European locals: 'Enough is enough', 'refugees welcome, tourist go home' - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=V12US;52567754]According to wiki, tourism contributes about 11% of Spain's GDP. The rest of the Mediterranean have similar numbers. If you took away the tourism, it would be a heavy blow to their economies. These countries have evolved to basically need tourism to survive.[/QUOTE] Indeed, it has been since the 60s our sole "industry" rather than invest in other sectors ( that topic deserves another thread ), but that doesn't mean we must ignore the consequences of it. Most of the most touristic cities in Spain had in the last four years their rental prices skyrocketed due the rental of flats to tourists ( AirBnB being the most obvious example ), and like other users said, it makes parts of the city/place fully crowded and expensive to locals. And then if we start talking about "Alcohol Tourism" like the British young goes to Magaluf or another coastal city/town to drunk until lose their heads, making thousands of euros in damages ( and other issues like Balconing ), then you will understand that the situation must be put under control.

[QUOTE=V12US;52567754]According to wiki, tourism contributes about 11% of Spain's GDP. The rest of the Mediterranean have similar numbers. If you took away the tourism, it would be a heavy blow to their economies. These countries have evolved to basically need tourism to survive.[/QUOTE] The economy and buying power are two very different things. If locals have to pay out the ass to live a decent life because tourists are willing to pay more, what good is tourism's contribution to the economy?

[QUOTE=eirexe;52566890]I had never gone sightseeing to barcelona despite living 20 mins from it, I went there the other day and they wanted me to pay 3€ for a bottle of water in a summer day, because turists are willing to pay that. This was in front of la sagrada familia. We went to another shop in the metro and they sold me a bigger bottle for 1€[/QUOTE] Not sure if related but the tolls on Catalunya's highways are a fucking choke in the neck. And I'm very sure its because they decided to price match the French's excessive prices because of the amount of traffic that comes from there.

As someone who works in the tourism industry in a place that gets a lot of it (Lisbon, Portugal) let me tell you that some tourists are not worth their fucking money and should kindly fuck off. Don't need rude, loud fuckers leaving trash all over the fucking place. People say Chinese tourists are the worst but nah that's bullshit, European tourists are the worst, Americans are always nice as shit though, this is all from personal experience of course. Of course, not all tourists are like this and it's really great to have tourists that aren't fucking dicks, if you're not a fucking dick you're welcome.

Why refugees? Immigrants would be better at stimulating the economy and population.

This was also in the news here in Scotland just last week: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-40874488[/url] The isle of Skye, used as a location in many films and TV shows, is completely swamped by tourists over the summer clogging up the single road that runs through the isle, making life difficult for those that live there.

My town will have the road world championship going through the streets(cycling).. I'm not looking forward to it. There's enough tourists here already and they have started cordoning streets in case of terror attacks and such.

[QUOTE=adam1172;52567900]Not sure if related but the tolls on Catalunya's highways are a fucking choke in the neck. And I'm very sure its because they decided to price match the French's excessive prices because of the amount of traffic that comes from there.[/QUOTE] Sorry about that. [editline]13th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Tetsmega;52567938]Why refugees? Immigrants would be better at stimulating the economy and population.[/QUOTE] Well, refugees actually have a pretty valid reason to be there.

[QUOTE=Electrocuter;52567934]As someone who works in the tourism industry in a place that gets a lot of it (Lisbon, Portugal) let me tell you that some tourists are not worth their fucking money and should kindly fuck off. Don't need rude, loud fuckers leaving trash all over the fucking place. People say Chinese tourists are the worst but nah that's bullshit, European tourists are the worst, Americans are always nice as shit though, this is all from personal experience of course. Of course, not all tourists are like this and it's really great to have tourists that aren't fucking dicks, if you're not a fucking dick you're welcome.[/QUOTE] I've found American tourists visiting Scotland to be pretty great, even though you do get the odd guy insisting they are Scottish because of a last name with Mac in it. I've heard British tourists cause hassle in beach resort towns and I can fully believe it. Most people I know go on holiday just to get fucked up on cheap alcohol and drugs and post videos of them kicking over trash cans 'for the lads'

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;52566280]They certainly are but they do cause problems if not managed properly. Littering, taking up space, traffic, in some cases property damage.[/QUOTE] Refugees pose a far bigger problem if mismanaged

[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;52567980]Refugees pose a far bigger problem if mismanaged[/QUOTE] If being the key word. Certainly I think Europe needs to step up its game in regards to the current crisis. But large scale tourism (which, interestingly enough, I would say affects countries that have had a lot of refugees come to them, such as Italy and Greece, more than others) has always posed problems. I don't see how that's relevant to the thread, though, honestly. While there were signs about 'refugees welcome' I think this is just really about the damages tourism can have.

Amsterdam has become unlivable, the city centre is one big theme park filled with Airbnb, tourist shops, tourist cafe's and bike rental places. The amount of bicycle rental places alone increase from 5 to 90, in 25 years time. Rental prices are trough the roof due to real estate owners buying more and more houses to rent to Tourists. Dutch people, avoid Amsterdam now, while 7 years ago it was fine to go there. The problem flared up recently due to low flight prices which causes more long-distance travelers. Long distance travelers tend to go to the BIG locations and the Best things to see in a country, instead of the short distance travelers who generally spread out over the country. (Like the Germans, Belgiam's and French). The sudden creation of a middle class in China who have money to travel also doesn't help. With Tourism being only 5% of the GDP, id rather have less of them.

[QUOTE=Steam-Pixie;52566268]Don't they realise that tourists are good for the economy also?[/QUOTE] It's a bit more complicated than just that. Tourism pretty much only offers low wage, often seasonal jobs, with very weak ties to the locally ran industries and services, which means the cash can flow in but then flow out just as quick as it came. At the same time it massively drives up the costs of living, utilities, food and transport for the locals, while competing with space that things like communal schools, health, sports or cultural institutions would use. Tourism is godsend for badly underdeveloped third world where the monetary value delta is more considerable. You can't carry a healthy first world economy with unbalanced share of tourism.

Just had a boat full of 6000 tourists come into my town Invergordon, gets really crowded sometimes. Only problem I have is they stare and I am thinking all the time wtf are you looking at, am I some sort of indigenous being to them. It's creepy. I had one taking pictures of my flat so I just closed the curtain Eurgh. They just creep me out sometimes

[QUOTE=Tetsmega;52567938]Why refugees? Immigrants would be better at stimulating the economy and population.[/QUOTE] We don't need more people, however we do want to help people in need. I think we can lose 1/5 of our population in The Netherlands and be better for it. In

I understand them completely. If I lived in one of these places, I probably wouldn't want hordes of tourists or refugees to come in and disturb the well working ecosystem we'd developed. The type of tourist or refugee who arrives really makes a difference too, we all know the stories about Chinese tourists and Islamic refugees, they bring shame to their respective groups, and although they're the minority within, evidently they still cause enough trouble to warrant the topic we're discussing today. I have the feeling that alot of these people probably view going to foreign countries on holiday like zoo or safari of sorts, funny people and things to point and look at. We need to foster a good understanding and respect of the destination that these visitors are going to.