Can Tourism Ruin Cities?
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Date: 2019-09-12
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Comments and reviews: 10
Rian Young
Before I watch the whole video -Yes yes yes yes yes yes yesTourists ruin tourism even for other tourists, never even mind the locals. From simple things like going to attractions/museums just to have them full of tourists to the point where you cant really experience the experiences or to how the locals treat you when they realise youre another tourist. Im from Dublin, Ireland and speak pretty decent German. Ive been to Germany 10 times and absolutely love it there. The more I go, the less I feel like a tourist and I can go under the radar without people realising Im either a tourist or foreign in general. When I go to a new city I like to see the big attractions of course. I try to keep in mind how I would go about seeing these attractions if they were in Dublin and how to not make myself stand out from the locals. This whole charade works quite well for me in Germany, but as I only speak 2 foreign languages(English and German) - its a bit of an issue when Im not in a country that speaks these languages or even in Austria/Switzerland where the general way of doing things is slightly different from Germany. The worst experience Ive had for this was in Budapest, Hungary. I dont speak a word of Hungarian so everything has to be done through English. I feel like Im being unbelievably arrogant by going to a foreign country and expecting them to speak my first language in any way as good as I speak it. Im grateful that I do speak a widely spoken language for this reason, but I just think its really disrespectful to assume that other people speak it as well as having to rely on them speaking it.
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Before I watch the whole video -Yes yes yes yes yes yes yesTourists ruin tourism even for other tourists, never even mind the locals. From simple things like going to attractions/museums just to have them full of tourists to the point where you cant really experience the experiences or to how the locals treat you when they realise youre another tourist. Im from Dublin, Ireland and speak pretty decent German. Ive been to Germany 10 times and absolutely love it there. The more I go, the less I feel like a tourist and I can go under the radar without people realising Im either a tourist or foreign in general. When I go to a new city I like to see the big attractions of course. I try to keep in mind how I would go about seeing these attractions if they were in Dublin and how to not make myself stand out from the locals. This whole charade works quite well for me in Germany, but as I only speak 2 foreign languages(English and German) - its a bit of an issue when Im not in a country that speaks these languages or even in Austria/Switzerland where the general way of doing things is slightly different from Germany. The worst experience Ive had for this was in Budapest, Hungary. I dont speak a word of Hungarian so everything has to be done through English. I feel like Im being unbelievably arrogant by going to a foreign country and expecting them to speak my first language in any way as good as I speak it. Im grateful that I do speak a widely spoken language for this reason, but I just think its really disrespectful to assume that other people speak it as well as having to rely on them speaking it.
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Norge Noreg Norway
I live in a city that usually does not get many tourists, but there was one instance before summer break started that irked me. A huge cruise ship came into town, and as I go to a school in the middle of the city, it was the first time I saw huge tourist groups of east Asian tourists. It was a bit surprising since I never saw that in my own city before. When I took the bus home I also saw tourist groups outside of the city center; thats when I thought that tourism will only get worse in my city in the time to come. Throughout summer now Ive seen a lot of tourist busses. I bet tourism throughout places will only get worse in the 2020s, which is sad. Inhabitants should be prioritised before tourists. I think a good idea would be to travel less and save money for then to travel somewhere; stay a lot longer and see more, and use the money you saved. I dread to think how itll be in the far future with a rising middle-class and higher population and a probable larger rise of social media (a big factor in mass tourism. More airplanes; more tourists; more CO2 emissions.
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I live in a city that usually does not get many tourists, but there was one instance before summer break started that irked me. A huge cruise ship came into town, and as I go to a school in the middle of the city, it was the first time I saw huge tourist groups of east Asian tourists. It was a bit surprising since I never saw that in my own city before. When I took the bus home I also saw tourist groups outside of the city center; thats when I thought that tourism will only get worse in my city in the time to come. Throughout summer now Ive seen a lot of tourist busses. I bet tourism throughout places will only get worse in the 2020s, which is sad. Inhabitants should be prioritised before tourists. I think a good idea would be to travel less and save money for then to travel somewhere; stay a lot longer and see more, and use the money you saved. I dread to think how itll be in the far future with a rising middle-class and higher population and a probable larger rise of social media (a big factor in mass tourism. More airplanes; more tourists; more CO2 emissions.
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AwesomeAustin
I think we can all blame Instagram (and social media as a whole) for the tourist problem. I used to (and sometimes still) visit many national parks all across the US and since the beginning of the 2010s the crowds in some areas nowadays are pretty much Times Square in the Woods. These parks used to be places for people and families to go and explore with no need to brag about their moments online. Since people now have the ability to share and post pictures of these places, everyone will like and share, and repeat. Just like many PSAs mention, once its on the web, the entire world sees it, same with the tourist destinations. Its sad how these significant places and enjoying mother nature has become so integrated into social media. At the same time, I am sort of glad it has made people opt outside and enjoy the outdoors, but it has gone too far.
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I think we can all blame Instagram (and social media as a whole) for the tourist problem. I used to (and sometimes still) visit many national parks all across the US and since the beginning of the 2010s the crowds in some areas nowadays are pretty much Times Square in the Woods. These parks used to be places for people and families to go and explore with no need to brag about their moments online. Since people now have the ability to share and post pictures of these places, everyone will like and share, and repeat. Just like many PSAs mention, once its on the web, the entire world sees it, same with the tourist destinations. Its sad how these significant places and enjoying mother nature has become so integrated into social media. At the same time, I am sort of glad it has made people opt outside and enjoy the outdoors, but it has gone too far.
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swededude1992
I am a tourist my self and agree with the Amsterdamers. Too. Much. Tourists. Whenever I look in diffrent travelforums/groups, there is allways someone asking for advices to visit the Netherlands, only thinking about Amsterdam. I been to the Netherlands 3 times. Once in Amsterdam, the other 2 times in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Den Haag and also been riding trains pretty much all over the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a lovley country outside Amsterdam so manny tourists forgets about or don't care to know about. The locals are as well lovley and there are amazing things to visit and or have a look at outside Amsterdam and pretty much no tourists. I allways advice peoples in the travelingforums/groups to have a visit outside Amsterdam and they will have an amazing view of the Netherlands.
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I am a tourist my self and agree with the Amsterdamers. Too. Much. Tourists. Whenever I look in diffrent travelforums/groups, there is allways someone asking for advices to visit the Netherlands, only thinking about Amsterdam. I been to the Netherlands 3 times. Once in Amsterdam, the other 2 times in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Den Haag and also been riding trains pretty much all over the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a lovley country outside Amsterdam so manny tourists forgets about or don't care to know about. The locals are as well lovley and there are amazing things to visit and or have a look at outside Amsterdam and pretty much no tourists. I allways advice peoples in the travelingforums/groups to have a visit outside Amsterdam and they will have an amazing view of the Netherlands.
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Ce G
As somebody who has a degree in Tourism and Hotel Management, I disagree with any form of fast tourism, those kind of trips where you see 10 cities in 10 days, and in my country there is something called senior year trips where teenagee from high school senior years travel to a certain destination basically to party for a whole week. Imagine what reckless, high and drunk 17 y/o without parents or teachers supervision can do to a city. Now those cities like Bariloche are incredible expensive for common people thanks to those idiots who sell those kind of trips. If I wanted to open my own travel agency, I would offer eco-friendly (or eco-responsible, respectful of the culture and history, and mostly staying in one place kind of trip. Also, cruise ships sucks.
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As somebody who has a degree in Tourism and Hotel Management, I disagree with any form of fast tourism, those kind of trips where you see 10 cities in 10 days, and in my country there is something called senior year trips where teenagee from high school senior years travel to a certain destination basically to party for a whole week. Imagine what reckless, high and drunk 17 y/o without parents or teachers supervision can do to a city. Now those cities like Bariloche are incredible expensive for common people thanks to those idiots who sell those kind of trips. If I wanted to open my own travel agency, I would offer eco-friendly (or eco-responsible, respectful of the culture and history, and mostly staying in one place kind of trip. Also, cruise ships sucks.
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Wotanraven
I've been living in Paris almost all my life and I don't feel that tourism is bothersome. Sure, there are bigger lines in the more popular museums (Louvre, Orsay, but the solution for locals is simply to go to these places during the less touristic season. It's not that much of a drawback. Paris' economy is massive enough, and the local population dense enough (one of the densest in the world) that it can easily absorb its large tourist arrivals. I will agree though, that airBnB is a problem, especially considering the housing market in Paris is already quite expensive. But then again, there are other factors contributing to that, like rich people who own a Parisian apartment but barely live in it, or vacant buildings which are somehow stuck in limbo.
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I've been living in Paris almost all my life and I don't feel that tourism is bothersome. Sure, there are bigger lines in the more popular museums (Louvre, Orsay, but the solution for locals is simply to go to these places during the less touristic season. It's not that much of a drawback. Paris' economy is massive enough, and the local population dense enough (one of the densest in the world) that it can easily absorb its large tourist arrivals. I will agree though, that airBnB is a problem, especially considering the housing market in Paris is already quite expensive. But then again, there are other factors contributing to that, like rich people who own a Parisian apartment but barely live in it, or vacant buildings which are somehow stuck in limbo.
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RancidMarshmallow
what it sounds like is that the problem is really travel being cheap. if all your tourists were rich, and thus had the time and money to spend weeks and thousands of dollars in a destination, they would be a huge boon to the city with minimal crowds, displacement of locals, and wear and tear on the city. in order to make sure your tourists are good (rich) you simply have to make travel to your country more expensive. this is delicate, as you have to make sure business travel is not prohibitively expensive, but it should not be difficult to simply increase the taxes and fees related to operating cruise ships, airbnbs, and airlines that cater to tourists while offering business and local travelers options that are inconvenient for tourists.
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what it sounds like is that the problem is really travel being cheap. if all your tourists were rich, and thus had the time and money to spend weeks and thousands of dollars in a destination, they would be a huge boon to the city with minimal crowds, displacement of locals, and wear and tear on the city. in order to make sure your tourists are good (rich) you simply have to make travel to your country more expensive. this is delicate, as you have to make sure business travel is not prohibitively expensive, but it should not be difficult to simply increase the taxes and fees related to operating cruise ships, airbnbs, and airlines that cater to tourists while offering business and local travelers options that are inconvenient for tourists.
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Ruby Greene
The thing that really annoys me about many tourists is their complete selfishness and disrespect to the environment by flying or excessive shopping and the way many tourists will block pavements, entrances to apartment buildings and slow down the pace of walking down a street, just because they are on holiday does not mean that everyone in the city they visit is too and I wish more cities would put the local residents before tourists. Also the whole hygge trend is negative because many people generalise what being scandinavian is and what life is like for everyone there and it becomes just as stereotypical as people who think all scandinavians are blonde and have polar bears roaming in their town.
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The thing that really annoys me about many tourists is their complete selfishness and disrespect to the environment by flying or excessive shopping and the way many tourists will block pavements, entrances to apartment buildings and slow down the pace of walking down a street, just because they are on holiday does not mean that everyone in the city they visit is too and I wish more cities would put the local residents before tourists. Also the whole hygge trend is negative because many people generalise what being scandinavian is and what life is like for everyone there and it becomes just as stereotypical as people who think all scandinavians are blonde and have polar bears roaming in their town.
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André
Portugal is becoming more and more crowded Lisbon is insane, Porto a little less but still becoming crowded. Also You said you like art/history you should look up Nadir Afonso (was distant relative of mine) hes a pretty famous Portuguese artist, and they built this wild looking museum for him in Boticas Portugal, in the region of Tras-os-Montes. Not too many tourists out there, its almost like in the middle of nowhere but man between his art and ancient roman style bridges in Chaves, there is so much history in that little corner of Portugal its insane. They recently found an ancient stronghold from the iron age by the celtics all on top of the hills.
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Portugal is becoming more and more crowded Lisbon is insane, Porto a little less but still becoming crowded. Also You said you like art/history you should look up Nadir Afonso (was distant relative of mine) hes a pretty famous Portuguese artist, and they built this wild looking museum for him in Boticas Portugal, in the region of Tras-os-Montes. Not too many tourists out there, its almost like in the middle of nowhere but man between his art and ancient roman style bridges in Chaves, there is so much history in that little corner of Portugal its insane. They recently found an ancient stronghold from the iron age by the celtics all on top of the hills.
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Hardbeat Eurobass
It's hard not to be torn on this. Yesterday I came back from Vienna after my first ever solo trip abroad and compared to many of the other cities I've visited with other people over the years it really felt like more of a 'true' city than a living museum (cough Barcelona cough. Unfortunately, because I didn't know the language that also meant that I was treated with serious disrespect way more often than I would've liked, despite me doing my best to not be a 'bad' tourist. I can't blame them for it and Vienna was great in spite of that, but it has definitely put a damper on my desire to travel again for the foreseeable future.
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It's hard not to be torn on this. Yesterday I came back from Vienna after my first ever solo trip abroad and compared to many of the other cities I've visited with other people over the years it really felt like more of a 'true' city than a living museum (cough Barcelona cough. Unfortunately, because I didn't know the language that also meant that I was treated with serious disrespect way more often than I would've liked, despite me doing my best to not be a 'bad' tourist. I can't blame them for it and Vienna was great in spite of that, but it has definitely put a damper on my desire to travel again for the foreseeable future.
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