameback · 30/08/2021 10:13

Yeah clearly my fault Hmm

ClosDesMouches · 30/08/2021 10:14
Hmm
Lightisnotwhite · 30/08/2021 10:15

Are people being dense on purpose?

Op is talking about the poor behaviour from tourists which of course is noticeable now there’s so many more of them. And actually service standards might be a bit shit after a pandemic and the fact lots of the work force have left. You’re right everyone both a tourist and a local at some point and it’s not suddenly going to be different because you’ve travelled over 5 counties. It’s still the U.K.

I did a short U.K. holiday early this summer and because it wasn’t great, booked a cheap week abroad. It somewhere I’d never go normally ( not Benidorm but not far off). There was clearly there’s less tourism than previous years and an abundance of people needing to work. And sun. And lovely reasonably priced fresh food and drinks. Brits were happy to be there and well behaved. Like night and day in terms of a holiday.

MsTSwift · 30/08/2021 10:15

Yes we had furious huffing signs in gardens and being shouted at in a pretty hamlet near our small city when us townies dared go for a walk there. But fine for these self righteous villagers to come into our small city and park in our residential streets to enjoy the shops /theatre /cinema hey?! Absolute idiots.

Tooembarrassingtomention · 30/08/2021 10:17

We walked out into our tourist town last night and it was very quiet.
Being able to go to the pub will be great - I can’t wait. It has been awful.

KatherineJaneway · 30/08/2021 10:17

Yeah clearly my fault Hmm

Never said it was your fault, just that you had a bit of bad luck in not picking the right places.

category12 · 30/08/2021 10:18

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.

Angryfrommanchester1 · 30/08/2021 10:18

@CampaignToo

We've all had to pay more for attractions, eating out etc. There isn't a special rate for locals

Maybe you're not local enough? When I lived in Wales lots of shops and restaurants absolutely did charge locals a different rate.

I agree, or maybe you just don’t want to admit it. It’s well known that shops, pubs etc charge a tourist and a local rate. Don’t worry OP we’ll all be off to the continent again soon, for a decent holiday, not a grey, sodden, overpriced week in a place that hates us.
borntobequiet · 30/08/2021 10:19

@justasking111

We will still be busy for a couple of months but these visitors will hopefully be politer.
I’ll be along soon and I’m very nice.
Neverrains · 30/08/2021 10:19

My in laws live in a touristy part of a different country. July and august are absolutely awful, they can barely leave their house due to traffic/lack of parking/bad tourist behaviour. They accept that for the fact that they get to live in a beautiful place that other people pay £1000’s to visit, and they get free run of it for the other 10 months of the year.

C8H10N4O2 · 30/08/2021 10:20

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

But not the tsunami of whinging about tourists spending money on over priced attractions in tourist areas.

UK holidays rocketed in price this year to cash in on a captive audience. It continues to employ rock bottom price staff with little training and the profits largely go to a small number of owning families in the areas. In some areas the dash for cash resulted in local landlords evicting long term tenants making local workers homeless so they could exploit the boom via AirBNB.

Its hardly surprising if visitors expect a lot for the high price and poorly trained staff struggle to manage those expectations. Look closer to home to manage your tourism issues - not all of them are the tourists.

Littlelightchink · 30/08/2021 10:20

It's a perfect storm this year...

  • Welsh Government over the years hellbent on turning Wales into a holiday playground (although they are now looking at penalising second/holiday home ownership). They should have been doing effective stuff to build a lasting economy instead of over-promoting tourism which doesn't generate that much money.
  • The pandemic & Brexit meaning overcrowding in touristy areas with not enough staff/business pressure/rising prices/everyone stressed

No-one's a winner here.

Reloxa · 30/08/2021 10:21

@MrsDThomas

Im with you OP.

Traffic, rudeness, littering, arrogance.

They dont say hello when walking past. Locals do, we live in that kinda place. Be polite, smile, but don’t pass us as if were not there when theres only you and me on the mountain.No idea where over the border they came from, but really rude and impolite.

Maybe you need to get 'over the border' a bit more often and expand your mind? Not everywhere has the norm of saying hello to everyone they pass, it can take some getting used to.

Not even sure how you know they are from 'over the border' other than your own assumptions.

itsgettingwierd · 30/08/2021 10:21

I love when the tourists come down here.

It's great meeting people with different life experiences and learning about different cultures (we are not a diverse area!)

I don't like it when they are rude, think because they've come on holiday here it makes them special and have the s attitude they do us a favour and I hate it when they think it's ok to leave letter lying everywhere, park wherever they like and generally ruin the nice area they've chosen to visit.

And not one person on here would like people visiting wherever they lived if they didn't respect the area and treated it appallingly.

My area doesn't rely solely on tourism. But it's a huge summer revenue for the beachfront businesses.

Peregrina · 30/08/2021 10:21

The knuckle draggers were out in force this summer. Where do they usually holiday I wonder??

Spain, Greece. So now you know why the locals there can get pissed off with drunken loutish behaviour.

TomorrowSomething · 30/08/2021 10:21

@Hobnobswantshernameback

Ooh and I had bar staff in a pub on two separate occasions tell me off rudely for wearing a mask I'm always polite as half my family work in hospitality Again Works both ways And If I'm being really picky I was holidaying in wales and couldn't get anywhere to serve me or speak to me in my first language Fuck sake I'll take my knuckles somewhere other than my actual homeland next year
That's odd - what is your first language? I'm Welsh, live here all my life in various areas and have never encountered this. Like many Welsh people I don't speak any Welsh at all and get by perfectly well with my first (and only) language.
KohlaParasanda · 30/08/2021 10:22

I live and work in a tourist hotspot, though my job and income aren't tourism-dependent. I've been very glad to see the local honeypot towns bustling, the shops and tearooms queued out and the attractions fully booked, and my children have been pleased to be able to get seasonal work in hospitality again. Bad behaviour is unacceptable anywhere and I know it happens, but most tourists just want to have a pleasant holiday and most hospitality providers just want to earn a living giving people a good experience.

FreekStar2 · 30/08/2021 10:22

Move OP!

I don't understand people who live in tourist hotspots who then complain about it. The locals have created it by opening hotels and B&Bs, running restaurants, cafes, gift shops and pubs etc. If there was nowhere to stay, nowhere to eat you wouldn't get any tourists.

Marni83 · 30/08/2021 10:22

Wales?

Honestly if I was offered money to go there on holiday I’d say thanks but no thanks

Goldbar · 30/08/2021 10:22

Mixed feelings on this. My parents live in a tourist hotspot and they have struggled with the crowds and extra traffic this year (and witnessed some poor/aggressive behaviour).

On the other hand, UK tourism has hardly show-cased itself this year. Inflated prices, poor weather, rammed, unfriendly locals and difficult to go anywhere without booking weeks in advance. A UK holiday has proved (much) more trouble than it's worth for a lot of people. I suspect things will be a lot quieter next year.