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

As I said: round our way second homes are not formally let out and stand empty for most of the year.

If you have more than one property, it is a second home, what you choose to do with it is not the point, as in it may lay empty, it may be let, but 2nd homes and holiday lets are the same thing

@Sigmama in the tourist hot spot I live in there is a very distinct difference between second homes and holiday lets, and increasingly Airbnbs. The hot spot you live may be different, but hey this whole thread is about telling locals how things are.

Exactly so, it's not one hard and fast rule for the whole county, I was just pointing out that some cornish do very well out of owning more than one property, but it is indeed a complex issue

I live in a touristy area and when you are trying to go about your normal day but a 15 minute drive takes over 40 minutes due to tourists it is a bloody nightmare. I cant park to get to work, I cant park to get to my house, I have to dodge people using their cars as battering rams. Crime goes up in the summer during tourist season, the amount of trash everywhere goes up during tourist season, I mean it isnt a coincidence.

School run and work in the morning isn too bad the tourists aren't out and about that early. But afternoon pick ups can be frustrating. Restaurants book well in advance . Shopping go early morning or in the evening.

Some second home owners rent their property owners and some don’t. There is no general rule for Cornwall.

To be fair though, many of those restaurants wouldn't be there in the first place if it wasn't for the tourists. It's all a balance though, if tourists were a bit more respectful and considerate then they probably wouldn't get so much animosity from the locals. Like it or not a lot of these towns and villages would be on their feet if it wasn't for the tourists as it represents about 25% of the economy of Cornwall.

Knees, not feet 😁

I agree we have a restauranteur in the family so appreciate the tourists spending money because it means businesses remain open all the year round for us to enjoy. Friday night supermarkets full of campers stocking up en route to their sites as well

I grew up in a seaside town and the visitors were overwhelmingly awful. They drove everywhere at 5mph to admire at the view, ignoring the fact that the rest of us had appointments and jobs to get to. They behaved horrendously and left the place in a right state.

I call the 2nd Home next door the owner's 'Wendy House' - where they come and play 'house' very, very rarely - leaving a quite unremarkable, terraced, 2-bed family home empty for the vast majority of the time. Their real house is far better appointed and they take many holidays elsewhere so need to come here much.

They only have to do 'play' cleaning when they are here as they have a weekly cleaner and a pointless shed on the plantless, soul-less, high-fenced patio. If they fancy any improvements doing then they pay someone to do it and make sure they don't visit to ensure their 'playtime' isn't disrupted.

It would be funny, except it really, really isn't. NW Devon.

Seems I've said the unsayable amongst the MN 'collectiv'.

So just to add my 'threadkilling tuppence' - I do wonder about a couple of things about my 'community-deficient' neighbours which some of my fellow MNers might be able to explain to me:

• when you hear all the neighbours around you chatting over walls and fences, living life, good and bad - don't you ever feel a bit stupid?
• why on earth do you pay so much money in council tax, utilities, maintenance, cleaning, etc for a place that you rarely come to, isn't even vaguely palatial and just a place where people live when you could buy an actual Holiday Home instead?
• And are you so unaware of the National Housing Crisis that you don't realize your part in it or you do and don't really give a shit?

TheHateIsNotGood
you make good points
Point one .prob doesn’t occurr
them. They are on hols .
point 2its their playhouse
point 3 probably doss t occur to them .
i live In a similar area to you
. as for the house crisis in area s like this ..i feel for the young who cant buy .. or rent .. then we wonder why on eartb there are staff shortages !

And why is this unsayable ? Itsv much a topic in ourvillage x

We are here right now and it is fabulous. Everyone is lovely! The food is amazing, the beaches are breathtaking. Even the rain is warm

I don’t see what was particularly awful about that article. I do think it is wrong to try and stir up animosity when surely there is ‘fault’ on both sides. I think it is significant that so many people who live in Cornwall say that tourist behaviour and attitudes have noticeably shifted, for the worse. The reported behaviour during Covid was disgusting. At the same time, it obviously isn’t right for some shop/cafe owners etc in Cornwall to be indiscriminately rude to visitors.

We went for lunch in Anglesey today, not many came to Wales this weekend but plenty leaving today. Our weather this weekend has been horrendous, torrential rain so wisely many tourists decided not to come.

The forecast for the next ten days is great for ducks but for the school holidays grim.

As someone who also lives in a tourist area, which is becoming more and more popular and overcrowded, I can relate to much of what those in Cornwall are experiencing and speaking about. Tourism has to be managed in a way that benefits both tourists and those who live there already!

I am not even slightly involved in tourism but I have lived in Cornwall most of my life and I think the answer is a tourist tax, charged per night and per person, on all accomodation outside a permanent let. So whether you are staying at a swanky hotel, or a glampsite or campsite, or a private air BnB, £1 per night per person needs to be added to the bill. To help fund the Air Ambulance service, or sufficient water for the county. I am also cynical enough to think the Council will waste the money raised.

I love Cornwall and have been there plenty times.

I don’t think I’d go back again during school summer holidays though. It’s very very much more popular since the pandemic, and I don’t really enjoy crowds.

So it might be that I’d wait til my kids are grown up.

Never had any disagreements with local people whilst there though - not met anyone rude either local or visitor on past occasions

I think the answer is a tourist tax, charged per night and per person, on all accomodation

I think the answer is that we all stop going to Cornwall. Go somewhere else. Watch their economy collapse and see how quickly they start squealing for government (taxpayer) support and for the tourists to come back. Why pay to go where you aren't wanted? The government should make any support dependent on them actively welcoming tourists.

@StopStartStop

"I think the answer is that we all stop going to Cornwall. Go somewhere else. Watch their economy collapse and see how quickly they start squealing for government (taxpayer) support and for the tourists to come back. Why pay to go where you aren't wanted? The government should make any support dependent on them actively welcoming tourists."

+++

Yeah like that's really going to happen. The English will always want to go on holiday to Cornwall regardless of any tourist tax. I saw calls for boycotts of Cornish tourism because of the negative reaction of people going to their holiday homes during Covid.

Even if a boycott did reduce the number of English tourists (which I really doubt) then it would simply make Cornwall a more pleasant holiday for those that did come.

On the economy 12% of the Cornish GDP comes from tourism compared to 10% for the UK, so please feel free to stay away if you choose - your economic impact won't be noticed.

On the economy 12% of the Cornish GDP comes from tourism compared to 10% for the UK, so please feel free to stay away if you choose - your economic impact won't be noticed.

I would have thought it would be noticed by some individuals - say all the people who let out properties to tourists? If they had no rental income for the next five years, they would notice?

Anyway, that’s all fine, so long as the Cornish don’t expect to spend their holidays outside Cornwall; they wouldn’t want to become tourists themselves and be a nuisance to the other local people, would they? We were on the M6 on Saturday (for family reasons not holidaying), and we have never seen the motorway service stations with queues back to the motorway; or so many cars at the M6 toll booths?

Yeah like that's really going to happen.
As if I care if it happens or not!
.
The English will always want to go on holiday to Cornwall
Not necessarily. I'm English. I don't want to go. There might be others like me - particularly if we stop accepting the whining of the people taking our money.

if a boycott did reduce the number of English tourists...then it would simply make Cornwall a more pleasant holiday for those that did come.
Yes. That's a win-win. And, prices would go down (tax or no tax) because Cornwall would be desperate to attract visitors. The Cornish might even become polite to visitors, and respectful of them, if they could see their money disappearing.