I also find it uncomfortable sometimes. But on the other hand, many peoples' incomes depend on tourism. I thought the article was pretty dismissive about this consideration. Touristy areas also...
I also find it uncomfortable sometimes. But on the other hand, many peoples' incomes depend on tourism. I thought the article was pretty dismissive about this consideration.
Touristy areas also get a lot of wealthy retirees moving there to live and they are eating in local restaurants and using other local services. The jobs at a restaurant don't change depending on where the customers live. If you don't particularly like being served, this discomfort is with the entire service industry, not just tourism.
But at times like this, there is also a lot of talk about supporting local businesses, which seems like a contrary impulse? Also, the post office and private delivery firms serve you too, even if you don't see them.
We talk sometimes about automation causing unemployment, but realizing that you don't need some good or service is another form of efficiency improvement that also leads to unemployment, as we've seen. I'm not sure what to do about it other than plug UBI again.
I think there are good reasons to be mindful of the effects of overtourism. I'm in favor of limits on tourism that are well below however many people can physically fit there. The permit systems...
I think there are good reasons to be mindful of the effects of overtourism. I'm in favor of limits on tourism that are well below however many people can physically fit there. The permit systems used in national parks seem like a good way to go?
But that's different from the claim that all tourism is bad.
I'm not particularly convinced that people in Cornwall would be happier if there were no tourists. It seems more likely that many locals would have to move away, or would never have moved there in the first place. The people making money on tourism would have to move to the city instead, because that's where the jobs are.
It's also demeaning to talk about "handouts" from tourists. Working in the service industry is real work and should be respected.
Restaurants do serve both local customers and tourists. If the tourists go away, there will be less money coming in, and the local restaurant scene becomes smaller when some restaurants close....
Restaurants do serve both local customers and tourists. If the tourists go away, there will be less money coming in, and the local restaurant scene becomes smaller when some restaurants close. Enough businesses close and nobody goes to main street anymore. There are plenty of towns this happens to.
So I guess the question is whether you think that's a loss. How many restaurants do you think a town should have? If waiters and cooks are out of work, do you care? Are those jobs not good enough to preserve?
Economists will sometimes talk about creative destruction, that obsolete businesses fail and new ones come along. Circle of life. From a cosmic perspective that's true, but in practice, getting new business for your town is hard and success is not guaranteed even if the town leaders do everything right. Saying "you should attract some other business," to me, sounds like telling someone out of work that they should get a job. It's condescending and insensitive to say that when you don't have any concrete help for them.
For many small towns, attracting tourists is their business strategy to revitalize their community, because they looked at what they have and it seems like they can make the town attractive to tourists. They are fixing up main street, maybe getting a brew pub, and trying to attract customers to them to get a local scene going. I assume they chose that strategy because sometimes it works and it seems like the best bet, and I'm not inclined to second-guess it, not without having some specific other plan in mind.
There are other places that have too much of a good thing, but then the question is how to put limits on it.
I don't know anything about Cornwall, but I can say that the drop in tourism due to the pandemic has been devastating in Monterey with many people suddenly laid off, and unemployment in Hawaii hit...
I don't know anything about Cornwall, but I can say that the drop in tourism due to the pandemic has been devastating in Monterey with many people suddenly laid off, and unemployment in Hawaii hit unprecedented levels. (Unemployment in Hawaii is normally low.)
I entirely agree that a diversified economy, not dependent on one industry, is better if you can get it. Other industries have their own risks. In the US midwest, a typical story is a city where...
I entirely agree that a diversified economy, not dependent on one industry, is better if you can get it.
Other industries have their own risks. In the US midwest, a typical story is a city where most people worked for a single company, and then the factory shut down. I wouldn't consider this to be proof that manufacturing is bad, though, and most cities would be happy to get a new manufacturing plant.
Unless tourism-based economies use this downtime to pivot to something else, or the wealthy suddenly have a collective moment of humility, I don't see any reason for this to change.
Unless tourism-based economies use this downtime to pivot to something else, or the wealthy suddenly have a collective moment of humility, I don't see any reason for this to change.
I also find it uncomfortable sometimes. But on the other hand, many peoples' incomes depend on tourism. I thought the article was pretty dismissive about this consideration.
Touristy areas also get a lot of wealthy retirees moving there to live and they are eating in local restaurants and using other local services. The jobs at a restaurant don't change depending on where the customers live. If you don't particularly like being served, this discomfort is with the entire service industry, not just tourism.
But at times like this, there is also a lot of talk about supporting local businesses, which seems like a contrary impulse? Also, the post office and private delivery firms serve you too, even if you don't see them.
We talk sometimes about automation causing unemployment, but realizing that you don't need some good or service is another form of efficiency improvement that also leads to unemployment, as we've seen. I'm not sure what to do about it other than plug UBI again.
I think there are good reasons to be mindful of the effects of overtourism. I'm in favor of limits on tourism that are well below however many people can physically fit there. The permit systems used in national parks seem like a good way to go?
But that's different from the claim that all tourism is bad.
I'm not particularly convinced that people in Cornwall would be happier if there were no tourists. It seems more likely that many locals would have to move away, or would never have moved there in the first place. The people making money on tourism would have to move to the city instead, because that's where the jobs are.
It's also demeaning to talk about "handouts" from tourists. Working in the service industry is real work and should be respected.
Bhutan does this. There’s a lottery system to get a visa and hefty fees to apply.
Restaurants do serve both local customers and tourists. If the tourists go away, there will be less money coming in, and the local restaurant scene becomes smaller when some restaurants close. Enough businesses close and nobody goes to main street anymore. There are plenty of towns this happens to.
So I guess the question is whether you think that's a loss. How many restaurants do you think a town should have? If waiters and cooks are out of work, do you care? Are those jobs not good enough to preserve?
Economists will sometimes talk about creative destruction, that obsolete businesses fail and new ones come along. Circle of life. From a cosmic perspective that's true, but in practice, getting new business for your town is hard and success is not guaranteed even if the town leaders do everything right. Saying "you should attract some other business," to me, sounds like telling someone out of work that they should get a job. It's condescending and insensitive to say that when you don't have any concrete help for them.
For many small towns, attracting tourists is their business strategy to revitalize their community, because they looked at what they have and it seems like they can make the town attractive to tourists. They are fixing up main street, maybe getting a brew pub, and trying to attract customers to them to get a local scene going. I assume they chose that strategy because sometimes it works and it seems like the best bet, and I'm not inclined to second-guess it, not without having some specific other plan in mind.
There are other places that have too much of a good thing, but then the question is how to put limits on it.
I don't know anything about Cornwall, but I can say that the drop in tourism due to the pandemic has been devastating in Monterey with many people suddenly laid off, and unemployment in Hawaii hit unprecedented levels. (Unemployment in Hawaii is normally low.)
I entirely agree that a diversified economy, not dependent on one industry, is better if you can get it.
Other industries have their own risks. In the US midwest, a typical story is a city where most people worked for a single company, and then the factory shut down. I wouldn't consider this to be proof that manufacturing is bad, though, and most cities would be happy to get a new manufacturing plant.
Agriculture is very risky as well due to weather.
Maybe they would be, but easier said than done. (See my other response.)
Unless tourism-based economies use this downtime to pivot to something else, or the wealthy suddenly have a collective moment of humility, I don't see any reason for this to change.