Do locals actually want tourists at the moment?

[footprintsintheslow]

What's the general consensus about tourists staying in holiday destinations around the UK?

I'd love to go camping in North Wales, keep myself to myself and go to beaches.

Is it selfish to arrive there?

What would make it better if anything?

Live in a seaside town in Cornwall, we have tourists here and to be honest it's fine, had a walk around the beaches a few days ago and it almost felt back to normal, hotel car parks with cars in them and people enjoying themselves.

People have been stuck in long enough and businesses need to make money. Nothing wrong with people having a break!

@annabel85

People still cross the street to avoid each other. Most people certainly don't want crowds at the moment or to be around them at least.

Ultimately the summer is a write off but understandably people want to get away for a week or two.

Nobody crossing roads to avoid people down here. Everyone is just going about their day and getting on with life.

Most locals, especially in small towns, never want tourists. The ones complaining now are likely the ones that always complain every summer about tourists on ‘their’ town, and ‘their’ beaches. To be quite honest, it’s not up to them. No one owns an area. We are all free to go where we like in the country we all live in and see things and visit things. The economy desperately needs people to go away and spend frivolously. If you want to go and camp OP then go and do it - you have as much right as anyone else. This whole ‘we don’t want you to visit right now, come back next year’ is bizarre.

This whole ‘we don’t want you to visit right now, come back next year’ is bizarre.

And down here driven by the short sighted "Cornwall for the Cornish" mob and of all things a couple of MPs. One of them has just been elected into the job and to be frank, useless and never responds to her constituents, the other, well he's not the sharpest pencil in the box.

I feel really torn on this.
The town needs tourism, that's how we make our money in summer and it provides jobs. It's nice to see it busy again but people have behaved really badly.

Parking, litter, fires, aggressive behaviour etc I haven't been to the beauty spots this summer, haven't had a swim or a walk there because they're full. Most locals I know say the same so we're missing out this year because of worries about social distancing and lack of facilities. We feel shut out of our own green spaces.

Respectful tourists are always welcome but at times this year it's felt dangerous. It feels like people have been cooped up for so long they've got a bit batshit when they're finally allowed out.

I live on the Norfolk coast. Summer is always busy, but this year it’s unreal, like a bank holiday every day. It’s not much fun for anybody tbh.
So I would say no.

Whilst I understand how annoying it can be when places are crowded, it is clear that tourist places will be badly hit by this recession. So for Edinburgh, Bath, Cambridge etc - it is worrying time as so many jobs could be lost.

I don't know what the answer is, really. Apart from go back in time and deal with the virus properly at the outside instead of trying to power through it, thanks Johnson

I read this yesterday and felt pretty gloomy www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/26/ghost-town-coronavirus-tourism-crisis-british-cities-edinburgh-bath

Sorry, outside = outset

I'm in a touristy area and find that so many people are (obviously) in holiday mode and think that they don't have to socially distance etc. I'm sick to the back teeth of being the person that steps off the pavement to accommodate others. And getting abuse when I remind people (politely!! that it's still 2m social distancing. It's like Covid doesn't exist here 🤷‍♀️

In West Wales, masks aren't mandatory and the beach car parks and camping grounds are full, but there's a whole load of outside space, enough for everyone. Tourism in the summer keeps businesses such as my favourite ice cream places/cafes etc open through the winter when the coast is just as beautiful but absolutely quiet. I also have a number of friends who rely on the tourism industry to make a living. Come down and enjoy the fresh air OP.

As others have said, it's not the usual busy, it's much much busier.
All those people who have been stuck at home for months are suddenly booking UK trips when they wouldn't usually because they don't want to go abroad understandably.
People are getting into camping which is lovely but it means that quiet little local campsite where it's always really easy to get a spot and distance from other people now has a waiting list.
Local campsites are now only offering min 5 day bookings which rules out a weekend away and means that it's mainly holiday makers who can use it as someone who lives 30 mins away in the same county isn't going to stay for 5 days.

It is both much busier and with fewer things open. In my area there are not enough cafes, restaurants, takeaways and bars etc open to sustain the influx of people who want to eat out and go for a drink. Our one small supermarket has gone from bearable to super busy. I don't begrudge the visitors their holidays but it is having an impact on the people of the town who have had no chance to benefit from things opening up again.

I think the other issue is that so many visitors are behaving like selfish, self entitled arseholes. I simply cannot understand why anyone thinks it is OK to spoil a beauty spot by leaving their litter.

This is why we not holidaying in uk too crammed

I spent two weeks in Devon in our touring caravan ..
Went to local pub garden a couple times for food and local,supermarket ..never made to feel unwanted and they knew we were tourists !!

"I live in a tourist area and it is good to see people visiting (and spending money). I don’t work in hospitality myself but I know plenty who do. What upsets locals is visitors being disrespectful such as leaving huge amounts of litter, carving their name into rocks, etc"

^^
This

I am shielding. I therefore have not left my garden since March 23. I will not leave my garden until I feel it is safe to do so. I desperately need an osteopath appointment which technically I could now do next week but because the office is in our high street where visitors are jam packed, pushing people off pavements, shoving through queues to get into shops and cafes, I won't be going. If I become ill I will be very high risk. If my DD becomes ill she could die as she has a compromised immune system. This is life or death for our family. Incidentally we haven't been on holiday or had a day out for 7 years . We manage. I think the PM should have continued to ban travel this year. It's less fun obviously but we can all cope. Visiting elderly/ frail family could easily be allowed. And I say all this as the mum of a DC whose livelihood depends on the hospitality industry. His business made MORE money in lockdown because they adapted and made and delivered ready meals and also delivered household essentials. We can't see him at the moment because his job makes him too risky for us. I would live life to return to normal but it's not going to for a long time.

And I do not resent tourists and people having fun and I absolutely understand the worrie and fears of those whose jobs are at risk now. It's shit. Btw my DH is NHS and they are convinced the next wave will be soon

Norfolk here, although not an area that is very dependent on tourism or gets overrun with tourists.

Having initially been quite hostile, local businesses here are now crying out for visitors. I walk my dog in our beautiful forests every day and there is plenty of room for more people. Come join us

There’s a farm shop in the next village who were very vocal on social media that everyone should STAY AT HOME and most importantly not use the 20-odd-metre-wide public right of way that runs past their garden to access the forest They also led a nice little local witch hunt into people who they suspected had travelled to be with families or stay in a second home, including a charming sign on their gate saying that non permanent residents were not welcome.

Over the past couple of weeks they’ve had a complete about turn, have set up a mini shop from their garden selling coffees and take away food to capitalise on the walking traffic and urging people to holiday locally and support British businesses.

They’re the most extreme example, but summarise the general mood changes of the area quite well!

The highlight of the tourist season for me was the 'nice' English lady who decided to berate me for not wearing a mask in my local shop in N. Wales

Wales is a different country please inform yourselves of the difference in rules before you come here is all I ask

I guess that - like a lot of people - the people who don't want tourists:

a) think the magic furlough money can continue forever and so that it's just selfishness that made the government choose 'the economy over lives' because...
b) they don't understand what will actually happen if the economy collapses and that it absolutely will affect you and your community - yes, even if you don't actually work in tourism; yes, even if your job feels totally secure; yes, even if you're retired

People might think they'd prefer their area without the tourists; I used to live somewhere very touristy and can understand that! But they haven't thought properly about how deep the impact of that would cut. Somewhere like Cornwall or northern Wales - places that already have some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK - would become very unpleasant places for locals, too, without the money from tourism.

I'm in North Wales on holiday and people are being just as welcoming as ever.
If you are a polite and considerate person people treat you well. If you're an entitled idiot, maybe not so much.

I'm feeling very welcome in Norfolk. Since I'm spending most of my time in wide open spaces I'm not really in anyone's way. The beaches are huge so you can walk for ages without seeing anyone.

See, this scares me a bit. We have a family caravan in Scotland and DH wants to go next week and I'm not so sure. We'd be keeping ourselves to ourselves in the van, but we will need food and I don't want to upset anyone. I'm really torn.

We have just got back from Wales and every worker there said how glad they are people are back. People are genuinely worried about their livelihoods depending on tourists. Living by the sea does not give anyone a right to tell people to stay away from a place you have no ownership of.