Tourists suck

[Exterous]

I realize the apparent hypocrisy of saying that but we've seen a growing problem in two intertwined areas over the last several years. The biggest one is the trampling and trashing of popular sites. So few people seem to follow the 'take out what you bring in' mentality. Instead we see plastic bottles and wrappers strewn about. In Canada I saw people willfully disregard "Rehabilitation in progress" signs to trample new growth, permafrost etc. In Peru you can no longer walk among the salt flats because idiot visitors were contaminating them. They've even had to hire a small army of guards at the sites to prevent people from climbing, marking up or throwing the stones of their ruins (and we heard many a ranger whistle to stop people from being idiots). We were looking into a Patagonia trip and it turns out the camping along the W trail is now severely restricted because too many morons were destroying the landscape. So many more people are traveling which means a lot more people who just don't give a shit and have to get specific shots for social media

Which brings me to the second problem: social media whores. Everyone has to have the perfect instagram post to show how awesome their life is. If that means shoving their selfie stick in someone's face, asking people to move so their 20 minute cell phone photoshoot can pretend they had Maccu Pichu to themselves, or climbing over barriers to destroy the landscape so they can get their 'perfect' photo. After a 1.5 hour hike in Canada I saw two women change outfits (removing water proof windbreakers, mittens and hats to temporarily change into warmer weather clothing) do their nails, hair and makeup so they could post their photos on instagram. They faked how nice the weather so they could wow people with how ideal their trek was. Oh, did you want to get past? Sorry, everyone in this 25 person group has to have a 5 minute photoshoot that makes it look like they're the only ones there. "Do not walk" signs? Please - that would get in the way of our selfie! Ima just trample these small plants instead.

I'm not sure if its the easiest way to fix the issue but I think Peru is on to something. They limit the number of people to certain sites and they staff a large number of rangers to keep the morons more in line. Honestly I'd like to see a lot of very heavy fining of people for littering and trespassing. It's getting a bit depressing to see the increase of willful destruction over the last several years. Sadly I don't think much action will be forthcoming because of concerns it might impact the growth of local economies.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It used to be more self policing. Now, guards, regulations and, fines have replaced social constraints.

 

[lxskllr]

Caning would work. Once word quickly got out, the problems would vanish. Nothing like pain to reflect on your poor life choices.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Caning would work. Once word quickly got out, the problems would vanish. Nothing like pain to reflect on your poor life choices.

perhaps a conditional stamp on visas and passports disallowing offenders to visit or book trips to high value cultural and physical destinations.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Some people in life are just simply pieces of shit. Until we stop letting morons reproduce it's only going to become a bigger problem as we make Idiocracy into a documentary more and more.

Japan has done something right with having a culture where it is actually shameful to do these things you are talking about. When I was in Tokyo the streets were always clean - I never saw trash anywhere - and everyone in general just acted appropriately.

 

[NuclearNed]

Preach it, brother. There are a lot of good conscientious people out there, but it sure seems like they are a shrinking minority.

 

[gill77]

People who live in tourist areas have been questioning whether the influx of tourist is a net positive or negative. The times they are a changing.

Some countries used to encourage immigration not all the long ago.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

People who live in tourist areas have been questioning whether the influx of tourist is a net positive or negative. The times they are a changing.

Some countries used to encourage immigration not all the long ago.

Tourists wise - I don't think anyone can question that it is overall a very large net positive economically speaking.

Everything from airlines, hotels, restaurants, gift shops, tour guides, local attractions, etc... are all very much dependent upon tourism a lot of times.... That and they go home afterwards so you don't have to deal with them long term.

Immigration... I can't say is comparable really lol.

 

[gill77]

Both are related to the huge increase in population and standard of living.

In meager times, tourists bringing in a few bucks to increase your standard of living was welcome. Today, many residents in tourist areas enjoy a good quality of life. Having hordes driving up their cost of living and wait times may not offset the economic benefit. An oil well in the middle of town may bring in bucks and jobs but would probably not be welcome. Tourism is not dead, but the shine may be off the apple.

There are plenty of historical examples of countries taking measures to import labor just to farm the open land or work in the factories. Immigration laws were non-existent or very lax. Today every country has immigration laws. Nobody is looking to put and extra car on the street or an extra mouth to feed.

 

[IronWing]

Y'alls are looking at this wrong. Back in the bad old days, people would litter and the litter would pile up along side the roads and trails, a total eyesore. In these modern days, I can toss my trash out the window at my leisure in the comforting knowledge that some do-gooder organization has adopted the road or trail and will be along shortly to pick up my garbage. I save time and energy and the do-gooders get to feel good about themselves for picking up my litter. It's a win-win deal.

 

[BudAshes]

There are just too many people and it's only getting easier to travel. Everything is going to get a lot shittier as there are billions of people coming up in the world economically and they are all going to want a first world life. On top of that social media means everyone can brag about/expose all the cool spots you can go to, so secret/local places are becoming a thing of the past.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

There are just too many people and it's only getting easier to travel. Everything is going to get a lot shittier as there are billions of people coming up in the world economically and they are all going to want a first world life. On top of that social media means everyone can brag about/expose all the cool spots you can go to, so secret/local places are becoming a thing of the past.

Yeah, but supposedly when the rest of the world becomes first world countries the rate of reproduction plummets and the overall human population will drastically decrease.

Honestly, I highly doubt all (or anywhere near all) undeveloped countries will become developed in the next 50 years... But hey, who knows. I'm a glass half empty kind of person.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Yeah, but supposedly when the rest of the world becomes first world countries the rate of reproduction plummets and the overall human population will drastically decrease.

Honestly, I highly doubt all (or anywhere near all) undeveloped countries will become developed in the next 50 years... But hey, who knows. I'm a glass half empty kind of person.

I'm of the mind that climate change catastrophes will kill billions before our planet's true third world regions hit their plateau of reproduction. I guess that's a good thing, the Earth can go back to being Gaia (after a few thousand years of reclamation work).

 

[pmv]

Glad I never go anywhere further than I can cycle to. Being a stick-in-the-mud is now the high-status stance. Travelling around is declasse and the marker of being a pleb. I do all my sightseeing with Google streetview.

 

[lxskllr]

Glad I never go anywhere further than I can cycle to. Being a stick-in-the-mud is now the high-status stance. Travelling around is declasse and the marker of being a pleb. I do all my sightseeing with Google streetview.

You make it sound funny, but I'm with you. I do drive, but I can have a great time exploring out of the way places in out of the way parks, concentrating on the fine details rather than the big picture. It's cheap, and ecological.

 

[gill77]

Seems like more people should discover the joy of biking, it would help them avoid becoming like the tourists described by the OP.

Someone should start a biking thread.

 

[FeuerFrei]

So do the proprietors / operators of historical sites. They'll futz with the integrity of the structural remnants by expanding them to fit whatever historical narrative will bring them the most visitors.

Preservation by re-erecting fallen masonry is one thing, but ... building new additions using the same techniques as the original structure? You're lying about the past.

 

[K1052]

A lot of places are thinking about or starting to throttle tourism. Venice put in turnstiles to limit peak tourist flows. Santorini has been ratcheting down how many cruise ships and people can visit at a given time. Amsterdam stopped advertising the city and is putting various controls on tourism businesses. It's hard to blame them really.

Cheap cruises and airfare have really opened a can of worms for some destinations that used to be harder/more expensive to reach but are constrained physically or vulnerable to damage.

Lately we tend to go places off season more to avoid the crowds and the locals are usually happier to see us or at least not at the end of their rope with assholes.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

A lot of places are thinking about or starting to throttle tourism. Venice put in turnstiles to limit peak tourist flows. Santorini has been ratcheting down how many cruise ships and people can visit at a given time. Amsterdam stopped advertising the city and is putting various controls on tourism businesses. It's hard to blame them really.

Cheap cruises and airfare have really opened a can of worms for some destinations that used to be harder/more expensive to reach but are constrained physically or vulnerable to damage.

Lately we tend to go places off season more to avoid the crowds and the locals are usually happier to see us or at least not at the end of their rope with assholes.

I would think only VERY heavy tourist places like venice can afford to be selective with their tourists, no? I'm just saying, tourism is VERY profitable, so unless you can get revenue by other means (Europe is an obvious example of this), I don't think a lot of countries can be selective with their tourism?

I would also LOVE to travel more to places where "the crowd" doesn't exist, and getting away from the crowd doesn't require paying top dollar for a top resort. Sadly, I fear now that we have a kid that the whole "Dur hur you can only travel during Summer because kids can't possibly learn things when traveling" will take over once they get into grade school =/

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I saw some jackasses got fined almost $1000 and kicked out of Venice because they decided to set up their camping stove on or near the Rialto bridge and make their morning coffee. I laughed.

Anyway, I’ve soured on travel recently myself. Crowds are too big, airports are becoming a bigger PITA, and I’m just too old for that garbage. I’m sure my wife will make me go on some trips still, but at this stage, I think I’d prefer just to take short domestic trips.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I saw some jackasses got fined almost $1000 and kicked out of Venice because they decided to set up their camping stove on or near the Rialto bridge and make their morning coffee. I laughed.

Anyway, I’ve soured on travel recently myself. Crowds are too big, airports are becoming a bigger PITA, and I’m just too old for that garbage. I’m sure my wife will make me go on some trips still, but at this stage, I think I’d prefer just to take short domestic trips.

This. Small towns within driving distance with some bits of history, sights... and breweries (for me heh) are more than wortth it over flying and dealing with all the BS.

 

[K1052]

I would think only VERY heavy tourist places like venice can afford to be selective with their tourists, no? I'm just saying, tourism is VERY profitable, so unless you can get revenue by other means (Europe is an obvious example of this), I don't think a lot of countries can be selective with their tourism?

I would also LOVE to travel more to places where "the crowd" doesn't exist, and getting away from the crowd doesn't require paying top dollar for a top resort. Sadly, I fear now that we have a kid that the whole "Dur hur you can only travel during Summer because kids can't possibly learn things when traveling" will take over once they get into grade school =/

That's true however if the tourist stampede is going to destroy some irreplaceable historic site or natural feature there will be little choice for some places.

There is a reason we chose September to go to Maui again. All the families are home in back to school mode.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

That's true however if the tourist stampede is going to destroy some irreplaceable historic site or natural feature there will be little choice for some places.

There is a reason we chose September to go to Maui again. All the families are home in back to school mode.

We went to Maui in October of last year... Still above what I like for how crowded it was heh.

 

[K1052]

We went to Maui in October of last year... Still above what I like for how crowded it was heh.

We go about every two years. September seems to be the least busy/cheapest time that I've found. I mean it's still Maui and if you're in a tourist area like Kaanapali there will still be a fair number of people about. Could always go to Hana to get away from people but I've sworn a blood oath never to suggest that drive again.

 

[nutxo]

My family lived in a small town when I was a kid. There was a pretty decent lake a few miles out of town and a little further up was a place to hike with streams and small waterfalls and crap. In the summer we would be overrun by boaters and campers . They would leave garbage everywhere.

When my family camped my dad would give us kids trash bags and make us fill them before we left. I used to get so pissed off that I had to clean up other people messes. It's funny because I've never stopped doing it.I always take home more garbage than I carry in.