photo by: Contributed
Froma Harrop
Hawaii charges tourists a variety of taxes and fees. It may soon add a $25 climate tax visitors would pay when they check into a hotel or short-term rental. It’s meant to address the environmental impact of mass tourism and help in the rebuilding of Lahaina, the Maui town devastated last year by wildfires. You see a lot of griping about the charges on Reddit and other social media.
Does Hawaii have the right to tack so many fees onto tourists? Darn straight, it does. Vacationing there is voluntary.
Hawaii at least has the benefit of long distance from the mainland. The fragile “World Heritage” city of Venice is easily reachable, making high season there an ordeal for both tourists and Venetians. In addition to levies on hotel accommodations, Venice now charges a $5.45 day-tripper tax.
From Provincetown to Portofino, locals are angry about the impact of mass tourism on their daily lives. The hardest hit places tend to be the charming villages that rank high on bucket lists. When the hordes invade intimate neighborhoods, groceries become fudge shops and houseware stores get turned over to T-shirts.
Several summers ago, we had a perfectly miserable time in a marvelous city, Rome. Standing in long lines under the unshaded heat, we waited an hour to get into the Colosseum. Dusty and sweaty, we then repaired to a nearby restaurant for a very un-Roman dining experience — a rushed meal of soggy pizza.
Romans, meanwhile, are losing the Rome experience as Airbnb rentals hike their housing costs. Over the decade, the Trastevere quarter has lost 45% of its residents. They’ve been replaced by rowdy visitors making a racket into the wee hours.
Too hot in Rome? How about Bar Harbor, Maine, with its cooling breezes? That thought has already occurred to the multitudes. Not long ago, mega cruise ships were disgorging as many as 4,000 passengers a day into this small town of about 5,200. The voters subsequently capped the number of cruise visitors to 1,000 a day — over the howls of local tourist-dependent businesses.
We get that tourism is the main source of income for many of these places. But residents should get a say.
The problem for many places isn’t just hypertourism; it’s the quality of tourist. With its open prostitution and easy flow of drugs, Amsterdam has become a magnet for the world’s hooligans, with Brits arriving on cheap flights considered among the worst. In June, Amsterdam’s city council demanded that Schiphol airport downsize to 400,000 flights a year. Of special concern are those low-fare airlines transporting drunken stag parties.
I’m a nice, considerate tourist who wants to see some of the world. You may be as well. But there’s an argument for becoming more selective in our travels. Where is it written that we have to see 1,001 places before we die? And is the always-packed suitcase a mark of the good life or of homelessness?
Curse the bucket list. Barcelona is high on many. Locals there have been especially aggressive protesting the invasion — spraying some tourists with water.
An irritating TV ad opens with a family living in a cramped and chaotic mess. They then magically appear at some resort where they float in a pool overlooking a peaceful coastline.
The family’s energies and funds might have been more usefully spent decluttering their living space. After all, when the TV ad family returned home, they’d be back in the same mess.
Face it. The actual experience is rarely as idyllic as the ad, and getting through the airport can be a nightmare. The travel industry is hustling us. Don’t let it.
— Froma Harrop is a syndicated columnist with Creators.
