Maybe (hopefully) travel fetishism and instagram mania will die out in a generation or two? I know what it is to live in a tourist ridden city as an Istanbulite: you can't make use of the most...
Maybe (hopefully) travel fetishism and instagram mania will die out in a generation or two?
I know what it is to live in a tourist ridden city as an Istanbulite: you can't make use of the most important transport mediums and public spaces, you need to always consider where they are and what they do, shops cater to them and you're left out in the cold, the tourists believe they've bought the city including with the residents for a couple thousand euroes they spent, they are noisy, disrespectful, aggressive, selfish and arrogant (and rhat's especially White Westerners and also Middle-easterners, for some reason), and they seem to think that being outside their country makes them immune to any local laws or conventions or the requirements of basic human decency.
When the bombs blew and the tourism died out, we finally got to see the city ourselves, visit more central parts of it, to get stuff done in more popular districts more easily, and to get from A to B reasonably and witg our mental health intact.
Tourism only benefits those who sell to the tourists. It is a disaster for the rest.
I’m not going to fall on a rhetorical sword for the tourist industry, but consider this. You live in a giant city which has been one of the biggest trade hubs in the known world for nearly 2000...
Tourism only benefits those who sell to the tourists. It is a disaster for the rest.
I’m not going to fall on a rhetorical sword for the tourist industry, but consider this. You live in a giant city which has been one of the biggest trade hubs in the known world for nearly 2000 years. Istanbul doesn’t need tourism to thrive. But there are many, many smaller communities around the world that wouldn’t survive without tourism. Their traditional trades are no longer profitable, there’s just not enough work or industry to keep a sustainable population anymore. To those places, being overrun by tourists in the high season is preferable to having to abandon your community, your father and grandmother’s community forever. Oh, many people resent it, but they would resent having to move to the big city and abandon their roots even more.
I can see how tourism seems a net loss for everyone who isn’t in the tourism industry if you live in one of the largest cities in Europe. I might even be inclined to agree. I think a large proportion of tourists agree: I think ‘authentic’ is probably on the top 5 list of desirable tourist experiences almost anywhere (whatever that might mean). But if you go to a smaller community that doesn’t have as many legs to stand on as a multimillion-pop metropolis, I think you’ll find tourism there benefits everyone. Even the people who hate it and wish it would just go away would miss it when their local economy collapses and their home becomes depopulated.
I think Wendover's Extremities podcast, with Season 1 talking about the Pitcairn Islands, exemplifies really well how important tourism is to small communities. Pitcairn is the extreme example as...
I think Wendover's Extremities podcast, with Season 1 talking about the Pitcairn Islands, exemplifies really well how important tourism is to small communities. Pitcairn is the extreme example as the podcast's name implies: A small island of <60 inhabitants, thousands of kilometers from the closest land. Tourism represents such a massive boost to their economy it's very obvious how critical it is to the island.
I won't disagree tourism being a "necessary evil" for some places, but in general, I want a line drawn between actual tourists that go a place to appreciate it, and those who go in order to abuse...
I won't disagree tourism being a "necessary evil" for some places, but in general, I want a line drawn between actual tourists that go a place to appreciate it, and those who go in order to abuse the heck out of it. I can't say much about the practicalities of this, but I think residents of places like you describe would also like to have that distinction be made.
I haven't been there myself, but what I hear about Antalya is interesting, for example. It has cities where they want tourists, like you describe. The entire economy is built on screwing tourists for the dollars and euros they have. You can't eat out there for humane prices if you don't know some locals who'll charge you proper fees for the food on their menu. The whole place has simply become a sort of Disneyland, a fake and costly experience crafted for tourists.
Honestly, I can't bring myself to care for the survival of such places, but if people are fine and want it, so be it. But actual cities where actual people live actual lifes need actual space wherein to live. Tourism is not good for such places. And we're talking about such places, not towns or cities that live only off of tourism.
I think we can all agree that people who come to a place to vandalize property, disturb the peace, and drive up prices to the point where locals who have lived there for generations can't afford...
I think we can all agree that people who come to a place to vandalize property, disturb the peace, and drive up prices to the point where locals who have lived there for generations can't afford housing or food anymore, are not welcome. I can't say I find the rest of your comment very agreeable, though.
Listen to this:
But actual cities where actual people live actual lifes need actual space wherein to live.
What do you imagine the people who live in places where tourism is a major industry, perhaps even the major industry, do? Live fake lives? Do you imagine them to be like the androids in Westworld? Your contempt for tourism has led you to dehumanize a lot of good people who don't deserve it. I've visited many small communities that are heavily dependent on tourism. I live in a small town myself, and while it isn't held aloft by tourism alone, some of the smaller communities in the region are. These places still have football teams, churches, primary schools, marching bands, knitting circles, arts and crafts fairs. Little pubs where locals gather for Tuesday night quizzes or to celebrate uncle Bob's fiftieth birthday. They're places that people grow up in and call home. The people who live there aren't mere window-dressing for tourists to gawk at. If you came to those places with that kind of attitude, they'd take it as a slap in the face. No wonder they're out to scam you out of every last Euro or Lira. Maybe these theme park-esque places you speak of that have nothing whatsoever going on of local culture and community beneath the tourism exist, but they certainly aren't typical. To generalize and portray tourism as something that only exists to prop up "fake" places where "actual" people don't live "actual lives" is both wrong-headed and, frankly, insulting.
Most tourism is terrible. Why do people even want to visit all the overcrowded touristy places? Prague (or the Czech Republic) is so different if you don't just go to all the tourist areas. And...
Most tourism is terrible. Why do people even want to visit all the overcrowded touristy places? Prague (or the Czech Republic) is so different if you don't just go to all the tourist areas. And god are the tourist areas terrible. Extremely low quality gift shops, extremely stupid tours, extremely stupid busking and begging. It feels really respectful when you walk around the city and somebody starts trying to sell you some dumb boat tour in English. Like I know that most people will speak English and not Czech here, but come on.
I wish tourists weren't so stupid. It's not like you even visit the country when you don't leave the tourist areas. All of the popular tourist citys look the same in them.
I'd go far as to say that they're becoming non-places. When I go to Eminonu or Sirkeci's main streets as a local of Istanbul, for example, I get a strong feeling that I'm no longer in Istanbul,...
I wish tourists weren't so stupid. It's not like you even visit the country when you don't leave the tourist areas. All of the popular tourist citys look the same in them.
I'd go far as to say that they're becoming non-places. When I go to Eminonu or Sirkeci's main streets as a local of Istanbul, for example, I get a strong feeling that I'm no longer in Istanbul, that I came to "nowhere".
Maybe (hopefully) travel fetishism and instagram mania will die out in a generation or two?
I know what it is to live in a tourist ridden city as an Istanbulite: you can't make use of the most important transport mediums and public spaces, you need to always consider where they are and what they do, shops cater to them and you're left out in the cold, the tourists believe they've bought the city including with the residents for a couple thousand euroes they spent, they are noisy, disrespectful, aggressive, selfish and arrogant (and rhat's especially White Westerners and also Middle-easterners, for some reason), and they seem to think that being outside their country makes them immune to any local laws or conventions or the requirements of basic human decency.
When the bombs blew and the tourism died out, we finally got to see the city ourselves, visit more central parts of it, to get stuff done in more popular districts more easily, and to get from A to B reasonably and witg our mental health intact.
Tourism only benefits those who sell to the tourists. It is a disaster for the rest.
I’m not going to fall on a rhetorical sword for the tourist industry, but consider this. You live in a giant city which has been one of the biggest trade hubs in the known world for nearly 2000 years. Istanbul doesn’t need tourism to thrive. But there are many, many smaller communities around the world that wouldn’t survive without tourism. Their traditional trades are no longer profitable, there’s just not enough work or industry to keep a sustainable population anymore. To those places, being overrun by tourists in the high season is preferable to having to abandon your community, your father and grandmother’s community forever. Oh, many people resent it, but they would resent having to move to the big city and abandon their roots even more.
I can see how tourism seems a net loss for everyone who isn’t in the tourism industry if you live in one of the largest cities in Europe. I might even be inclined to agree. I think a large proportion of tourists agree: I think ‘authentic’ is probably on the top 5 list of desirable tourist experiences almost anywhere (whatever that might mean). But if you go to a smaller community that doesn’t have as many legs to stand on as a multimillion-pop metropolis, I think you’ll find tourism there benefits everyone. Even the people who hate it and wish it would just go away would miss it when their local economy collapses and their home becomes depopulated.
I think Wendover's Extremities podcast, with Season 1 talking about the Pitcairn Islands, exemplifies really well how important tourism is to small communities. Pitcairn is the extreme example as the podcast's name implies: A small island of <60 inhabitants, thousands of kilometers from the closest land. Tourism represents such a massive boost to their economy it's very obvious how critical it is to the island.
I won't disagree tourism being a "necessary evil" for some places, but in general, I want a line drawn between actual tourists that go a place to appreciate it, and those who go in order to abuse the heck out of it. I can't say much about the practicalities of this, but I think residents of places like you describe would also like to have that distinction be made.
I haven't been there myself, but what I hear about Antalya is interesting, for example. It has cities where they want tourists, like you describe. The entire economy is built on screwing tourists for the dollars and euros they have. You can't eat out there for humane prices if you don't know some locals who'll charge you proper fees for the food on their menu. The whole place has simply become a sort of Disneyland, a fake and costly experience crafted for tourists.
Honestly, I can't bring myself to care for the survival of such places, but if people are fine and want it, so be it. But actual cities where actual people live actual lifes need actual space wherein to live. Tourism is not good for such places. And we're talking about such places, not towns or cities that live only off of tourism.
I think we can all agree that people who come to a place to vandalize property, disturb the peace, and drive up prices to the point where locals who have lived there for generations can't afford housing or food anymore, are not welcome. I can't say I find the rest of your comment very agreeable, though.
Listen to this:
What do you imagine the people who live in places where tourism is a major industry, perhaps even the major industry, do? Live fake lives? Do you imagine them to be like the androids in Westworld? Your contempt for tourism has led you to dehumanize a lot of good people who don't deserve it. I've visited many small communities that are heavily dependent on tourism. I live in a small town myself, and while it isn't held aloft by tourism alone, some of the smaller communities in the region are. These places still have football teams, churches, primary schools, marching bands, knitting circles, arts and crafts fairs. Little pubs where locals gather for Tuesday night quizzes or to celebrate uncle Bob's fiftieth birthday. They're places that people grow up in and call home. The people who live there aren't mere window-dressing for tourists to gawk at. If you came to those places with that kind of attitude, they'd take it as a slap in the face. No wonder they're out to scam you out of every last Euro or Lira. Maybe these theme park-esque places you speak of that have nothing whatsoever going on of local culture and community beneath the tourism exist, but they certainly aren't typical. To generalize and portray tourism as something that only exists to prop up "fake" places where "actual" people don't live "actual lives" is both wrong-headed and, frankly, insulting.
Most tourism is terrible. Why do people even want to visit all the overcrowded touristy places? Prague (or the Czech Republic) is so different if you don't just go to all the tourist areas. And god are the tourist areas terrible. Extremely low quality gift shops, extremely stupid tours, extremely stupid busking and begging. It feels really respectful when you walk around the city and somebody starts trying to sell you some dumb boat tour in English. Like I know that most people will speak English and not Czech here, but come on.
I wish tourists weren't so stupid. It's not like you even visit the country when you don't leave the tourist areas. All of the popular tourist citys look the same in them.
I'd go far as to say that they're becoming non-places. When I go to Eminonu or Sirkeci's main streets as a local of Istanbul, for example, I get a strong feeling that I'm no longer in Istanbul, that I came to "nowhere".