(As I reread this entry before posting I realized that I ended up going on quite a rant! It really isn’t meant to be a rant it’s meant to be a poll. Tell me all about how you feel towards the tourists to your hometown!)
There are three cities in which I have spent significant portions of my life. Each has a significant amount of tourist-draw.
I grew up in Philadelphia. Lots of History, lots of great museums, lots to offer within the Arts. I was always proud to share my city with tourists and was always interested in meeting tourists and hearing about their perspectives on and impressions of my hometown.
Then I lived in New Orleans for several years. Beautiful city full of culture, music, great food, and no shortage of great fun! I loved meeting tourists. It was so much fun to hear their stories, and to tell them all about what they should try next, and to party right alongside them!
Now I live in Los Angeles. Before telling you about the tourists to Los Angeles, it is important to make perfectly clear that I LOVE living in Los Angeles. I am proud to live in Los Angeles. I love all the cool people I have met in Los Angeles.
The tourists to Los Angeles REALLY BUG ME AND I WANT THEM TO GO HOME! There are lots of great people who grew up in Los Angeles. There are all kinds of cool people who have chosen to live in Los Angeles for all kinds of cool reasons. But somehow the people who choose to visit are just really lame and have the tendency rub me the wrong way. A lot of it has to do with the juvenile fascination with movie-stars and acting “cool”. People visiting Philadelphia seemed to me to really want to experience Philadelphia, this made me proud to share it. Ditto for New Orleans. But when people visit Los Angeles I never see them looking to discover and experience the real Los Angeles, rather they seem to only be interested in living out a fantasy that exists in their head- a fantasy that, as a resident of this city that I love, I find degrading. If you visit Los Angeles and somebody is rude to you- it’s probably me and you probably deserve it.
So how do you feel about the tourists to your city? (Don’t forget to tell us what city you live in!)
I grew up in Washington, D.C., and now live in London. Swarms of tourists in both places. It’s a necessary evil, though, as tourism is a major economic contributor.
Until very recently i lived in London. I sort of liked and disliked the masses of tourists there. The good thing is they make you feel like you’re living in a significant place, and they make the place more cosmopolitan. The bad thing is the way tourists tend to get in your way all the time! You can always tell the Londoners and tourists apart - tourists dawdle, walk slowly, stop on the platform just outside the tube train so you can’t get out etc. Fairly minor complaints really, but if you’re in a rush it can really get to you…
I live in the Poconos, so we get a plenty of tourists. We need them for economic reasons and most of them don’t bother me. But some of them seem to have decided that since they are on vacation all the rules can be disregarded. Many of them are rude and nasty, they don’t care if they offend anyone. I’ve been called white trash in a local grocery store and literally pushed out of my place in line because I had more groceries then the tourist did and he felt entitled to go first.
Like I said most of them are OK, sometimes confused about directions and they tend to slow us down. But the bad ones really need to go home.
I grew up in Boston and Philadelphia. Both of which are rich in history and the tourists never really bothered me. I was glad to show them some finer less often seen parts of the cities. Now I live in a small resort town in Tennessee.(http://www.kentuckylake.com) Most of the tourists are here to fish or go boating and they respect the natural beauty of the place. The ones that really piss me off are the ones that come and throw their beer bottles and garbage all over the beaches. I can’t tell you how many trash bags I’ve filled with other people’s crap. :mad: :eek:
I grew up in a historic town that didn’t have many tourists, but now the town is considered “quaint” and the tourists come in droves. My main gripe (even though I no longer live in that town) is the downtown area used to be full of useful stores - grocery stores, hardware stores, drug stores, butcher shops, banks…now 9 out of 10 shops in the downtown area are antique or artsy-crafty stores, and the locals have to drive farther away to do their normal shopping.
I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and commute downtown to work Monday through Friday. I take the train into a major train station that also handles Amtrak trains, and so I see a fair amount of tourists even on my way to and from work. I’ve been fine with them; I was once just a tourist before moving here, and completely fell in love with the city. When I see people that look lost, I try to stop and ask if they need help or directions, and I see other people doing the same. I think a lot of people here are friendly to tourists, for the most part.
I live in DC, and I have a divided attitude towards them. Sometimes I will be happy and helpful and will help them get where they’re going; other times, I’ll curse them (usually when they’re standing on the left-hand side of the escalator or doing something else dumb).
For the most part, I understand minor confusion, but some of them are downright rude/ignorant and forget that people have to work and live here—it’s not just for tourists.
I grew up in New Orleans and for the most part tourists were a lot of fun, Mardi Gras could be a little over the top sometimes. The extra traffic and general messiness of the city during that time made it a pain.
I now live in Augusta and we are starting the annual Masters Week. These tourists are not as diverse and interesting as ones I would meet in New Orleans, golf and tickets to the Masters is the main topic of conversation, but after a little bit they will talk about their hometowns.
Tourists do bring in revenue and add variety to the nightlife so I like them, plus the city really gets cleaned up each spring.
I grew up in Prince Edward Island, and our population doubles come tourist season. For the most part Islanders welcome the folks “from away” and get along with them very well.
Tourists… to Houston? <guffaw>
Nobody comes to Houston if they can help it. I honestly can’t remember at any time in my life meeting someone who said they were visiting Houston just to see the sights. The only reasons people come here are work and family.
For the most part, the tourists here are fine, and don’t deserve the bum rap that some of the natives give 'em. Hell, I think its downright entertaining when they’re wearing shorts and a t-shirt when its 62 and overcast. Plus, even if you don’t like em, they pretty much stay in the same couple of areas, and usually not dense enough to be terribly noticeable.
My only request is when you’re walking around Fisherman’s Wharf, and the light turns red, get your god damn asses back on the god damn sidewalk! My patience in this matter wears thin, and we have a very deep bay very near by.
I used to live in Louisville, KY, and we had tourists out the wazoo during Derby week (Derby is the first Saturday in May). We always enjoyed it- it was onky for a wek, and very good for the local economy. And there were always the obligatory celebrity sightings at the parties and the race itself.
Now I live in Athens, GA. I love it for the most part, but I absolutely hate and despise living here on home football game Saturdays. UGA has got to be one of the most sports-happy universities in the country. On a home game day, there are around 60,000 people coming into our lovely little town. While it is good for the economy, it’s a huge pain in the ass. Can’t get to restaurants, can’t get anywhere without getting stuck in horrible traffic. Downtown is always filthy on the following Sunday. Most of th epeople who live here and don’t go to the games have learned to time any errands or anything else to take place during the game- for those three hours, you can go anywhere without seeing an out-of-county license plate. In the grand scheme of things, I guess a few Saturdays out of the year are pretty bearable, considering how much money it brings in- but it’s still a pain in the ass.
They’re welcome here, as much as we like to bitch about all the RV traffic. It’s a major source of income for local businesses, tour guides, charters, etc. I just wish they would pay attention to the traffic signals.
In general I don’t mind the tourists (and we do get one or two), apart from the bratty French school parties (not that english schoolkids abroad are anything to write home about).
It is also possible to pretty much ignore them as they tend to go to places that a local wouldn’t. For instance the “sights”, madam tussauds etc are hardly full of locals.
What i do find a bit of a pain in the neck are the crowds for the Wimbledon Tennis Tournement, mainly Brits, who take over the area where I live (which cannot really accommodate so many people).
I grew up smack-dab between Lancaster, PA and Gettysburg, PA. The historical/cultural tourism makes some sense to me - and I’m assuming the tourism revenue is absolutely critical to the local economies. I’m not crazy about the Amish and Old-Order Mennonites being gawked at, but I don’t think it’s my place to object. Gettysburg is fine so long as you avoid it in early July. What I really really don’t understand is Outlet Mall Tourism - which is becoming the main draw in both Lancaster and Gettysburg. I don’t object - I just don’t understand.
Living in the Las Vegas metro area for nearly 8 years now… I don’t mind the tourists because they generally stay on The Strip or downtownon Fremont Street. They really annoy me when they are drunk and get in thier rental cars and get lost and drive like the lost drunken buttheads that they are. Also, when they are driving to Hoover Dam, it is a two lane road and generally gets backed up with traffic, they ride your a** and expect you to go faster hello, I cannot go faster than the car in front of me, and no you cannot pass me either- dork!!
Other than that:
“Welcome to Las Vegas!
Thank you for gambling so I don’t have to pay state taxes”