Tourists Go Home!

Big topic of discussion on both radio and TV up here today......"campervan" users seem to be getting  a lot of stick, along with wild campers, foreigners driving on the wrong side of the road, and tourists dawdling along and not pulling in to let others pass.

Where I come from, in the north of Norway, there are similar problems over summer.  The MH drivers drive slowly to admire the views and the locals get frustrated.  My sister was complaining about it just recently.

Some interesting comments, and observations.  

I was lucky enough to leave the town I grew up in when I got married 35 years ago, but I still have family there, so need to visit regularly, although I dread every visit!  Nowhere to park .... can't walk on the pavement .....it is just so crowded!

As mickysf said, it is a challenging conundrum, but it seems that business owners in the central Lakes are having to 'import' staff as there aren't enough locals to fill the minimum wage jobs.

JVB66, yes there are still towns with "proper" shops, even in Cumbria 

There is an interesting article in the Guardian today about Skye tourist problems. One of the things mentioned was the situation on public toilets mentioned by Kj further up the thread. The local council are pleading poverty. I just wonder if it's time for the introduction of a tourist tax of say 50p a night per person to be ring fenced just to improve tourist facilities?

David

Good point David.

The lack of public toilets is also an issue in the Lake District (and I'm sure it's the same in many other 'honeypot' areas)  Public waste bins are not emptied anywhere near often enough, resulting in littered streets.  The councils here say they can't afford to keep toilets open or empty bins more regularly.

We visit other countries with far better facilities, but we do pay a tourist tax.  It may well be time to introduce a tourist tax here in the UK.

I think Skye used to attract outdoorsy types and climbers. They obviously need a rethink for those who want home comforts without doing anything too strenuous. I'm not a great fan of Skye due to some rather bleak bits in between the better bits.

I lived on The Lizard when I worked at Falmouth docks for a couple of years and since I had the docking list I used to phone some pubs, shops and cafes to alert them to the arrival of cruise ships.

When they discharged their thousands of passengers they were like a soccer crowd flooding up Arwenack Street, the main shopping street, and packing in the retail businesses.

It was the depressingly claggy grey winters, deserted holiday homes and shut village shops that drove me back to Sussex.

Don't the cuncils now get the business rates.If so they need to provide some facilities like toilets otherwise what are the business paying for> Lost in the deep holes and wasted by the local authorities no doubt.

Councils have been charging business rates for decades Fisherman.  

I think this is largely to pay for services associated with individual businesses (such as extra rubbish/recycling etc) rather than services available to the general public.

We visited Skye on Tuesday, the first time in about 35 years and the change in the number of people was unbelievable. When we were there last time I don't think we saw more than 20 cars on leaving the ferry.  What a difference on Tuesday, like a constant traffic jam.  I can see why MH got some stick, just hundreds of them wild camping both on Skye and the mainland. 

Toilets are essential, they should be kept open as a priority,  a small charge, even up to £1 per use if necessary,  would help to pay for them.

Charging for the use of public toilets is common abroad.

Recently, driving to and from Ullapool for the ferry to Lewis, we stopped on the way there early morning in Aviemore....a very popular tourist destination....and the facilities were shut till 8am.  Fortunately Tesco have toilets available to the public and opened at 7am.

Coming back we stopped in Pitlochry at 7pm, only to find the public toilets closed at 6pm.  We had to sneak into a pub and use theirs!