Crackdown on holiday homes blamed for wave of ‘disgusting tourists’
YOUNG WAITRESSES ARE BEING ‘REDUCED TO TEARS’ AND STAFF IN ONE RESTAURANT WERE VICTIMS OF APPALLING BEHAVIOUR
A CRACKDOWN on second homes in Gwynedd has been blamed for falling standards of behaviour in some holiday resorts.
Matters came to a head when a party of “horrible people” reportedly became abusive and refused to pay for meals at a beach restaurant on the Llŷn Peninsula.
Local businesses and long-term visitors were left aghast at social media post issued by Llanbedrog Beach Bar.
It shared grainy CCTV images of diners who allegedly threw their plates at a staff member and told her to “f**k off”.
The party of two men, two woman and two children were also said to have turned all their plates upside down and spelt “p*** with their fries.
Leaving a mess strewn across a table, they apparently filmed staff as they refused to pay for spurious reasons.
“They were the rudest people we have ever had here,” wrote a staff member, urging other local eateries to ban them. “They are horrible, horrible people!
“I felt so bad - they were all shouting and causing a scene in front of the children and they were old enough to know what was going on.”
The group’s behaviour attracted universal opprobrium and sparked several online debates.
Local restaurants were quick to share the bar’s Facebook post and residents united in condemnation. A woman from Ruthin spoke for everyone when saying: “Disgusting behaviour. Animals!”
One concern is the impact of bad behaviour on valued hospitality staff at a time of mass shortages as the peak holiday season approaches.
Another is a perceived decline in standards and attitudes by holidaymakers in the last year or so.
A holiday let owner in Llanbedrog pinned the blame squarely on Cyngor Gwynedd Council for hiking council tax premiums for second homes. In April, the rate was raised from 100% to 150% but many second home owners, fearing the worst, had already sold up.
Sold properties were being converted to Airbnbs and “rented out to anyone”, he said.
No longer were they a bolthole for families that have been coming to the area for years.
A woman from Wigan said some second home owners were being forced to let their properties at “massively discounted prices” to meet the Welsh Government’s 182-day occupancy threshold for avoiding council taxes and premiums. The overall impact is a change in the type of customer the area has traditionally attracted, some believe.
“Definitely noticing the difference,” said one woman.
“Glad I am not the only one disgusted with the behaviour of the visitors this year.”
A Pwllheli man added: “The behaviour of the few so far this season has been sadly quite shocking!”
Last year Sue Hanning spoke to the Daily Post about her decision to sell her second home in Abersoch.
Unable to justify the extra council tax costs, nor willing to share it with “strangers”, she sold the two-bedroom property she’d bought with her first husband 28 years previously, so cutting family ties with the village going back almost seven decades.
She still loves the place but her decision to sell was also motivated by its changing culture as the Airbnb brigade moved in.
“They don’t care about the area and they don’t care how much noise they make,” said the retired primary school teacher from the West Midlands.
She recalled short-term visitors partying late, throwing beer cans and litter off balconies and even spitting from their rooms.
Around one in five second homes in Wales are in Gwynedd, bringing misery to generations of young people unable to afford their own homes or forced to move from their communities.
Cyngor Gwynedd has brought in a suite of measures designed to restore some balance and address the issue of homelessness in the county.
A Staffordshire visitor said falling standards of behaviour wasn’t limited to former second homes.
“People are renting caravans to people they do not know,” she said.
“A lot more problems on our caravan site this year than ever before.”
Some people have taken issue with the broad characterisation of the type of people blamed for lowering standards.
The owner of a holiday cottage near Pwllheli said this was grossly unfair.
“Even the most affluent entitled public have bad behaviour,” she wrote.
“No need to blame families who may only be able to afford lower-end affordable accommodation.”
Similar sentiments were expressed when, on Thursday, another cafe worker issued a heartfelt Facebook plea for better behaviour.
Asking customers for patience as businesses struggle to find staff, she said 14-year-old waitresses were being “reduced to tears because of horrible customers” impatient for their orders.
This prompted another online debate. Some people said “well educated privileged people” were as much to blame as those who “can’t read or even use a knife and fork.”
A travel boss said there was a changing of the guard in places like Abersoch.
“The new lot and their off-spring with money, have no manners, no consideration, no courtesy, no compassion, no kindness, no inclusiveness,” he said. “Abersoch has not gone off, just the quality of the visitor.”
Agreeing with this was a woman from Pwllheli. “I worked in Abersoch for many, many years from the 80s up to 2000,” she said. “It’s really sad to see the decline in basic manners. The “old money” knew how to treat people with respect.”
Another woman concurred. “Abersoch sadly isn’t how it once was,” she said. “People with inflated egos are having a detrimental effect with such behaviour!”
Speaking on behalf of hard-pressed hospitality staff was an employee who works at establishments in Pwllheli and Llanbedrog.
Urging greater respect towards serving staff, he said the sector has been left short staffed all over the Llŷn Peninsula since the Covid pandemic.
“The lack of respect from these outsiders to the area is shocking,” he said.
“If you guys want quick service, f**k off to McDonald’s.”