People need to realize it’s not the locals that decided to base their economy on tourism at some town hall meeting. Where I live the government moved all the industry to different parts of the country and allowed for huge real estate development that turned the area into tourism based economy. At the beginning it’s just extra jobs and people are happy about it but at some point it starts displacing locals and people start complaining.
How are people from a single town supposed take over the government? Local governments very often have very limited tools to influence the economy of their town. Roads, railways, airports, energy lines, water treatment plants and many more are managed by national governments. They decide where infrastructure will be expanded and what type of economy will be able to expand in where. Most of the country doesn’t care that some town are overrun by tourist and it doesn’t impact national elections. At some point the only thing the town can do is to start discouraging tourists from coming like some towns in Italy do.
It’s exactly opposite. Local governments have immense control of their own local resources almost everywhere around the world. If worst to come there’s nothing stopping from locals implementing entry tax and managing tourists any way they feel like - all of which have been done before and is being done currently. At the end of the day locals are the ones that get paid the tourist money and thats exactly why tourism is so good because it gives independence and power for towns and cities rather than waiting for central government initiatives.
So… you just ignored everything I said, right? I’m looking at my town:
highways - planned by central government
airports - managed centrally
railway for cargo - planned by central government
environmental rules - decided centrally
energy infrastructure - planned centrally
economic incentives for industry - planned centrally
internet backbone - build by central government
water management - financed centrally
The central government financed big passenger airport and high speed passenger train that bring tourists but the energy grid is at it limits not allowing for big investments, there are no cargo trains and no economic incentives to bring industry here. But yes, the town will simply decide to build chemical plants and still mills and it will magically work… The only option given by central government was tourism so of course they build the economy based on that. And yes, now they can control it with entry tax and limiting licenses for hotels but that’s exactly what this post is complaining about. People want less tourist so they complain and expect the local government to do something. It’s not like people loved tourists 20 years ago and now they changed their minds. They tolerated it for as long as they could and are now getting tired.
Adding infrastructure adds cost. If you’re adding improvements for added housing, you upgrade internet, sewage, health and safety, replacing old building membranes that eventually break down, hospitals, community centres, libraries, parks, routes for delivery access, this does cost. This is stuff that does benefit the locals. And it’s not only paid for by the locals.
And yet, taxes, cost of living, housing prices, rent also goes up. The one thing that doesn’t is pay. To which the locals have to move to outlying areas and commute.
People need to realize it’s not the locals that decided to base their economy on tourism at some town hall meeting. Where I live the government moved all the industry to different parts of the country and allowed for huge real estate development that turned the area into tourism based economy. At the beginning it’s just extra jobs and people are happy about it but at some point it starts displacing locals and people start complaining.
This is not unique to tourism but an issue of all economic opportunity:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse
The outcome should not be to “shun tourists” but to take over the government and replace the incompetent management.
How are people from a single town supposed take over the government? Local governments very often have very limited tools to influence the economy of their town. Roads, railways, airports, energy lines, water treatment plants and many more are managed by national governments. They decide where infrastructure will be expanded and what type of economy will be able to expand in where. Most of the country doesn’t care that some town are overrun by tourist and it doesn’t impact national elections. At some point the only thing the town can do is to start discouraging tourists from coming like some towns in Italy do.
It’s exactly opposite. Local governments have immense control of their own local resources almost everywhere around the world. If worst to come there’s nothing stopping from locals implementing entry tax and managing tourists any way they feel like - all of which have been done before and is being done currently. At the end of the day locals are the ones that get paid the tourist money and thats exactly why tourism is so good because it gives independence and power for towns and cities rather than waiting for central government initiatives.
So… you just ignored everything I said, right? I’m looking at my town:
The central government financed big passenger airport and high speed passenger train that bring tourists but the energy grid is at it limits not allowing for big investments, there are no cargo trains and no economic incentives to bring industry here. But yes, the town will simply decide to build chemical plants and still mills and it will magically work… The only option given by central government was tourism so of course they build the economy based on that. And yes, now they can control it with entry tax and limiting licenses for hotels but that’s exactly what this post is complaining about. People want less tourist so they complain and expect the local government to do something. It’s not like people loved tourists 20 years ago and now they changed their minds. They tolerated it for as long as they could and are now getting tired.
When the town gets too expensive for locals to live then it’s a problem
So we kick out locals! Problem solved! Who needs locals, right? Profit!
Adding infrastructure adds cost. If you’re adding improvements for added housing, you upgrade internet, sewage, health and safety, replacing old building membranes that eventually break down, hospitals, community centres, libraries, parks, routes for delivery access, this does cost. This is stuff that does benefit the locals. And it’s not only paid for by the locals.
And yet, taxes, cost of living, housing prices, rent also goes up. The one thing that doesn’t is pay. To which the locals have to move to outlying areas and commute.