I know IABU.... Scottish Highlands tourism

[Firefightress1]

I know IABU as we were tourists before we moved to Skye but I'm absolutely gobsmacked by how busy it has been over the weekend. I know its not even the busiest time yet but I'm already struggling to get diesel to get to work and the coop is stripped bare. Had a campervan nearly drive into us earlier on the wrong side of the road at a junction and people parking in passing places on single track roads which means traffic is at a standstill.
We always followed the rules and pulled in/let people overtake but there seems to be a new selfish version of a tourist. I know we need to get used to it but people just blatantly disregarding signage and peeing/sh*tting all over the place is just awful!
I honestly don't remember it as bad as this when we were tourists but i guess we didnt live here then
There are so many facebook groups trying to make improvements but the tour buses and guides still insist on stopping at closed sights and encouraging groups to force open gates and move cones to gain access. Its causing so many issues to wildlife and repair operations that are badly needed.

I've spend the last decade living in a seaside town on Exmoor and watched the visitor behaviour change during that time. Camper vans parked anywhere and everywhere, public loos made filthy by people emptying portaloos down the toilet, dirty nappies and broken glass on the beach, people shitting over the sea wall and leaving it plus litter like you wouldn't believe.

People would park up outside cafes and campsites then stroll in and have a good wash in the loos, fill their water container, swill out their clothes and then bugger of without paying for a stay or even buying a cup of tea.

I think it's several things. You notice it more as the lovely, clean, quiet winter months are bliss and then the tourists flood in. Lockdown made you notice this even more. There are more tourists. There are lots of tourist who used go abroad and crap all over other countries but bought camping stuff during Covid and now behave badly closer to home. People behave much worse when away than at home.

People will say that tourism brings money which it does. It's such a shame it brings so much else with it.

Just FYI - it's not 'The Orkneys' (or 'The Shetlands'). It's simply Orkney (and Shetland).

I do think you'll be fine there. Skye and the NC500 are much more easily accessible (no ferry or flight needed), so they tend to attract more tourists without having the infrastructure to deal with it. Numbers to Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are limited by the fact that only so many people can travel there due to limited passenger numbers.

I can’t figure out the quote thing but, answering Perpetualstudent, the irony of people on social media all irate if someone puts a poop bag in their bin, while campers use the countryside as a toilet, leaving pee, poop and used TP all over…

I'm in London. I've never seen so many people as I did in central London yesterday. It's crazy. We couldn't walk across Westminster Bridge, it was dangerous.

Your comments about house prices etc apply in many places all over the country.

This stuff is genuinely horrendous and has killed so many communities in Cornwall. We do need something to drastically change here.

I empathize with you so much.

This is what saves Arran, the fact it's only accessible by ferry. The Lamlash co-op frequently looks ransacked in the summer months and the queue is crazy all the same.

We should be grateful for our friend the midge, or the Highlands would look like Benidorm.

ok thank you, I didn't know that

I've noticed that there are now a few more campervan facilities, both private and council, appearing which will hopefully help with the toilet dumping behaviour a bit. It's a pity though that the NC500 was encouraged as a thing before a thought was given to any actual facilities along the way.

For anyone interested in finding out more about this situation I really recommend Homesick by Catrina Davies. A book that details just how this impacts on people in rural communities.

We've just returned from our every other year tour of Scotland. We like to take the DC and show them some of their heritage and to see where we would like to return to one day.
I hope we're decent tourists, polite road users. Unfortunately we did get caught up in a road closure for 4 hours after someone else wasn't so careful. No fires or litter and spend as much as we can afford. Did drive to Skye and was surprised how busy it was but took the foot ferry to Mull and bused it.
I hope it can stay as beautiful as it is.

yanbu people are disgusting-same hapening in snowdon every bank holiday they block the roads even though they ge towed nothing changes

people have no commone sense

Unfortunately the new motorhome stopovers were empty when I was on Skye last week. Car parks, passing places and grassy loch edges were being used instead.

Unfortunately it happens all around the world OP.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/police-shut-road-cars-towed-26657788.amp

Cars illegally parked

It's truly awful that tourists , who are fed up of the usual holiday hot spots , want to get away from it all and want to find idyllic places to stay in.

It must be awful, particularly for those who have decided to live in these remote areas , who originally lived in more densely populated areas, to have to tolerate the hoi polloi who just want a week or two in a nice remote place.

I suspect the Cornish folk will feel very sympathetically about this.

Unfortunately the new motorhome stopovers were empty when I was on Skye last week

Oh for goodness sake. I'm guessing it's not even like the police can fine them/move them on unless there are no overnight parking signs up either - although passing places should be fineable.

I was in Amsterdam for work, just got home this evening, and it was absolutely rammed everywhere. I've never seen it like that before. The (local) person I was there to work with said it's been steadily getting busier and busier. EBut even with clogged streets and tourists on bicycles everywhere, people were universally cheerful and welcoming. In fact, seemed to really be enjoying their post-Covid rebound!

Unfortunately it's not illegal to park in lay-bys etc. In fact, Highland Council were ordered to take down their 'no parking' signs in laybys a few years back.

Sorry I am a tourist. I have been going up to Scotland for my holidays for many years. We enjoy walking on the hills. We do not have a camper van or park in passing places. I think it is a bit of a shame that the camper vans are not restricted. They use all the resources and give nothing back to the economy. They just spend money buying fuel and in the supermarket.

no overnight* parking

Wait a minute two posters have relocated to the Highlands and you're concerned about youngsters leaving? The irony.

I find this so sad, and it’s all happened quite recently and quickly. I live in Scotland, last was in Skye out of season - pre covid -I think it was November- it was ok but still busy. I have fantastic memories of many holidays quiet driving and camping on the west and all up the now NC500, I don’t think i would enjoy it now, and so most likely I’ll park the area as a good memory but leave it at that.

Fuel, food, campsites, gift shops, cafes, pubs these are all part of the economy which campervan owners use surely?

It’s awful. I really feel for you.

I also live in a tourist hotspot. Since covid it has got 100x worse. Lots of houses got sold for crazy money and sit empty for most of the year. Local people are building new houses because there is nothing left to buy. Local renters being forced to move because a second home owner has bought the house they live in for an over inflated amount of money.

Campervans are everywhere, even though there is a campsite and signs everywhere saying that camping outside of the campsite is not allowed. Rubbish left behind. People camping on private farming land. People walking through wild flower meadows and trampling on all the flowers (and ignoring the signs telling them
to stick to the footpaths).

I absolutely love where I live and tourists provide a welcome income. But the behaviour of an increasing minority, and the monopoly they have on the housing market is very frustrating.

My wee village is now a stop on the NC500 and it’s like a circus. And it’s not even that great for tourism because people come in campervans/wild camp/sleep in their cars so don’t even contribute much to the local economy.

Wealthy southern retirees paying way over the odds for 3 bedroom bungalows is a whole separate issue..!