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 don't blame you OP for feeling how you do, and I expect in your shoes I would feel exactly the same.

Many of those you describe are a disgrace to England (or Wales or Scotland if they hail from there) and usually are inflicting their ill manners and inconsiderate behaviour on the Spanish or some other countries at this time of year.

The behaviour of such people and their complete unwillingness to even speak a few words of local language(s) is why when I am abroad on holiday I do my utmost not to be able to be identified as British. (I did also get fed up of being asked about Brexit as well).

In Scotland a specific criminal offence has been brought in about abuse towards retail workers, perhaps it ought to apply UK wide. Not with fines but a punishment that will really hurt such people, such as denial of internet access or a driving ban.

People who don’t live in tourist places don’t realise how different tourism is this year

Airbnb and relaxation of outside licensing laws

@FangsForTheMemory

What gets me is the number of people taking the OP's comment personally. If you think it's about you, have you got reason to? I would say most visitors are nice and polite, but a significant minority are appalling.

I think it’s the way it was written-it was pretty hostile and written in a ‘we’ and ‘you’ way, rather than just saying-‘some tourists did x y and z in my town this summer which never normally happens-isn’t that crap?!’

I think, these type of aggressive tourists are normally going abroad.Believe me,we have them in Switzerland(i am swiss).A total nightmare:leaving litter everywhere,aggressive"me first" attitude and incredibly bad behaved children.

We are going on holiday on Thursday, then again at the end of September so they haven't all gone

We still get the bus loads of mostly retired people and foreign tourists and for the most part they are normal and polite and friendly, there is definitely a new breed of arsehole out there though.

I live in London and everyone wears masks in shops here too...

A large part of the problem must be that if you've spent £4000 for a week in a caravan (Cornwall, the site my sister has been to numerous times before for c. £1200) and everything is eye wateringly expensive once you get there too, expectations will be high and service standards in our tourist hotspots have never been high except when they've been forced/able to use foreign labour

well that makes me feel worse about living in a dreary part of England, several hours from any decent beach/seaside and having had no holiday this year due to sixth form DC's need to catch up on 18 months of lost volunteering/working/work experience/UCAT studying to protect those older than them.
Be very grateful you live in a nice location OP, even if you have to share it sometimes
Just because you live somewhere nice (countryside/seaside) does not mean you OWN it.

We visited Wales this summer. Always wore a mask in shops(still do in England too) wouldn’t dream of being rude to people or dropping litter. In any large group of people there will be those that lack respect or care but don’t lump all tourists together.

Slightly different but we braved Spain this year having booked it in 2019. Stayed in 2 different hotels. Nice hotels, great staff, very clean, very covid aware and strict with masks etc.
We found this year there were much fewer British than usual (not very many there usually but still) and hardly any German or Dutch tourists (normally lots of these and very friendly and polite). The hotels were full of mainly French and Spanish guests and I have never encountered such rudeness in my life. Refused to queue or keep their distance. Had no manners at all. Children running riot in the restaurants. Rude to staff. Left so much litter. We're noisy until well into the early hours where everything was shut. Aggressive. Witnessed several very young children being smacked! I am still getting over it. Can't believe there are so many arse holes around. It wasn't the minority either
Most memorable moment was a young French girl of around 7 at most pushing my son down a waterslide before it was safe to go. My older son shouted "hey" at her and she gave him the middle finger. I said excuse me to her and she showed me the middle finger too! I was insistant on finding her parents then realised who they were and didn't bother!

This is why we went to Croatia. No traffic. No stress (except for organising the PCRs). Polite staff. Pine forests and crystal turquoise sea. Quick 2 hour flight.

Trying to get to Wales or Cornwall by road is a nightmare at the best of times. Hideous traffic. And when you get there, it’s invariably damp windy and overcrowded. Can’t be doing with it.

We used to take the kids to Cornwall when they were little and there are some stunning beaches. But not worth being stuck in traffic for 5 hours.

To all the complaining people in ‘the tourist areas’ - Are you never tourists yourself then? Or do you never leave your locality it’s an interesting mentality you have there, OP. Ever visited London, by any chance? Come here and play, ‘spot the tourist.’

Sorry you've not enjoyed the summer OP. I think it's been tough on a lot who choose to live in touristy areas.

I think it's a one off season for it being busy though, people will travel abroad as soon as they can. I think the staffing troubles will continue though in hospitality and service industries unless wages increase to draw in workers (from UK - no cheap European workers anymore to boost the profits). Hopefully those in the tourist areas who run these businesses have made some good profits to counter the losses of last year and the likely dip in the next few years.

Just been to Spain and they are desperate as it's been so quiet compared to normal - we had such a good time compared to our Wales holiday that we def won't be back to Wales for a while despite having family there. It was so wonderful to see sun, great food and friendlyservice. Everyone is masked indoors, including all the service staff, but of course you are mainly outdoors given warm weather. The testing to go out and come back was a PITA but rates there are much lower than in the tourist areas here. Recommend it if you need to get away.

@Jmaho

Slightly different but we braved Spain this year having booked it in 2019. Stayed in 2 different hotels. Nice hotels, great staff, very clean, very covid aware and strict with masks etc. We found this year there were much fewer British than usual (not very many there usually but still) and hardly any German or Dutch tourists (normally lots of these and very friendly and polite). The hotels were full of mainly French and Spanish guests and I have never encountered such rudeness in my life. Refused to queue or keep their distance. Had no manners at all. Children running riot in the restaurants. Rude to staff. Left so much litter. We're noisy until well into the early hours where everything was shut. Aggressive. Witnessed several very young children being smacked! I am still getting over it. Can't believe there are so many arse holes around. It wasn't the minority either Most memorable moment was a young French girl of around 7 at most pushing my son down a waterslide before it was safe to go. My older son shouted "hey" at her and she gave him the middle finger. I said excuse me to her and she showed me the middle finger too! I was insistant on finding her parents then realised who they were and didn't bother!

Interesting. I mentioned upthread that my family live in a touristy part of Spain. This year they’ve had barely any English tourists for obvious reasons. They’ve found that the general behaviour of tourists has been far far worse than normal years. Places that would normally be let to British families have instead been let to massive groups of French/Spanish teens/young adults. The littering has become a massive problem with piles of empty drinks bottles being left in the streets. They’ve had to close the entire beach front area at night on multiple occasions due to fighting and drunken behaviour. They said noise levels coming from the villas around them are completely unprecedented.

My family live in a tourist area and I have noticed peak idiot this summer.

If only employers could think of something to encourage people to take their minimum wage jobs with no security and terrible conditions.

We have to go to Cornwall in October to see DF, can't say I am particularly looking forward to it but needs must

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

Not as hard or long as those of us in Scotland. www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/covid-lockdown-scotland-been-tougher-23917423

We still wear masks, and we have to wear them in hospitality settings too (unlike Wales).

Completely agree OP I live in the south west and it’s been awful, can’t wait for it to end, and for those saying that businesses struggle without the tourists, our locals do a damn good job at supporting the ones that stay open through the quiet times, and the ones that shut go back to their winter jobs, we luckily don’t solely rely on tourism as much as the tourists like to believe…

@FreekStar2

People who live in places with lots of tourists seem to have an over-inflated view of their area and themselves- it's like they believe it must be a superior place because others want to visit, and the tourists all come from uncivilised slums somewhere. in reality, most tourist areas are nice to visit- pretty scenery etc. but most don't want to live there, usually because it's full of snotty locals and the shops and hospitality venues are all a a bit pretentious and fake and overly twee. Everyone's usually happy to return to their own places where life has a real purpose and soul and is not just based on creating a false idyl to impress visitors.

Bloody hell. It's a good thing you aren't as judgmental and rude as the awful 'people who live in places with lots or tourists', with their pretentious, fake and twee hometowns.

I've lived in the UK most of my adult life but rarely holiday here. Eye watering prices (even in non pandemic years) and 50/50 as to whether or not you'll be welcomed or merely tolerated.

And I worked in hospitality when I was younger, I'm not rude or demanding as I do empathise with anyone doing that job. It just doesn't matter to some of you, you'd clearly rather be doing something else. Coming on social media and slagging off tourists (yes you've supposedly clarified that you mean some specific ones in the thread, but that's not what your title and OP say) is a good way to make sure we all remember to book for the Canaries next year.

(Which I did this year and I highly recommend if anyone is dithering. Same price or cheaper than a UK holiday, far more space and lovely people happy to see paying guests)

If you are short staffed and your customers are not happy, perhaps hire extra staff so you provide a proper service.

I live on the edge of a national park , and unsurprisingly it's been rammed by lots of tourists this year who probably don't usually visit as used to having beach holidays abroad. From social media some have tried to replicate their normal holiday by bringing bbqs , alcohol , lilos etc and spent time by water. Some ( not all ) then just dumped said items where they were and left eyesores.
In the town's and villages pubs and restaurants have been overwhelmed by extra people wanting to eat at times they choose to . Sadly all cannot be accommodated at the same time .
We as a family usually enjoy visiting this places , but have stayed away because of the crowds. As we live nearby , it will get quieter and we can return.
I don't think you can tell people how , or where to holiday.

@CampaignToo

A large part of the problem must be that if you've spent £4000 for a week in a caravan (Cornwall, the site my sister has been to numerous times before for c. £1200) and everything is eye wateringly expensive once you get there too, expectations will be high and service standards in our tourist hotspots have never been high except when they've been forced/able to use foreign labour

The hospitality industry simply doesn't have the people at the moment.

The local pub had a couple of nights where some of the regulars volunteered to help out to keep it open. They were far more used to drinking the beer than serving it

Inflated prices happen where there's the demand - every bloody year the price of holidays shoots up in the school holidays. You can't really expect people to act like saints and say "no, don't give us extra money." That's capitalism for ya.

Incidentally in some places there's definitely a rate for locals and a rate for tourists. We regularly go to a particular place (like once a month) and after a couple of years we started getting mates rates. Generally prices have been extortionate this year so not surprised some people have been more demanding.