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.

"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. "

It's not the people, it's their behaviour that is the problem. People who live in or move to holiday destination know to expect visitors but they don't necessarily, nor should they, expect visitors to treat the area and the locals badly.

Also there seemed to be a huge increase in fatal accidents on the A9 last year compared to previous years and a lot seemed to involve foreign tourists. It’s really bad.

Nothing wrong with tourism, but it’s about people in general being considerate about their surroundings. And it’s not something common only to tourist places. You find badly behaved and inconsiderate people everywhere unfortunately. At least you have October to Easter to escape it - not something that the majority of us have the luxury of…

No, mostly they don’t use gift shops, cafes and pubs. They very seldom use camp sites, just park up. I have been told this by several motor home users. It is a cheap holiday. Other tourists use all of the things you suggested plus accommodation.

That’s depressing to hear OP. I live in Essex and one of my private fantasies is selling up and moving to Inverness or somewhere. I love Scotland - love the landscape, love Edinburgh, love the accent, etc. To me, the Highlands symbolise escape - a place you can escape noise and traffic and shoe box houses and actually breathe.

God, is there anywhere on this flippin island you can have a bit of peace and quiet?

It’s only the cruise ships that make Orkney horrible!

The tourists in North Cornwall all look so miserable. Taking the entire family to the supermarket.
Parking, so they needn't pay or walk further than necessary to the beautiful, wild thing they've gone to Instagram.
Just so impatient, ned to drive really fast without giving way or reversing.
Camped out in vans, shitting in the dunes, telling the local teens off for building beach bonfires & playing guitar (locals enjoying their local stuff) before going home to get into work the next day serving tourists.
The tourists always seem to use those disposable bonfires and then bury them in the sand for the local, up early dog walkers to find still hot the next day or set fire to the bins meaning the volunteer fire brigade have to leave their families & jobs to sort out the mess.

It's mostly the fact the most people seem to find most of their holidays very stressful.

We are visiting the Highlands for third year this summer. We love the NC500 - did it year before last and didn’t find it busy at all.

This year we are visiting Skye for the first time as part of a little tour. Noted about the Coop - will stock up before we arrive.

We’re respectful and responsible. We are travelling from a very popular tourist area in Wales. We embrace our visitors and I’m sad to hear that some have spoilt it for others. I hope the summer season is better for you.

My local school yesterday.

The motorhome club have hired the playground for about 100 vans to park up in our quiet little tourist town by the sea.

Easter is when the tourist influx begins and doesn't stop until October half term. I agree that tourists have got less respectful over these last 10 years. It's the disposable BBQs being left by public bins that get me. And the rubbish bags next to them. A complete lack of understanding that you don't feed the seagulls your left over fish and chips or that the gulls will pull apart an Aldi compostable carrier bag in a second. Take your rubbish home with you if there's no space in the bin.

In Northumberland, people are buying second, third, fourth etc homes. We considered moving further up the coast to Warkworth and looked at a house. The owner told us they had had someone before us who wanted it as a holiday let. They own 4 houses locally and live in Nottingham- they employ a local woman to do turnarounds and cleaning. They were also buying a house on the main street which was needing work and a lowish price.
We also looked at Seahouses and the same thing is happening there. Local councils are looking for ways to stop it happening but it's not that easy.

The government should act. These places are communities and that needs to be maintained if there is a future for them. I mean why would we not stop rich, grabby, exploitative landlords and protect local buyers and communities.

We were actually in Skye this weekend and remarked on how quiet it seemed for a bank holiday weekend. We drove through Broadford around 4pm and other than a woman who had driven her car into the side of someone’s campervan at the coop it was all very polite and not too busy (baring the obvious tourist sites eg the fairy pools). A lovely place and we’d definitely come back! But I like to think we aren’t the people parking in passing places, and toileting and leaving it!

The difference being we actually live here and it's not a second home. We work locally and contribute to the community. People who rarely or seldom visit but have second and third homes here which are empty most of the year is a real issue.

Look up NC500 dirty truth on fb.

Neighbouring village has over half of the houses as holiday homes.

Yes,tourism brings money. It also brings litter ,destruction and antisocial behaviour.
People parking everywhere even on cemetery.
3 (or rather 5) point turn on A82 on shore of Loch Ness is a must by the tourists so is driving all over the road with various speed so safe overtaking is out of the question.

Litter everywhere,machair destroyed on Western Isles, chemical waste dumped on the side of the road as the campsite charged £5 for disposal, bbqs starting wildfires.

I could go on and on.

Nothing against well behaved tourists but some people are inconsiderate arseholes.

Oh no thats awful!

We live somewhere similar and I loathe the camper van tourists. They have no idea how to drive on country roads, they leave rubbish after their wild camping escapades, often end up in ditches and have no respect for the danger our mountains pose. DH is MR and he’s been out 3 nights in a row due to stupid tourists going up hills completely unprepared. I blame a LOT on social media and especially Instagram and TikTok. There’s a pool near us which has become insta famous, I was walking the dogs this morning and there was a queue of idiots lining up to go into it. The water runs off the hills, it’s ice cold and they have no idea how forceful it is before it flows out of the pool and down a massive waterfall.

I sympathise with the residents of Skye, there will be no fairy pools left at the rate people visit them and the road down to them is lethal with idiots who can’t drive.

I’m sick to the back teeth of camper vans trying to park over our drive gates already.

I live in the Lake District. I am obviously used to tourists. But I visited Skye the summer before Covid and it seemed to be on a whole other level! I genuinely felt claustrophobic because of all the crowds and I have never seen so many people on a fell summit before.

I dread to think what it is like now after lockdown.

I live in a very famous Scotland tourist trap it's a bloody nightmare 😳

We regularly tent camp at a farm campsite at Chapel Stile in the Lakes. It’s basic but really good - you just rock up, no need to book. But there are still six or seven van lifers who insist on fly camping at the back of the site when the campsite is cheap as chips. We usually have a meal at the local pub at least one night and other half (who is incensed by fly campers) always makes a racket on purpose as we go past. He worked in the Lakes for the water company for many years and colleagues tell him they frequently have to evict van lifers from private areas, emergency access lay-bys, and trespassing in restricted areas after they’ve cut a padlock on a gate at the reservoirs. One colleague even caught a bloke emptying his toilet cassette into Thirlmere…

Live in West of Ireland. Very busy with holiday makers and we see a lot from Northern Ireland. This weekend is the start of silly season. You are right there is a whole new level of entitlement.
Heaven forbid a local might want to do anything, or go anywhere as its such an effort to move. We also get a lot of campers parking in town carparks etc... I dread to think where the poop is being disposed of... because they don't seem to think proper campsites are worth the 30 euro a night. Also not giving out about any particular group of people there as the campers are Irish, UK and European

It's the same in any tourist spot, I think if you live in a tourist area you have to deal with tourists. I lived in a tourist area a few years ago, lovely out of season but from Easter holidays onwards, it was a bloody nightmare. People everywhere, parking a nightmare, nothing in the local shops, traffic etc, it's one of the reasons I moved. Horses for courses I'm afraid

Such a shame it's all chqng d so much

I live in the Lakes. Lockdown caused problems to magnify - the sheer amount of litter, ridiculous parking and human excrement that we now suffer is something else! Mountain rescue teams are increasingly picking up idiots who go up Helvellyn etc without proper kit, navigational aids or even in the bloody dark. There's busy and then there's the levels of disrespect; yes, the tourist money is necessary, but we do also live here.

Ban social media and this would end.

We’ve witnessed toilets being emptied and washed out in the loch. It’s feral behaviour.

We were on Skye yesterday. Drove over the bridge, spent a large amount of money on whisky, couldn't find a toilet so turned round and drove back over the bridge as we were fairly desperate. I like to think we offset some of the more selfish tourists by spending lots of money, staying less than an hour and leaving nothing behind but our thanks! Sorry it's horrible for you, we too live in a tourist town and I suspect our local economy only survives because of them.