Here come the tourists... let’s just be happy they are here

HOWEVER hard the South West tourist industry tries to extend the season for visitors – and it tries pretty hard – Easter marks the true start of the holidays.

But how often does it kick off with warnings about jammed roads, delayed and over-stuffed trains, staff shortages in many tourist honeypots and a sense, unspoken but detectable, that visitors are a nuisance to be endured rather than welcomed? Too often, is the honest answer. From the not-so-affectionate names for the visitors, like emmet or grockle, to the passive aggressive signage some locals adopt to stake their claim as a year-round resident, parts of the Westcountry present a distinctly hostile face from late April until the end of September, when the tourists flood in.

To be fair, it doesn’t seem to put too many of them off. This Easter is expected to be one of the busiest in years, with Covid restrictions almost completely relaxed and good weather in store.

And while foreign holidays are back on the agenda this year, there is still a healthy interest from many families in spending a week or two in Devon or Cornwall. They will be back here over the coming weeks, spending their money.

Of course, no one appreciates visitors who don’t appreciate the place they visit. And it is true that a sense of entitlement does seem to come over some holidaymakers, who seem to think that because they have paid handsomely for their accommodation, everyone – even those who don’t benefit from their arrival – should kow tow to their every whim.

But after many years of at best ambivalence and, at worst, downright hostility towards visitors among some sections of the local population, isn’t it time to dial things back a bit?

Because, in the end, who is suffering as a result of getting all hot under the collar because the beaches are busy, the car parks full, and it’s hard to get to the bar in the local, or find a seat in your favourite cafe? Not the visitors, that’s for sure.

Like most cases of anger and frustration, it is the person who is feeling it who has the most to lose, not the swirling mass of visitors at whom it is directed. There are good reasons that so many people flock to the Westcountry every year. It’s a beautiful place; those professionals in the holiday industry have pretty much got their offering down to a fine art; and it is convenient to get here, comfortable to stay here and – all things considered – pretty good value too.

So those of us who live here – the hosts of the holidaymakers, if you like – ought to take a leaf out of the books of the Spanish or the Italians who, for the most part, take a laidback approach to the popularity of their resorts.

Aside from the horn-blowing in continental traffic jams, and an almost obligatory level of haughtiness among French waiters, the attitude of most people who British visitors come into contact with overseas is generally welcoming and generous. And that is sometimes in the face of significant provocation from the Brits themselves. Here in the South West, we should adopt the same laid-back, welcoming vibe. They’re coming anyway; let’s just be happy about it.