Is holiday hot-spot Cornwall becoming a victim of its own success?
IF the tourism publishing firm Fodor’s Travel made postcards for Cornwall, the latest one to grace the revolving sales displays outside newsagents and ice cream shops in the county would read: Wish you weren’t here!
Not that this will much worry those whose job it is to promote the ever popular Duchy as the go-to destination for overseas visitors and staycationers, with its spectacular coastline, historic harbours, surfing beaches, restaurants, art galleries and environmental attractions.
The reason? Fodor’s concludes that the county, one of the most indemand destinations for domestic tourism, has become swamped by visitors. It has added Cornwall to its ‘No List’ of locations to avoid in 2023, joining such places as Lake Tahoe in California, Antarctica, Barcelona, Paris, Dubrovnik, Venice, Amsterdam, Maya Bay and Koh Tao in Thailand, Maui in Hawaii and Arizona, Nevada, California and Utah. That is quite a list.
Fodor’s weighed up the pressures on tourism hot-spots and included natural attractions that could use a break in order to heal and rejuvenate; cultural sites that are drowning in overcrowding; and locations where water shortages have become an issue. According to the publisher’s website, Cornwall falls into the second category – over-tourism and a strain on resources being a concern, with the population doubling in size during the summer and the local housing market distorted by increasing numbers of properties becoming holiday lets or second homes.
One person quoted in Fodor’s 2023 ‘No List’ report said Cornwall was “suffering badly under the sheer weight of numbers it is subjected to each year”.
The county’s popularity has certainly grown over recent years, with hit TV shows set on the Cornish coast and a staycation boom, fuelled by overseas travel restrictions during the pandemic, adding to the numbers heading West.
The tourism and hospitality industry is of course vital for the economy of the county, and those who work in it may well say ‘the more the merrier’, but there is also a downside.
Residents will be familiar with congested narrow lanes, overflowing car parks, heaving high streets and crowded beaches as visitors descend during the holidays, and rising demand for holiday accommodation has pushed property prices out of reach of locals – including those workers essential for the staffing of businesses such as hotels, restaurants and visitor attractions.
Tourism chiefs are aware of the pressures that popularity can bring, and back in 2018 tourism board Visit Cornwall even stopped promoting Kynance Cove and Porthcurno because of overcrowding.
More recently, Visit Cornwall chief executive Malcolm Bell said: “We have to tackle the problems of success. The new direction in tourism should be driven firstly by what the people of Cornwall want, the next thing is improving the jobs and career prospects, and it’s got to be sustainable and regenerative and not damaging.”
Striking a balance is key.