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

It is interesting - we have been to Wales for the first time this summer and the staff in shops and restaurants seemed unwelcoming (we are obviously foreigners btw).
We have been on lots and lots of UK holidays in the past (Cornwall, Lakes, Scotland, Peak District, Dorset etc) and it has never been like this.
I wonder if this was different outside of Wales this year. Is it just the attitude of Welsh customer service?
The ordinary locals were perfectly nice and kind btw

It seems that the OP has touched a nerve, seeing the strength of the some of the answers….

I have to laugh at posters who are appalled at the generalisation the OP did and then go on generalising about how locals are all unfriendly etc….

FWIW holidaying in the U.K. has ALWAYS been extortionate vs a package hols in spain. There is nothing new there.

I was in a chip shop in a very touristy and rough seaside town this week. The man who served me was delightful really cheery and appeared to be lovely to both his staff and customers. To the point that my very difficult to please dad told him what a good job he was doing and insisted on going back there later when we wanted a cup of tea.

Anyway, chap told Dad it made sense to be nice to people, "if that's what you give, it's what you get back". A lesson OP?

I generally don’t veer beyond the M25 unless it’s to go abroad, so I can’t really comment on the upsurge in rudeness in ‘tourist areas.’ But I suspect the weather has been a big factor as it’s been so noticeably crap. To be honest, if you’ve travelled for hours in motorway traffic and then stuck in some Welsh lanes; only to get there and find you can’t get any decent food or even a table to get out the rain, everyone is miserable and the accommodation is the usual twee, cramped, overpriced affair well, tensions will rise! Sounds like that’s what been happening.

I've been holidaying in the same part of Cornwall every year for 45 years, since I was 3. It's beautiful and my nearest seaside is 2 hrs away, so I love the rare chance to escape the concrete city and see the beauty of Cornwall. I like my kids to see the sea too and experience the beauty from my childhood.

The place has become significantly more popular over the years (though still no diversity, unlike my home city, which feels very odd!) and is heaving. There were lots of queues, price hikes, but we are always polite and wear masks (as we do at home)

What would you have us do? Where should we holiday and when, given we have to holiday in term time?

@category12 no idea, but in my area of expertise I usually find that if you put salaries up you get more and better candidates applying for the roles.

@wizzywig

Just had a lovely break in Wales. Couldn't believe how much cheaper food, petrol is. Everyone was lovely.

Glad to see this. We're driving up from the SE tomorrow. I think we're nice people but will be on our best behaviour now

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

Of course not. But you’d hope that if they’re charging massively inflated prices they can use some of that money to hire properly trained staff on a decent wage, to meet the demand?

Where from?

Here's an idea, they could maybe even train them properly themselves?

Let's not beat about the bush here - holiday areas have done well this year - inflated prices for everything and booked out everywhere and everything . Don't bite the hand that feeds you .

[quote Wobblywibblywoo]@RockingMyFiftiesNot I didn’t decide to live in a tourist area I was born here like the rest of my family, and we normally just put up with the tourists and know the times ect to avoid, however this year the amount of traffic and bullying on our local roads by tourists when us locals are going about out daily lives and work has been awful, not to mention posts upon posts on Facebook of kiosk workers, bar workers and local shops receiving abuse to the point of closing early in the evenings have been really sad for us all, we can’t wait for it to end, there has definitely been a lot of fed up angry locals this year at our situation.[/quote]
I'm sorry people have been so inconsiderate, that is unacceptable.
But please don't tar us all with the same brush. We have holidayed in the UK several times since we've been allowed to and have not treated anyone rudely nor left any rubbish. Yes we have contributed to congestion and parking problems but have also contributed to the economy. Can't have both.

I left the touristy area I grew up in because I didn't like how it was changing as a result of increased tourism. That was my choice I know - and as said, you should not have to put up with rudeness and litter etc.

I run a shop in a very touristy coastal town in Wales. It's been heaving this year but I haven't noticed any real increase in rudeness or aggression. Possibly this might be directed more at hospitality than retail though? I would say 95% of customers who should be wearing masks (ie not kids/exempt) have been. Yes, its hectic and traffic/parking is a nightmare, but overall its been great to have people back.

We went to the lakes early summer last year to a smaller town. People that obviously don’t go to those areas were going as they couldn’t do their usual holiday destinations abroad. And their behaviour was ridiculous in some cases, loud, messy, taking over pubs with boisterous behaviour i(n a small lakes traditional) pub, carrying on the party in their rooms and having to be told not to. Bearing in mind everything had only just opened too.

We only saw a snippet of that and I’d imagine this year is worse in some places. I can kind of see where local people who are used to a certain type of tourist this hasn’t be that pleasant. While local people may also be grumpy I’ve absolutely witnessed the self entitlement of tourists too.

so you want to live and run a business in a "touristy" part of the UK, but not have the inconvenience of tourists?
And presumably no other local commerce or industry - so be subsidised by other 'less attractive' areas of the country?

@RufustheBadgeringReindeer

Just about everyone is a tourist at one time or another

Its not tourists that are the problem…its awful people

Amen to that.

Typical MN

Even this can be turned into well you know it’s those type of people not us typical MNers’ that are the bad tourists

All tourists can be annoying, rude, disrespectful if you don’t feel it’s directed at you why be so defensive unless you know you can act like an entitled twat

In London it’s not the same as there are millions of people living in London while they stand out at times there is so many other people around getting on with life it has less impact but there is plenty of moaning about tourists especially on the tube

@zafar we have decent food in Wales. And not all accommodation is twee.

Posts like this normally make me feel horrible and squirmy because I’ve holidayed on the South West for 30 years, and although I hope my family are always polite and respectful I hate the idea that the locals secretly resent us.

However, this year I must say I notice a marked difference in attitudes on both sides - visitors were definitely much much ruder and demanding, constant moaning and complaining and littering. But equally some of the people working in pubs and shops were openly hostile and the standard of service was really poor in some places, as if the restaurant were doing you a favour by taking your money? I’ve never ever experienced this before. We are always really patient and wouldn’t complain but I’ve never felt so ripped off or unwelcome before.

I think the two things must go together - the huge increase in stay at home tourists has put intolerable pressure on local services and tourists and locals have all just had enough of each other, and everything is just starting to fray. It’s really sad.

After all the threads on here this year about how the West Country don't want tourists, we have decided we will never return there again for holidays. We used to go every year as my in-laws lived there but I'm not spending money to go somewhere I'm not welcome 😒 we will probably add Wales to that list now too
We've just had 2 weeks in Scotland and Lancashire where we were made very welcome and we spent several hundred pounds eating out every day and visiting various places. Happy to contribute to the tourist industry which has suffered so badly over the last 2 years, but no desire to go where we're not welcome

@CampaignToo

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

Of course not. But you’d hope that if they’re charging massively inflated prices they can use some of that money to hire properly trained staff on a decent wage, to meet the demand?

Where from?

Here's an idea, they could maybe even train them properly themselves?

Where from applied to just finding the people to cover the hours. Do tell, where are they going to find the people to train themselves?

Mostly this is seasonal labour - they simply don't need the people off-season. So it would usually be the Aussies and Europeans over here as the extra bodies to work the season.

@OlympicProcrastinator

Don’t worry, we will all be spending our money abroad next year. Cheaper, friendlier and with guaranteed weather.

Exactly

This thread has tickled me, you've clearly touched a nerve op! Name changed for this post but I do agree.

I live near Mumbles/Gower in S Wales and I love it when September comes and the tourists bugger off.

I can stroll along the front, pop into the village or down to the pier and its just so quiet and lovely compared to mid August. I avoid Mumbles through the summer like the plague.

The dc feel the same, they avoid cycling along the front during the Summer holidays because its so busy. Other than July/August they're out several times a week, that's why we live here - for the other 40 odd weeks a year!

If you really can't staff your business to cope with the volume of customers, you need to take fewer customers, surely?

Mostly this is seasonal labour - they simply don't need the people off-season. So it would usually be the Aussies and Europeans over here as the extra bodies to work the season

But you can’t blame the tourists who are paying these huge prices for the fact that the industry doesn’t have the staff to to be able to provide a decent service. Of course people paying over the odds for a service will want that service providing adequately.
Zero excuse for rudeness and aggression however.

@OlympicProcrastinator
Don’t worry, we will all be spending our money abroad next year. Cheaper, friendlier and with guaranteed weather.

I don't think this post has the impact you think it does. This is exactly what we want - to go back to the normal levels of tourism. There are always people who don't want to go abroad for whatever reason, we will be fine.

I live in a touristy area in Northern Ireland (by the way we are still wearing masks in shops too...) and don't recognise this at all. Without tourists I don't think my local lovely pub on the Lough would survive. Or the little boutiques nearby. And I haven't experienced any of that behaviour....maybe your area attracts a horrid cross section of tourists?