Holy shit dude, even assuming that's a true story you seriously don't recognize how much money $500/month is or how privileged you were to be able to work remote while traveling??

The fundamental difference between a resident who is getting priced out of their home town and a landlord who is looking to maximize seasonal rents.

Austin went this way back in the '00s.

The city leadership decided throwing tons of events would boost business in the city. So you took this kinda quiet college town and juiced up with an endless parade of car races, festivals, and corporate events without ever building out public infrastructure.

On top of that, downtown kept expanding well past the point that the traffic can accommodate it.

So you just get these nightmarish jams all through the city constantly.

My county's economy is based entirely off of maximizing the extraction of the merger wealth of the working class and this is pretty much my face at all times these days.

This is atypical

So it proves nothing. But you'll still use it to justify an industry based on exploitation.

Damn the lack of self awareness. All that traveling to learn so little. Pretty much a wannabe billionaire. Just about there in personality. Not there in income. Supposed growth induced from travel but just sounding like a colonist with the lack of empathy and understanding of other people. You don't sound any more than a taker

To be fair, tourists themselves have nothing to do with how shitty tourism is for the locals

Hopefully this isn't lost on the group here but I find it a bit comical that a great colonial empire of the past, which once tortured people around the world into Catholicism, now has tourism accounting for a whopping 15% of its GDP (at the disdain of its locals). If that isn't a manifestation of karma, I don't know what is.

Sure but I think if tourists stuck to specific places then there would be less hostility

So what I'm supposed to kiss your feet because the owning class is raking in bags of cash off of you driving up prices on pretty much everything, while we're left with you getting shitfaced and acting like complete assholes? Thanks I guess.

A few issues with this analogy:

1. Colonialism typically does not involve the consent of governed. If you live in a paritcipatory democracy then that doesn't really fit the idea of being a colony.

2. Your leaders have the option to pivot your economies to emphasize other sectors for growth. Colonies are forces to become vehicles of extraction of raw materials and the people are often forced into labor. They have no say (or vote) in how the economy is managed.

3. Under a colonial framework, you don't even get to the point of building for yourself. You build for another and hopefully live off the scraps the administration throws at you as their indentured / slave labor force.

I know that colonialism is not emphasized especially in Western education but I'm afraid this analogy does not hold. Well have to find other ways to describe this phenomenon that don't resort to exaggeration.

People in the service industry have to deal with bad customers no matter if they are tourists or not. E.g. it's we'll known that Sunday after-church crowds are very rude and really bad tippers.

I'd say you shouldn't be a bad customer no matter where you interact with service personnel.

And similarly, it's known that tourists are shitty customers when compared with business travelers.

But not necessarily compared with locals. Of course that's only relevant when you don't work in a tourist oriented business.

3rd World shithole

Stay classy.

Especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh

Yet majority of people buy a new truck rather than a plane ticket. Just look up real statistics where majority of people don't leave their town yet alone travel abroad and instead buy a new truck.

Traveling has never been as accessible as it is today, period.

The industry itself isn't exploitative, but it causes a minority of locals to accumulate capital, which may be used to capture even more of the tourism income, creating the situation you describe where they might choose to kick grandma out of her home for profit.

But this isn't universal. Plenty of places have strong communities that resist the natural tendency of capitalism at this scale.

A: I would like to know what kind of truck costs the same as a plane ticket...

B: Sure it may be more accessible, but accessible does not mean cheap

Sure, but also people just like it. I live in Illinois about 2.5 hours out of Chicago and I love it. We have all 4 seasons, the population is roughly 400k, we have basically everything a major city has, way less traffic, cost of living is minimal (comparatively), I can travel 10 miles out and it's farmland where we can run ATVs and dirt bikes, hunting (not my thing personally), you can easily go into Chicago if there's a huge concert or event (we get a lot locally too).

I get that it isn't everyone's thing with snowing a few times a year, or you're not an hour from a beach. But that would eventually get old after a while I'm sure.

Just saying there are plenty of reasons to pick "why would you live there" places.

students and their parents in a college town

A: so they can buy 100 plane tickets yet stay at home using their new truck to drive to fast food drive through instead.

B: it's the cheapest it has ever been. Not sure what else you want here? Somebody to pay you and hand hold you everywhere? Like get a grip on life at least a little bit, take the fruits the universe gives you instead of whining.

... Fucking hell this is entitled. Are you serious with this? You cannot be this out of touch. "Why do people buy LUXURY CARS instead of TRAVELING they just need to get a GRIP" do you really not see an issue with that reasoning?

But not necessarily compared with locals.

You make a point. The person who thinks they can pay for a hotel room with a photo of someone else's credit card or wants to pay in cash in the morning after their stay. The guy who walks in at 12:01 in the morning and wants to stay 2 nights for the price of one because it's technically the next day. The guy who is there at 2am with a different sex worker every week and wants to rent by the hour. The guy who gets a single king standard room and thinks because we rented him a room, he gets to invite all his extended family around to have a party by the pool. Most bachelorette parties. Those are all locals.

On the other hand, every children's hockey team. Every spring breaker who drives drunk into your parking lot and refuses to believe that you're sold out. Every snowbird whose idea of socializing is demanding that you change hotel policy. Every middle aged racist in town for a fishing tourney who decides to talk politics because they see a captive audience to give them the attention their estranged family no longer will. Bachelorette parties for destination weddings. Those are all tourists.

Either is likely to sneak pets into their room, but the tourist is way more likely to expect you to buy that their yorkie (it's always a yorkie) is an "emotional support animal."

The industry itself isn’t exploitative

First of all, ALL industry is exploitative. Second, tell me you've never worked in a hotel without saying you've never worked in a hotel.

Industry isn't inherently exploitative wtf, it's just capitalism that makes it so.

People absolutely spend money on luxuries that aren't traveling. Traveling is less popular per usd spent than other luxuries since covid still as people are just more content with local entertainment. Most people don't even leave their town let alone their country. Look up the stats, I dare you. Bye.

1.The Impact of Tourism on Local Communities: A Literature Review of Socio-Economic Factors
Shows how tourism increases income, employment, and infrastructure in host communities.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373644263_The_Impact_of_Tourism_on_Local_Communities_A_Literature_Review_of_Socio-_Economic_Factors

1. Social Impacts of Tourism Perceived by Host Communities – A Review Paper (2021)
   Finds that tourism promotes cultural exchange, social cohesion, and improved public services.
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357139679_Social_Impacts_of_Tourism_Perceived_by_Host_Communities_-_A_Review_Paper

2. The Economic and Social Impacts of Ecotourism on Local Employment and Income (2025)
   Case study showing ecotourism boosts jobs and income in rural areas while supporting sustainability.
   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1757780225000101

3. Tourism and Its Socio-Economic Impacts on Local Communities
   Demonstrates that tourism stimulates small businesses, improves infrastructure, and raises living standards.
   https://www.researchpublish.com/upload/book/Tourism and Its Socio-Economic-2434.pdf

4. The Role and Impact of Tourism on Local Economic Development
   Comparative study showing tourism contributes to GDP growth and helps reduce poverty.
   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287645318_The_role_and_impact_of_tourism_on_local_economic_development_A_comparative_study

5. Exploring the Impacts of Tourism on the Well-Being of Residents in Host Communities (2025)
   Shows that tourism can improve residents' well-being, community pride, and access to better services.
   https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5849

6. Tourism Development and Its Socio-Economic Impact on Local Communities
   Reviews evidence that tourism improves employment, diversifies income sources, and leads to infrastructure growth.
   https://www.geojournal.net/uploads/archives/6-2-9-955.pdf

7. The Social and Economic Impacts of Tourism Development on Local Community Satisfaction (2019)
   Finds residents perceive tourism as increasing economic opportunity and enhancing city services.
   https://www.sciepub.com/JCD/abstract/10306

8. Challenges and Opportunities in Local Sustainable Tourism: A Systematic Review (2025)
   Shows how community-based tourism preserves culture, empowers locals, and strengthens local economies.
   https://posthumanism.co.uk/jp/article/view/636

9. Role of Tourism in Sustainable Development (Oxford Research Encyclopedia)
   Explains how sustainable tourism supports economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation.
   https://oxfordre.com/environmentalscience/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.001.0001/acrefore-9780199389414-e-387

I'm sorry that your town is struggling but the evidence on grand scale of things really disagrees wirh you. Just because you found a hair in your soup doesn't mean the whole pot is to be thrown out.

Then until we get a non-exploitative economic system, you can stop pretending that the tourism industry isn't exploitative.

So you DO agree that travel is a luxury. Glad we could establish that finally.

When I'm riding my bike across vietnam or taking trains across China and sleeping in hostels/hotels, some of which the owner's family literally lives in or down the street from, who is being exploited? Not every place handles tourism the same.

If only women wore longer skirts...

When I was in Barcelona, I did exactly that to eat without spending too much. Two or three blocks away from touristic attractions and I could have nice meals in small establishments with nice people.

Haha yeah but you can be sure they try that shit where they live too.

3rd world places which aren't shitholes either don't need Tourism or don't make it the entire pillar of their economies.

It's only the badly ruled places that are shitholes.

ALL cities have traffic

And its the city's choice how to deal with people needing to get around. What 100% of American cities do is the equivalent of if Disneyworld let people drive and park on mainstreet.

Welcome to post-Empire!

Portugal is incredibly badly managed and corrupt for an European nation, and this is actually an improvement over the first 3/4 of the XX century when the country was ruled by a Fascist dictatorship and so stupidly poor that it even received Food Aid from other countries in Europe. The country had a marked improvement following the Revolution which overthrew Fascism and another when joining the EU, but it's been going backwards for at least a decade (roughly ever since the Euro came to be, which coincided with the neoliberalization of mainstream politics here as the short period of genuine idelogies for the common good in Politics ended and was replaced by "greed is good").

Look around at almost all the imperial nations of 100+ years ago (for example Portugal, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Italy) and they're all at best mediocre. Look at the direction of travel of the UK and the US and the same destination can been seen in the distance (and specifically for the UK, it's pretty noticeable how they're burning the wealth and institutions built/pillaged during grander years whilt not in fact creating any grand anything anymore).

Imperial nations rot from the inside and I suspect that once the culture and way of exercising Power shifts to the kind of parasitical behaviours that is only possible when "living of the wealth created/stollen in past times", it's very hard for it to shift back to whatever mindset created an empire in the first place.

Man, I had to drive from Cody to Casper back in 2013 or so.... Shoshoni Wyoming looks like the zombie apocalypse already came and went. Like holy shit, what did those folks do to deserve to be stuck living there?

Sure is amazing how everyone online is a self-made millionaire

When I’m riding my bike across vietnam or taking trains across China and sleeping in hostels/hotels, some of which the owner’s family literally lives in or down the street from, who is being exploited?

When someone works full time at a hotel in the United States and cannot afford to live, you are FUCKING DELIGHTED that they're being exploited. Stop using your gap year to justify exploitation, tourist.

When someone works full time at a hotel in the United States and cannot afford to live,

Bro I worked full time in the US and couldn't afford to live, that's why I left. What you're describing is specific to certain locations, not tourism as a concept.

I never said millionaire. Not even close. I make enough to pay my rent, bills, and go on a couple vacations to see my grandchild. Don't know why making a living suddenly equates into millions.

While I hate tourism and owning class as much as the other guy, you have to account for economical realities. A lot of small places would be dying ghost towns without tourism. Only realistic (but not necessarily easy) way to reduce tourism without destroying the economy is to found alternate competing economical activity so that the city is less dependent on tourism and then find a way to limit tourism by some means.

And yet you cannot understand why some people who are exploited within a system that encourages entitled behavior might not like tourists very much.

Glad you had a good experience, tourist.

And yet you cannot understand why some people who are exploited within a system that encourages entitled behavior might not like tourists very much.

I can understand why you might not like tourists in your town, where their money goes to the people who are exploiting you, furthering their ability to do so, but that's because your town is ruled by bourgeoisie tyrants. I also understand why that's dumb, because the problem isn't the tourists or tourism. It's specific to your local area's inability to control your bourgeoisie.

I understand that you think I deserve to be exploited.

Many tourist destinations are popular due to their architecture and monuments. Ghost towns don't make big monuments and cathedrals.

Nothing I've said suggests I think exploitation due to capitalism is just. I feel like you're not even listening to me.

I feel like you're so enamored with tourism that you don't care who it hurts and are willing to blame exploitation on the exploited if that's what it takes to avoid introspection.