DC here too (do we have the worst tourists or do we complain the most?). The most annoying thing for me is how long people take to get through the Metro gates. As soon as I see someone pulling out a farecard I quickly try to switch to another gate or else I know I’ll be standing there for five minutes while the moron (yesterday it was an entire family) stands there trying to figure out how to get it in.
Never mind that THERE IS A PICTURE OF THE CORRECT ORIENTATION right under the slot, it still takes forever.
The other thing that bugs me (residents and tourists alike) is when people wait for the gate to close before scanning their smartrip cards. Except for the handicapped gates, you can scan smartrip cards successively, but people still stand there and wait for the gate to close and the screen to reset anyway. Hate that.
I could broaden that to wishing some people would put more effort into learning what city they’re in before they visit. I understand that we get quite a few let’s-do-all-of-Europe-in-two-weeks cruise ships each summer and it can get a bit hectic for the passengers to be in a new country every day, but the reason you might have a problem navigating around Helsinki with that map of yours is that you’re holding a map of St. Petersburg, which it clearly states on the top of the page.
YES!! This a thousand times yes!! Like you said it’s not only tourists, but people dressed in suits and business attire who presumably live here as well. Drives me crazy when someone stops and waits for the gate to close.
Tourists don’t really bother me anymore. I barely even notice them in Boston anymore. I’m more apt to get mad at a tourist when I’m one as well, but even that’s rare anymore. (I’m on vacation next week. We’ll see if my attitude changes any.)
Sometimes bad tourist behavior is funny. I saw some people trying to establish exclusive camera space and then get upset when people broke that space. This was in Manhattan, corner of 42nd and 7th, at rush hour. Many of us just laughed.
There’s one thing that used to bother me in the 80s and early 90s. Read this if you are planning to visit Boston any time soon: It’s called the Bull & Finch Pub, not Cheers, it’s not within walking distance of either Fenway Park or Quincy Market, it’s just an ordinary bar, and it’s highly unlikely that Norm, a fictional character, is going to be there. But I’m more than happy to give you directions.
Springfield, IL (home of several Abraham Lincoln sites)
Honestly, they don’t annoy me at all. In fact, I feel sorry for them. Springfield goes out of its way to confuse and exasperate them.
[ul]
[li]Downtown is a confusing maze of one-way streets.[/li][li]The only way out of the Lincoln’s Home district is on a one-way street going south, away from the rest of the Lincoln sites. The only way to get turned around is to go through a series of turns one-way streets.[/li][li]Of the two hotels within spitting distance of the downtown Lincoln sites, one of them has gone from opulent to run-down in the course of ten years. Neither of them have decent parking.[/li][li]Many, many tourists heading for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library have simply put “Lincoln Library” in their GPS or whatever and have wound up at… Lincoln Library, Springfield’s public lending library. The city steadfastly refuses to change the library’s name because, goddammit, we were here first![/li][li]One of Springfield’s gems, the Dana-Thomas House, is in a neighborhood that’s fast becoming a ghetto, and no one has shown any interest in revitalizing the neighborhood.[/li][li]Until recently, the Dana-Thomas House’s operating hours were on an “as needed” basis, although that’s changed since Blago left office.[/li][/ul]
The above all all reasons to avoid places that tourists go. My recent holidays include:
2 weeks in Sudan. Number of other tourists I saw: 8 (all on the same day at the same place).
2 weeks in Yemen: Number of other tourists I saw: 0
4 days in Qatar/Kuwait. Number of other tourists I saw: 1
Our next trips are probably going to be Iran, Algeria and Mozambique… I don’t expect to run into many other tourists there either.
I’m sorry you had to go home to the slums. (My rich uncle and aunt had a condo right on Dupont Circle. )
I worked in New York for several summers, and the tourists never bothered me. I had perfected the skill of zipping around and through them years before. When I lived in Cambridge I lived in a dorm that was an architectural landmark, so we had the tourist buses on the narrow lane behind us all the time, and a BU architecture class that would stroll through once a term - find unless you leave the showers to find 20 college students standing in the hallway.
I’m reading a set of mysteries set in Venice, and the detective despises tourists. I’m not sure now if I could ever visit Venice without feeling like a schmuck.
We get tons of tourists in San Diego, particularly last week for Comic-Con. Personally I like meeting new people and always recommend good restaurants for cheap eats and where they can stay next time they want a cheaper hotel, because the tourists get raped with $250 - $300/night hotel rooms for Comic-Con that are $80 the rest of the year. Meanwhile, if they stay 10 miles East on the Trolley line, they can still find $80/night hotels and get to the convention without all the hassle of finding parking for $5 a day (cost of an all day trolley pass).
About the only annoying thing is when my own goodwill backfires and my normally sleepy little restaurant with good, cheap food is packed to the rafters with people. Then there is the added traffic headache, but in general, if they are bringing money to the city (and creating jobs) we welcome everyone. Come visit San Diego!
Ketchikan AK – Thousands of people rolling off of cruise ships, looking at the mountains, and walking straight into traffic, god forbid they see an eagle. A word to the wise if you’re in Southeast Alaska, if you want to take a picture of an eagle, go to the dump or throw some fish carcasses on the beach, you will have all the nasty flying rats you can handle.
The only thing that saves us is that we’re not connected to any roads so there are no RVs.
Up on the Kenia I saw a five mile line of RVs because someone spotted a brown bear sow with cubs. I literally watched people pick up their small children and sprint across a busy road straight at the bear. Bears are cool but if you want to see one up close, go to the zoo.
I do have to add, for the most part I enjoy tourists, they bring a certain energy to where you live and make you step back and reexamine things that you love but have become desensitized to
I live on the Gold Coast in Queensland and we get (according to Wikipedia) around 10 million tourists per year. For the most part I don’t mind at all, people on their holidays tend to be cheerful and relaxed. The one thing about tourists that does annoy me is that they aren’t in a hurry, and sometimes I am! They walk very very slowly stopping every so often to point at things or take pictures and don’t saunter across busy roads like they have the right of way. Not all of them of course but enough to make driving through the tourism center annoying.
I’m sure we annoyed a lot of the locals when we were driving around in Italy - but Italian driving is terrifying. We stayed in the slow lane and even drove a little over the limit, but we got overtaken by freakin’ trucks and caravans, all honking and flashing their lights. Sorry, locals, I know we’re holding you up, but please forgive us - we haven’t quite mastered the art of suicidal driving yet.
Pretty much same as the others. I’m from Hawaii. It’s “paradise”, but it’s still the real world, meaning:
Real people and businesses exist there
Crime happens
Natural disasters happen
Accidents happen
US law and all natural laws apply
Tourists sometimes act as though none of that is true. Tourists will leave valuables in plain sight in unlocked cars and be surprised when their cars and possessions are stolen. Tourists will ignore warning signs and hike off paths or into treacherous waters. They’ll be upset that it’s raining and they can’t sunbathe, or they’ll wish the sun would hurry up and set in time for the evening luau. It’s like they think Hawaii is all for show, and everything there exists solely to support their experience.
Everytime I go someplace new, whether it be a touristy destination or a boring town, I do some research. I check out where I’ll be, the weather, the demographics, the public transportation system, etc. I don’t want to be in a new place and not know a thing about my surroundings. I also try to be considerate of others, and not block sidewalks, not ask questions I could have figured out myself, not waste people’s time. It’s a small investment of time that makes me a more independent traveler. I wish more tourists would do that.
I work near Wall Street and often walk down Wall St to get to my preferred street vendors. Wall St. was never a big street, and they have half of it gated off alongside the Stock Exchange. So, it’s very crowded, since everyone has to share half of the sidewalk they’re meant to have.
EVERY DAY I see people stopped to take pictures of the BACK DOOR OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE. There’s a perfectly spacious, charming and historical plaza 20 feet away where you can take a picture of the FRONT of the stock exchange. You know, the cool looking side with all the architecture and whatnot, that doesn’t look like a freight door in the side of a building.
It’s not the taking pictures or even the blocking traffic I object to – it’s the taking pictures of something worthless, while blocking traffic. GAHHHH.
Attention visitors to San Francisco: you are not in LA nor San Diego. You are not even in Mountain View or Novato. You will be COLD in San Francisco - colder than you will be at the airport. It’s surrounded by water. You will especially be cold walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in your shorts and T-shirt. Really - it’s a bridge. It’s 200 feet above the water, in a natural corridor.
Also, I’m not part of the tourist attraction that is the Haight - I live here, and I do not have time to pose for your photo. No really, I’m not part of the show. No, I will not tell you where the Grateful Dead house is, for the owners’ sanity.
Also, I know those dudes, and I strongly recommend you do not point at and photograph them, unless you want that camera up your ass.
I live on an island with a tourism based economy. It kills me how much hostility there is toward tourists when they are our main source of income. Since the locals drive for shit and throw trash on the beach and by the side of the road daily, I can’t see how the tourists are ruining our lives. In this economy we should be damn glad anyone is still coming here.
San Francisco. i’ve live here half my life. most of the other part across the bay.
I love tourists. In fact tourism is the number one industry in the city. (that is pronounced thuh city, not THE CITY)
it’s a fun city and i’ve met so many people from around the world that i would never met if i lived in all but a handful of other US cities.
sorry, no complaints. and when we travel we are the tourists. fortunatly, i’ve never felt i’ve anoyed anyone when in another city. or at least they kept it to themselves.
Also in San Francisco, in the Castro. Men, no one cares that you are straight. You don’t have to prove it by keeping a death grip on your SO’s hand. Lighten up and let go.
We love to have you visit. We’ll greet you with southern hospitality.
But…please keep in mind these things:
The Nashville area has around a million people who live and work here. Traffic on the interstates and parkways is heavy. Please pay attention to your lanes and speed (we tend to drive fast). If you’re driving an RV (no offense, but I’m talking mostly to the good folks from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario) please keep up with the traffic and stay in the appropriate lane(s).
If you’re enjoying the music at a venue with a writer’s night or showcase, we welcome your compliments when we go down for a set break. We like to know that we’ve entertained you. What we don’t like is to be bombarded with questions about how to get Memaw’s or Cousin Jimmy’s song recorded or where the celebrities hang out.
We know that part of our popularity lies with the musicians who record and / or live here. However, if you see them out and about on everyday errands and can’t resist talking to them, please just let them know that you enjoy their music and leave it at that. Sometimes, when they get home, they just like to go to the park and walk the trail, run out for a burger or go to the store to pick up a loaf of bread and some TP. No need to have them spend an hour just running into Kroger for a gallon of milk, not to mention the disruption of the local shoppers.
Oh, yeah, and welcome to Nashville. We hope you enjoy your visit.
(My rich uncle and aunt had a condo right on Dupont Circle. )
