Sick of some Cornish people bleating on as though they are the worlds only tourist destination

[Endlesssummer2022]

Just read the article below and found a few gems such as these:

’ have you ever wondered where the local people live? Or have you noticed that many of your holiday neighbours are recognisable in the narrow lanes of the pretty fishing villages because they are the same people you live near in London?’

and…

‘Despite what you may have read, we Cornish do welcome visitors and are happy to share our love of our land with you. But it might help if you do a bit of research – Cornwall is fiercely independent and has a proud and unique history and heritage…* *And try not to be rude to local people. If you’ve been asked to not drink from a glass bottle on the beach, there is a reason for that. Don’t forget to tip waiting staff. ‘

What patronising bollocks. So Londoner’s (as those are apparently the only people who visit Cornwall) are so untraveled and boorish we need to be told not to be rude to people, pay tips, not to smash glass bottles in sand, that we’ve bought all of their houses, that it’s ‘their’ land and we’re the ones who are rude?

I’d already decided I wouldn’t go back there after how some of them carried on during Covid but this article has pissed me off. Why would anyone go there when they can go to equally lovely places in the UK/World and not be treated with contempt?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/29/welcome-to-cornwall-please-dont-ruin-it-for-us-local-people

The irony is that the place in the UK with more second homes than anywhere is London.

I come from an area which is very heavily reliant on tourism (but not Cornwall). I'm on the Facebook pages etc and have close family who still live there and there's definitely not the same disdain for tourists as I see in Cornwall.

@Tegrate

London attracts approximately 20 million tourists a year in a city with a population of 9 million.

Cornwall attracts approximately 4 million tourists a year and only has 560k population.

This would be the same as approximately 64 million tourists in London or triple the current number.

That's the difference.

Totally agree with OP. Tourist money keeps locals in jobs, they tend to forget that.

I'm not sure you can compare London and Cornwall.

Oh I could tell you a few stories about moronic tourists in Wales. Usually day trippers rather than those staying overnight though.

Tbf it is swings and roundabouts. Like you have your issues in London with escalators. But when we have what 5 in the whole of the county then that's not as big of a deal somehow.

Don't get me started on Cornwall Council.

Country lanes are country lanes though, the UK is chock full of them.

Exactly. I live in Cumbria, another popular tourist destination with country lanes. Imo visitors are no less capable of reversing than locals are. And the area would be a lot poorer and very lacking in jobs without the tourists. I find it utterly cringeworthy how some of the locals here bang on about tourists. I've never seen any evidence that visitors here treat the countryside with any less respect than anyone else. The people leaving litter etc tend to be local teenagers.

@DdraigGoch

"Do they have the power to?"

+++

No not without devolved powers (like Wales has).

Oh Jesus spare me 🙄

Talk about Lording it over others in your attitude. They should be grateful should they? They are well aware of where the tourism money comes from. What they ask is that people be more considerate and not treat it as if it's one big holiday park only.

*London attracts approximately 20 million tourists a year in a city with a population of 9 million.

Cornwall attracts approximately 4 million tourists a year and only has 560k population.

This would be the same as approximately 64 million tourists in London or triple the current number.

That's the difference.*

This.

@1dayatatime

That's a lot of money coming in to the local economy

But an impact on the local environment, houses, infrastructure.

We have the same in our city. A lot of rental accommodation is now Air BNBs.

However - we are tourists too when we go to other places and have an impact there.

On jobs yes 20% of jobs are in tourism but these are seasonal jobs. Compared to 12% working in the food processing industry and and 5% in agriculture which are year round jobs.

Not many people go on the beach in Winter.
The problem here is the assumption that it’s all tourists causing mess.
Don't locals leave the house too.

Respect swings both ways.

I live in London. My children have not got a hope in hell of buying housing here. Ever. They work/will work in public services. Yes they could move away. Of course they could. But given that family have been here for generations (many generations) they may not want to.
that’s what does my head in about the narrative about rich Londoners - like all Londoners are cut from the same cloth. Otherwise am sympathetic to the concerns about second home owners - plenty in london too. Whole blocks by the Thames with overseas owners who not only don’t visit but also mothball the places - not even renting or letting the properties so they’re just sitting empty.

York gets 8 million tourists a year with a population of 200,000

Big rise in York visitor numbers revealed – as tourism bosses outline their plans | YorkMix

I travel in the Highlands and Islands for work. The NC500 has brought ridiculous numbers of bikers and campervans,but there isnt the infrastructure to cope. The Outer Hebrides have huge numbers of drivers visiting( you really need a car there) but the drivers dont learn the etiquette of using passing places and getting out of the way of locals trying to get on with their lives.
Edinburgh during the Festival is just horrible. Rammed with people,over flowing bins and price gouging.

Are you joking? It's a perfectly normal turn of phrase for your local areas. Our shops, our wood, our town, our beach. It is theirs in the sense that it is the beach of the area in which they live, not in the sense that they have legal rights to it. It is their local beach, if you prefer.

It is just obvious to anyone who has ever been anywhere in high and low season that tourists are more likely to mistreat an area than locals. If you are local, then you are invested - you love and respect the area - in a way that at least some tourists do not.

Everyone hates Londoners for moving out and pricing them out of their home towns. It's a UK wide problem. If you REALLY want to see the impact Londoners have had on pushing out locals then head to the south east and east Anglia, not the south west.

I've got a lot of fond memories of visits to Cornwall and I have many friends and family who live down there but they do need to recognise the problems they face are not ones unique to them.

I've never been back to Cornwall since the horrible unfriendly time we had years ago. People who wanted to take your money but could barely look at you when they were doing it.

Greater London has has an area of 600 square miles, Cornwall has an area of 1400 square miles. That’s the difference.

Just so we’re clear: 20% of the tourists over double the area.

Everyone hates Londoners for moving out and pricing them out of their home towns. It's a UK wide problem. If you REALLY want to see the impact Londoners have had on pushing out locals then head to the south east and east Anglia, not the south west.

But lots of these Londoners aren't Londoners or are Londoners who themselves have been priced out. Where are they meant to go?

@cakeorwine

"That's a lot of money coming in to the local economy"

+++

However this assumes that the money stays in the local economy.
The Airbnb or holiday is most likely owned by someone living outside of Cornwall (as the locals can afford their own homes let alone a second home).
Food is bought by tourists in supermarkets in their home towns or on the way to Cornwall especially as local supermarkets simply can't keep up demand from tourists.

The restaurant or cafes again are generally not owned by locals.

But yes the locals do get the low paid seasonal tourist jobs but are then sent packing to the "townships" of mid Cornwall at the end of the day.

Off you toddle then. You won't be missed.

I don't know. The point I'm making is the Cornish are complaining about it but are probably among the least impacted by it.