Tourists in your hometown

[Kalmageddon]

This is a little thread to discuss how do you precieve tourists that come to your hometown and how do you feel about the way they act and treat the native population.
I'm sure many of us come from cities and towns that see a lot of tourism and have had to deal with it on a regular basis.

My personal experience is the following: I live in Venice, which I guess needs no introduction and as you may know, it's a very popular destination for tourists.
Now I always felt like tourist see Venice as some sort of Disneyland that it's there to their amusement, and us Venetians are just actors playing a part and not real people.

I'll try to explain by sharing with you a real story, it's going to be a lengthy post but I hope you read it:
I'm 6 years old and I'm fishing for crabs in a canal near my mother's shop. I'm doing it just for fun, with a small hand net and a bucket filled with water from the canal where I put the crabs, just to throw them back when me and my mother go back home.
Many tourists would see this picturesque scene and look at me with amusement, and some of them would try to give me money. That's the first clue: they didn't realize I was doing this for my own amusement, but they thought that because I was doing it in front of them clearly I was there to provide them with entratainment in the hope they would spare some change.
Now, since I was a responsable little kid, I refused said money because I was taught not to accept gifts from strangers.
That greatly confused the tourists, to the point of indignation, as if my refusal was a way for me to say "your money isn't good enough".

And it's not over: sometimes tourists would sit on the edge of the canal and rest there with the whole family, eating a sandwich or something.
Little known fact: Venice never had a real sewer system until recently, meaning most of the waste went into the canals. That's right, not too long ago many of those romantic little canals were actually open air sewers, and some of them sill are.
Of course tourists don't know this, and they would wash their hand in the water, they would refresh themselves with it and sometimes they would sample the water and wash their mouth with it, something that really doesn't make much sense to me, seeing as even if the water was clean it would still be salt water.
Horrified I would try to warn them against doing such things, and since I spent quite a few years in London when I was younger, I did this in a quite understandable english. "Don't touch that water, it's very dirty! No, please don't drink it either!".
And what would the tourists do? Stare at me with utter confusion, as if an animatronic from a diorama just came alive and spoke to them, not only that, it was saying something about the water being dangenrous! But how could it be?! The management of the theme park would never let polluted water in the canals, right?
They would then ignore me and proceed to keep on touching the water.

That's my personal experience with tourism in Venice and growing up I found that nothing changed: tourists don't even try to speak Italian when asking for directions, and they are clearly angry when someone doesn't understand them! I mean for God's sake, pick up a dictionary! Yes I can understand english, spanish and french but most people don't! We are not the staff of a theme park, we don't have to!

Is dealing with tourists in your home town this frustrating too? Share your experience!

[Juggling Goth]

That's tourists everywhere, really. They seem to have real problems with obeying rules that are there for good reason. I work in a tourist attraction, and I had a terrible time trying to explain to a parent that no, her child could not feed the bird. Because the bird bites. She WILL BITE YOUR CHILD. She bites me, and I've looked after her for years. (And because what you want to feed her is toxic. And because if she gets too used to human interaction and getting food off people, she will become aggressive.)

And the woman not only argued with me, saying "but I promised her!" (well... that was stupid of you, and I'm not responsible for your poor decisions), but when the kid saw sense and started backing away, the mother starts telling the kid "oh, don't be silly, the bird won't bite." And I'm standing there going "yes, she will. Give her some space. She's for looking at, not touching. SHE BITES." Thinking, am I speaking Klingon here?

We also have problems with casual animal cruelty - throwing stones at the koi, trying to pull the peacock's tailfeathers out (they're like teeth - they fall out when they're good and ready, and until then they're attached with nerves and blood vessels). It makes me so angry.

It's like you say, they don't seem to realise that not everything is animatronics in a theme park.

[Solaris]

My ex used to complain about the tourists in her home town. I went and visited, looked at her, and said "Well... what income do you have here besides tourists?"

[Suentis]

I live near Washington DC and we get plenty of tourists. For the most part they are just good people watching, but for some reason everyone seems to think that people in Washington DC want to talk politics. I try to be nice and just sort of walk away, but the people are clingers and will follow me around. Even better is when they ask if I will be their guide. I try to be helpful and find them a map or point them in the direction of a monument that will have a map (I always point them to the Washington memorial since it is the easiest to see), but they insist that I personally take them around. At this point I usually claim to have only lived here for about 3 months so I do not know the area that well and I use the map myself. They usually then act like I am the villain from a freaking Scooby Doo cartoon who was just unmasked.

By the way, even foreign tourists do this. And do people not understand how large the US really is? Sure I have been to most of it, but foreign people tend to be confused by the fact I haven't been to every part of this country.

[tyckspoon]

By the way, even foreign tourists do this. And do people not understand how large the US really is? Sure I have been to most of it, but foreign people tend to be confused by the fact I haven't been to every part of this country.

Honestly? No, they don't. Many countries in the world are smaller than single US states. Especially in Europe, where you can sometimes cross the borders of two or three countries in the time it takes to get through a single state in the US. (Like the old saw goes- 'A hundred years is old in the US, a hundred miles is a long way away in Europe.')

[Yora]

Lübeck may not instantly ring everyones bells, but we got those Chinese groups by the bus loads.
With sights like this:

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4 of the major attractions right next to each other.

it really is not much of a suprise.

I currently live in Bayreuth. A small town with nothing of interest. Except for the big theatre Richard Wagner had built to stage his operas. However, it's at the edge of town and so upper class, that the visitors never really come into the city itself.

[dehro]

My ex used to complain about the tourists in her home town. I went and visited, looked at her, and said "Well... what income do you have here besides tourists?"

that may be true, but a lack of respect and a "it's all there for my personal enjoyment" attitude are out of order even if you DO bring much needed cashflow.

I've lived near florence, in amsterdam, in milan and a few more places that are routinely plagued by obnoxious tourists... luckily where I live now, despite it being in italy, isn't much of a tourist destination...so the people we rent our extra flat out to are mostly here for business.

half my family works or has worked in the business of tourism, travel, hotellerie or associated branches.. .the other half, myself included has travelled most of their life for work and tourism.
I have too many anecdotes on this topic to share them all...and my views on many of them could be perceived as offensive vs one or the other nationality (although, italian tourists are just as obnoxious if not more so)...so I'll refrain from boring you all with them.

one funny and short one I will share took place in Positano.. world famous place on the seaside that basically lives of tourism, which has supplanted a rather rich fishing tradition.
the place is practically vertical..a village built along the slopes of a cliff that drops down towards the sea. for this reason, cars can't reach the seaside but are limited to the very highest part of the village (narrow roads traversing the village heading to the next town..and little more. parking is a nightmare.)
..after that, it's all walking up and down stairs.

the view from the high part of town is rather fetching..like this

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sea, islands in front of the place (incidentally, it's where I aim to seek refuge in a zombie apocalypse ).. many features that attract the eye..

I love the place dearly and consider it a home away from home..and was rather dismayed when 2 couples of middle aged american tourists that were waiting for the bus, like I was at the time, spent the entirety of the wait watching the traffic, with their back to the view, commenting on how tiny the cars were in italy, and how could people possibly fit inside them. (consider that I'm a shortarse but these 4 people weren't any taller than me)
yes, I'm sure the objection will be that they may have spent half the day watching that particular panorama already...but that wasn't the impression I was given.. and it was their attitude of outspoken patronizing superiority and total lack of even the smallest attempt at understanding that irked me most.

[Orzel]

Tourist are why I dread going to Time Square or 34th street.


IT'S JUST A STORE! WALK FASTER YOU (CENSORED), I GOT PLACES TO BE! IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE MOVE THE (CENSORED) OUT THE WAY! Sure. I'll take your picture. Say I love New York!"NOW MOVE. YOU ARE GONNA MAKE ME MISS MY TRAIN.

[dehro]

Tourist are why I dread going to Time Square or 34th street.


IT'S JUST A STORE! WALK FASTER YOU (CENSORED), I GOT PLACES TO BE! IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE MOVE THE (CENSORED) OUT THE WAY! Sure. I'll take your picture. Say I love New York!"NOW MOVE. YOU ARE GONNA MAKE ME MISS MY TRAIN.

I walked twice across it before I realized that times square isn't a square and that I'd found it already

[Yora]

Is dealing with tourists in your home town this frustrating too? Share your experience!

Well, you are living in Venice. That city IS a theme park, from what I've heard. I doubt there are many places where the locals have it worse than you.

[KuReshtin]

There are usually a lot of german tourists that come to stay over the summer where I grew up, and it causes a bit of a problem when some of them flat out refuses to speak English.

here's the thing.. They're vacationing in Sweden, where the native language is Swedish. most, if not all, Swedes know English, but not a whole lot have a conversational level of German.
So when a tourist comes along to a shop and starts speaking German, the shop assistant will try to reply in English, and try to get the conversation switched to English. This doesn't work on some people, who expects the people in the shops where they go for their vacation to speak German.

My mom even told me that this one German woman was in the local grocery store, yelling at the girl behind the counter because the girl didn't understand German, and the tourist refused to speak English.

The situation was resolved when a local resident who is originally German, but has lived in the village for as long as I can remember stepped up to the German tourist and, in German, started yelling at her and telling her off for being rude and yelling at the shop assistant.

[Coidzor]

I grew up having them run over my cats for fun, watching them get sun burnt because they'd never heard of sunscreen, and having them make what would be a 20 minute drive anywhere else in the country take an hour or more.

I was not particularly impressed with Orlando's tourism-based economy when I was 6. Especially the cats thing. That was just messed up.

[LaZodiac]

The only tourism we really get up here is the Chinese and Japanese, due to the belief that concieving under the northern lights empowers their children.

Yes.

[mucco]

Well, you are living in Venice. That city IS a theme park, from what I've heard. I doubt there are many places where the locals have it worse than you.

Most of Italy is a theme park, actually. Venice is where it's most ridiculous, but half of the country is flooded yearly by tourists, especially in summer. Where I was born, it's quite annoying to go out for one month (December) every year.

[Coidzor]

The only tourism we really get up here is the Chinese and Japanese, due to the belief that concieving under the northern lights empowers their children.

Yes.

Oh?

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

[Telonius]

In my actual hometown (Erie, PA)? We usually get tourists for two reasons: the lake, and the Mall. Since we don't have sales tax on clothes, we get busloads of Canadians every year. They mainly go to the mall, buy a year's worth of clothes, and then go back home; maybe stop by a restaurant on the way out.

Around the lake is a bit more interesting. We have one of the most-used state parks in the country, with tons of beaches and lots of nature trails. There's not much interaction between the locals and the tourists, since going to the beach is kind of a family thing, and the bike trails are kind of solitary activities.

But as to where I currently live and work?, it's the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area. Suentis hit on a bunch of issues. The biggest gripe from the locals here? Tourists on our subway system (we call it the Metro). We know the whole thing is about to fall apart, the fares don't make a bit of sense, and it all seems designed to screw people out of as much money as possible. Believe me, we know this, and sympathize with you; no need to yell at us about it. We have to deal with it every day, not just on our vacation. But please, if you're on the escalator? Stand right, walk left. Not knowing this little bit of etiquette is the single most infuriating thing about tourists to DC.

[Manga Shoggoth]

This is why, in a few months time, my life will become Hell.

I live just outside London, north of the river. My job is in an office in South London, south of the river. To get there I will be going past at least one of the major Olympic sites.

I dislike Tourists underfoot at the best of times - most of them don't seem to understand that London is a working city (and think that the best place to congregate is at the top of the escalators in rush hour...). And London Bridge is bad enough during the normal tourist season, where they randomly stop to photograph Tower Bridge.

Mind you, even I will stop if I happen to be going past at one of the lift times - I'm hoping to catch it when one of the cruise liners goes through...

[Jan Mattys]

I live in Bologna, Italy.

Tourists come, sometimes show the proper respect, most times they don't, but they always share their enthusiasm and that's something that makes me proud.

My city is a wonderful medieval gem and famous for its food and medieval palaces and towers. It is a nice thing to have people from all over the world coming and see.

I understand that Venice and Rome probably have it WAY worse, if not for the sheer number of the "tourists" phenomenon... but I also think that it's incredible to be so loved.

And the next time you see a foreign tourist walking at a slow pace down the road while you're in a hurry, just try and remember that he's bringing money to your place.

Without tourists, Venice would be a nice, quiet, and quite lovable dump destined to fade from history. You can't have the fame without the occasional horde of unpolite people running around and acting like the whole place is their personal zoo-safari.

Either you take the good AND the bad, or you take nothing. And as annoying as the occasional tourist might be, I think the whole thing does New York, or Cairo, or Rome, or Venice, WAY more good than bad.

[Yora]

The tourists we have are usually not very obnoxious. But then, we're not a very known name internationally and all we have to offer is cultural attractions. That probably helps getting mostly tourists that don't stand out so much and arrive in very small groups.

[JCarter426]

I say "bloody tourists" three, maybe four times an hour.

By the way, even foreign tourists do this. And do people not understand how large the US really is?

One of my Italian teachers was regularly baffled by this. He'd have friends and family visit, and they'd ask to go to Disney World or some such.

Distance to Orlando: Approximately 1,301 miles.
Length of Italy: Approximately 736 miles.

The biggest gripe from the locals here? Tourists on our subway system (we call it the Metro). We know the whole thing is about to fall apart, the fares don't make a bit of sense, and it all seems designed to screw people out of as much money as possible. Believe me, we know this, and sympathize with you; no need to yell at us about it. We have to deal with it every day, not just on our vacation.

I've been on the DC Metro. It may not go very far, and they're certainly ripping you off, but at least the lines are straight, and go places you actually need to get to, and they'd probably tell you if they were canceling entire routes. Believe me, you're lucky. Very, very lucky.

[valadil]

I don't usually see tourists around town, but I do see them at Harvard, where I work. High school seniors checking out prospective colleges are to be expected. What I didn't expect was the asian tourists. I don't mean to single them out, but whenever I see tourists here, they're asian. A couple times a month a group of 40-50 asian tourists will be standing in one of two spots on campus furiously snapping photos at a building they've decided is a landmark. To date I can't figure out what the significance is of this landmark or why it only seems to attract asian tourists.

When I worked in Boston proper I had to evade duck tours on a regular basis (I was a couple blocks from where the USS Constitution was docked), but otherwise had no interaction with tourists.

[JCarter426]

When I worked in Boston proper I had to evade duck tours on a regular basis (I was a couple blocks from where the USS Constitution was docked), but otherwise had no interaction with tourists.

You're lucky you just worked there. I have to live there. To be fair, it can be a lot worse downtown, where there's less space and there are no designated tourist areas you can reasonably avoid.

[Kalmageddon]

Without tourists, Venice would be a nice, quiet, and quite lovable dump destined to fade from history.

Hahahahaha!
Way to go champ! You just lost every credibility with a single sentence in the middle of an overall well thought out post!

By the way, I wouldn't agree anyway, just because a place relies on tourism doesn't mean that it has to be fine with rude tourists.
It's called having dignity.

[razark]

When I worked in Boston proper I had to evade duck tours on a regular basis (I was a couple blocks from where the USS Constitution was docked), but otherwise had no interaction with tourists.

I work on a government agency installation here in Houston, and I've almost been run over by tourist trams a few times. Other times, we'll have someone try to come through the front gate, instead of the visitor center up the road. Tends to muck up traffic, but it usually doesn't happen during the rush hours. Sometimes I still find it a bit odd that my workplace is a tourist destination. Usually we'll just smile and wave to the kids.

But it is fun to yell "It was all faked on a sound stage!" every once in a while.

[Maxios]

My town doesn't get any tourists. I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing...

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I dunno, Toronto doesn't really have a tourists problem. It's the people from the country who annoy me, because they clearly do not know how to drive in the city. You have several feet clear on either side of your car, you can go above 5 km/h. Seriously.

I mean, we get tourists from all over. But they've never struck me as that much of an annoyance.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Mmm, well, where I live now is a vacation hotspot, but we don't really have a ton of tourist attractions. That said, I can instantly tell who the vacationers are, because NONE OF THEM CAN DRIVE FOR ****. Seriously. It's not that hard to learn how to drive on the opposite side of the road than you're used to. When someone who grew up in Atlanta thinks you are the worst driver he's ever seen, you know things are bad.

[tensai_oni]

I
And the next time you see a foreign tourist walking at a slow pace down the road while you're in a hurry, just try and remember that he's bringing money to your place.

Either you take the good AND the bad, or you take nothing.

So someone can act like they own the place just because they bring in tourist money?

There are things more important than cash. Dignity is one of them. I lived in several locations, some had significant tourism, others didn't.

I prefer the ones without tourists. Tourists annoy me even when I am one.

[Copper]

Oh yes. My town has about two sources of income: our college and tourists. These two forces combine on alumni weekends and it is not pretty. First off we have a pretty confusing traffic system that no one knows how to navigate and so yo just end up with all these kinds driving around in our traffic circle not going anywhere.

In winter, there are the skiiers, in autumn, the people who come up to look at the leaves, but summer is the worse, with all the wealthy New Yorkers coming up to spend time in a quaint New England town and watch the theatre festival and what have you. Thankfully, I'm out of town all summer. The only season when we don't have tourists is Spring because New England springs... just don;t seem to exist honestly.

[THAC0]

Ooooh, the ones who have never driven an RV before and go five miles an hour down the highway.

Or the ones that freak out when they come across me in the woods taking apart an animal.

I'll stop there.