“You Are Not Special Or Better Than Us Locals Just Because You’re Visiting” — People Are Sharing The 20 Worst Things About Living In A Tourism Hotspot

While being a tourist is fun, the reality of living in a tourist hotspot can be the complete opposite…

1.

“I live in Mauritius and I think it’s great to see tourists knowing they’re boosting the economy etc., but the way we get looked at like we are all permanently on holiday just because we live on a tropical island is a bit funny.”

2.

“For any busy tourist city on Earth: a group of people standing on the pavement (side walk) at the corner of two streets.That’s the busiest place of two streets and you decide to stop there to check your phone or talk rubbish? Gurl, no, move somewhere else. Be considerate to the local residents and the other tourists.”

—tawecakeman

3.

“Tourists forget that locals have commitments just like tourists do at home in the town they’re visiting. You might be in London to see Big Ben, but I’m trying to get to work on time and if you’re standing right in the middle of the street, or right in front of the tube station, or right in front of the bus entrance, it’s incredibly frustrating and it’s going to get people’s backs up. If you’re trying to ‘experience a city like a local’ try to behave like a local and be respectful of other people’s lives that are continuing whilst you’re on holiday.”

—tiphainer

4.

“I live in a national park and being a rural area we have a lot of problems with people not understanding the basics of respecting the countryside.”

5.

“The Welsh town I’m from had started getting more tourists. But worse than that it’s had people from England come and buy shops there and charge a fortune for all the items. I’m talking near-London prices for a large village where there is huge unemployment. But they’re not even hiring many people from the town either.”

“The items they sell are also Welsh tourist tat and it just makes it feel like they’re profiting off our culture without putting it back into the community. I don’t even massively like the town I’m from but that really irks me. It’s changing what used to be a community into a holiday destination for outsiders and pushing out people whose families have lived there for generations.”

—cuteclcactus91

6.

“I grew up in Oxford, would often be asked in the city centre ‘where’s the university’ — Oxford isn’t a campus university, it’s all around you. I’d usually direct them to the Radcliffe Camera (library) and Christ Church college.”

—lads47

7.

“I live in the very far north of Scotland, about three miles from the ‘end point’ everyone wants to reach. I’m tired of caravans crawling up the road at 20mph not pulling over, people parking them wherever they like, often blocking the roads to take pictures and tourists gawping at me when I’m in my garden doing something as normal as putting the washing out.”

8.

“I lived and worked in Cambridge, England and whilst the crowds were bad (by the colleges in particular) the worst were the punting sellers. My partner and I would have to walk separately down the road to work to avoid being bothered by them. The second they saw a couple they would pounce on you. It’s like, ‘We come past here every day, how do you not realise and leave us alone?'”

—smartcoach68

9.

“The fact that trying to rent is awful! I live in a popular seaside town in the UK and renting a house is nigh on impossible, due to AirBnB, people’s second or third homes and holiday lets.”

Getting a two-bed flat for less than £1000 is harder and harder to come by.”

—floatingsinger16

10.

“I live in a seaside village that has become increasingly popular over the years due to an annual festival and because it’s boujie AF in general. All I’ll say is… PARKING! What a bloody nightmare! Insane!”

11.

“I live in a ‘day trip’ town where 99% of tourists arrive in large groups on buses. All of the shops are dedicated to selling cheap, tacky souvenirs or expensive snacks. If I want to buy something practical I have to drive to the next town, and because the tourists leave at 5pm, most of the restaurants close early.”

“Tourists come here for one attraction, so there is ‘no point’ having a cinema, bowling alley, etc. if locals want to have some leisure time, you guessed it, we have to drive to the next town.”

—babiesatemydingo

12.

“I live in a US city popular for bachelorette parties and music. So, drunken parties screeching at 9 a.m., the fact our city shits out bars and ‘speakeasies’ that are overpriced and only exist for Instagram, and locals can’t really attend the large music festivals because they’re crazy expensive.”

—bittawit_45

13.

“I live on the North Carolina coast. Besides the traffic from tourists in the summer, the worst thing about tourists here is the rudeness and entitlement. You are not special or better than us locals just because you’re visiting for a week. In fact, I think we’re the ones that are special and better than you because we get to live here. Take your crappy attitude and go home.”

14.

“I’m in the Bay Area but inland, and it’s definitely the traffic. Especially Fridays when everyone heads out to do their weekend plans. I’m just trying to get home, dammit.”

—panda_13

15.

“I live in the middle of the Lake District in the UK. The number of people who don’t know how to drive our roads! Okay, they’re not that wide, they’re quite twisty but you don’t need to be in the middle of the road when there’s two marked carriageways, and when the speed limit is 60 DO NOT DRIVE AT 20!!!”

—emilyb4e5865956

16.

“I lived in Ocean City, MD (fairly-major east coast American beach town) for six years. We thought it would be a good idea because we loved going there for vacation. It was fun during the summers when I was young, working in a restaurant, partying most nights. When college ended and I was living in the area year round, it was depressing. The off-season is bleak, most businesses close down once vacationers leave for the summer.”

17.

“The shopping options. Downtown used to have cute and great local shops, of a wide variety. Now they’re unattainably expensive boutiques or the typical touristy junk shops. There’s almost no point in going downtown anymore because it’s pointless! Don’t even think about it on a weekend, you won’t find parking.”

—zara_black

18.

“Florida depends on tourists for our economy. I live in a beach town and I’m begging beach visitors:”

“Do Not Feed Seagulls. It’s not cute, they will swarm and annoy everyone around you.

Play you music to the volume that only you can hear. The whole beach does not want to listen to your jam.

Do not throw sand at each other. Like really, why?

Most importantly — pick up all of your litter and children’s toys when you are leaving.

Thank you!”

—prowolf11

19.

“Thank god I don’t live in a touristy city, but when I am in Amsterdam for example, the shop assistants, the waitresses, don’t speak Dutch! I want to be able to order something in Dutch, not have to switch to English.”

—simon-kip

20.

“I live near Central Park in NYC. Tourists are a fun, energising element to an already vibrant city! But there are definitely cringey — sometimes heart breaking — things that I wish tourists wouldn’t do when visiting our city.”

Do you have anything else to add? Let us know in the comments below!

Note: All submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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