Inspired by a couple of threads that have popped here recently, notably these:
Hey, we shovel boatloads of money into your economies every year. I act respectfully when I go on vacation. But if I’m wearing shorts because it’s 100 degree or out or look a little flummoxed because I’m trying to learn your street grid, or haven’t quite figured out how to use your public transportation systems, well boo hoo. I pay good money for the privilege of staying in your hotels, eating in your restaurants and visiting your museums. And in the case of Washington D.C. it’s my tax dollars that support many of those museums. Granted that doesn’t give me the right to be a complete asshole, nor should it. But it also means that I shouldn’t just be dismissed as some ignorant, ill-mannered yokel either.
Of course if you don’t want anyone visiting you can always just turn your city into a dump.
And while I’m at it, I’ll echo a poster in one of the other threads and also pit those travelers who gloat about not doing “any of that touristy shit.”
Says you. Countless tourists drive through town on our fine interstates, but do they ever stop to enjoy West Des Moines’ fine historical Valley Junction area? Hell no, they don’t. All that fudge is getting sold to townies.
Yeah, that bugs me too. I’m fairly well-traveled, and I don’t think I act completely clueless (anymore). But I remember the first time I encountered a subway - I probably looked a little confused and uncertain while I figured out how it all worked. Not too many places have subways or train systems. It’s not instinctive or intuitive - and you’re not a genius just because you know how your city’s transportation system works. Laugh all you want at the country yokels - I’d like to see how you look trying to milk a cow or drive a tractor. :mad:
Actually, it’s a pretty small “boatload”… 8% of GDP (2% if we exclude domestic tourism)
Considering the tourism income in my town is below even those figures… I have to agree with SoulFrost; let’s take them off the endangered list already.
Exactly. Even if you’ve done your research, it might take you minute or so to figure out how to work the ticket machine in the subway, longer if the thing is acting up. That’s especially true if you’re from the South and Midwest, where public transportation sucks and the only people who use it are those who can’t afford a car or those who’ve had their license suspended and have no other options for getting around. At least that’s the case where I live, a mid-sized city in the southeast (I’m not saying that’s something I’m proud of, that’s just the reality).
Agree, and I can cite an example of a place that disdained tourists.
Bethel, NY is where the Woodstock Festival took place in 1969. The people there were largely embarrassed about it. They did nothing to capitalize on the event, and actively discouraged it through their attitudes. The town of Woodstock, NY * is in a different part of the state, but they turned their town into a tourist destination. To this day, people make the pilgrimage to Woodstock, not realizing that the actual festival took place somewhere else entirely. The town of Bethel and the surrounding area was, and still is to some degree, a bit of a dump and not a friendly place to visit in some ways.
Only recently has the area around Bethel done anything about this, opening a museum and concert center. But that was largely pushed through by one private businessman.
The festival was originally planned to take place in Woodstock, NY, hence the name. But they had to move it with little time to spare.
I work in DC. It’s not tourists who bother me so much as huge events/protests that take place on the Mall that block traffic and overwhelm the Metro, etc.
On the other hand, Woodstock seems to be the place where you can truly say “I don’t do any of that touristy shit”. It’s not like there’s a hippie roller coaster theme park or cheap stores full of mass produced crap. Judging just from pictures and from driving through there at night (twice!), I’d like to actually visit there some day, because it seems like a small Vermont town but with the geography of New York that I grew up with. No chain stores and no Wal*Mart.
I fully endorse this OP. My area gets more tourists than any of you, except New Yorkers, and we get way more per capita than them, so you can all quit bitching.
That said, I would like to extend a warm thank you to our tourists. You helped pay my way through college, and you’re about to help me pay for law school. Plus, you keep my property taxes low.
However, I would like to politely request that you observe the following suggestions/advice:
When you rent a car, pony up the extra $5 for satnav/GPS. It will save you time, and it will ensure that you don’t park in the middle of highway ramps blocking people while you consult a 1/1,000,000,000 scale map.
Brazilian people: don’t do any shopping. Every last one of you is rude and inconsiderate. I know this is a cultural thing with regard to retail establishments, and that you’re perfectly nice people in other settings, but it’s still disgusting.
My fellow Britons: nobody here cares what football team you support, even other tourists. Don’t bring your football strip on holiday. Also, I thought you’d have figured out that pasty white people sunburn easily, but you haven’t. Trust me, you’re going to need an awful lot more sunscreen.
No, sales tax is not included in the price. No, it’s not a rip-off, it’s just how it’s done in America. Sales taxes are different everywhere you go, so printing price labels with them included is often impractical. Anyway, it’s only 7%. Would you rather be paying VAT or GST?
It’s kind of hard to explain unless you’ve seen it firsthand. For reasons I’ve had explained to me, but don’t fully understand, Brazilian shoppers treat sales staff like shit.
When I worked in retail, I had people whistle me over (exactly the same way you might whistle over a dog), throw five-minute tantrums upon discovering that prices weren’t negotiable, break (not mess up, but actually break) store displays to remove things (not to steal), and any number of other things you’d be shocked to see.
I live in Maine (Vacationland) and I don’t hate tourists. However, I reserve the right to laugh at anyone taking a picture of themselves in a lobster bib.
From the OP’s perspective, your 4 points undermine your original two paragraphs. Your post is no different than what people said in those other threads and yet we were called “wankers that whine”. So I guess that makes you a wanker too. Welcome to the club…I guess.
