who lives in tourist places?

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:23 am

well, I for one, do. As you may know, I live in Miami now and that's one hell of a tourist place. It's kind of different than back in the 70's when it used to be a very anglo-white orientated, luxury resort destination. After the cuban influx, South Beach has become the party town of... well, maybe entire US. (not that the cuban influx directly caused the conversion)

It's interesting to see the reality that outsiders, and locals see at a tourist location. The locals are the cuban immigrants, venezuelans, columbians, and the whole latin shabang. Then, in South Beach, you get the multi-million dollar condos that celebrities buy for status, and rarely use. There are also multi-million dollar beach front apartments that... who knows who, lives in. And the we have, tourists.

There are only a couple of things you can do in Miami. Go to a club event on South Beach, or go drinking on South Beach. Or I guess you can go drinking in Key West too, but that's far. You might go check out some gator parks, but the nightlife is the hottest. Which makes it awkward for anything but teenage/party goer tourist to be here. Because we still get family types or obviously too old types. I have no idea where these people go. Well, we have a zoo, I guess.

I'm not very sure where tourism stands in terms of Miami-Dade's economics as a whole.. I'm not sure it's big enough to hold up the economy like it did pre cuban influx.. maybe it's the ports and harbors that's creating the dough. Whatever it is, from a local's point of view, Miami is extremely undeveloped. (or, from my point of view) Public facilities are poorly maintained and things just generally, "don't work". There's a highway ramp that's been under construction for atleast the past 5 years! From an every life point of view, Miami is far from the South Beach celebrity/party lifestyle. It's just another countryside place with too many gators, and not enough educated workers.

Money doesn't come rolling in because of the decaying tourism, and the locals aren't motivated to get educated. Or the main problem is that those that do generally flee from the state. It's a dilemma especially for the cubans because they're simply relieved from the safety that living in the US provides, and happy about having the bare necessities, like food, shelter, and clothing. If you're happy you can stay alive, the next thing on your priority list is not going to be "get a college degree". Kind of a jump there.

I feel for the cubans tho. I never hear good stories about cuba. Last one I heard was that some people actually have to eat corpses to stay alive.. well, maybe I'm getting some cuban imagination here but whatever it is, it seems to be pretty bad. People get locked up all the time for political problems, sort of like North Korea. At times, an entire farming community had been locked up because they couldn't produce enough bananas on a coffee farm. (they had to produce bananas because fidel thought it'll be cool) So, these people are happy that they're not in prison, alive, and have enough to eat.

I guess all travel destinations have this duality of what the locals see and what the tourists see.. I'm interested in what you guys have picked up from around the world. How does tourism affect the local people's mentality? Economy? Where do tourists stand within the local community? Very un-musical, but should be interesting to find out.

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2006-03-03 05:35 ]

virtualstudio · Post by **virtualstudio** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:56 am

I live in Amsterdam and yes tourism is a very importent economic source in Amsterdam,
Amsterdam has no beaches like Miami also not such nice weather like you have.

we have infact two sorts of tourist visiting our city;
We have the old city with its historical buildings,channels and musea.
ofcourse there is much to see from famous Dutch paints like Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

And than we have our Sex and drugs tourism, because we have "The Red Light "district
prostitution is legal in Holland, beautifull women behind the windows atract men from
all over the world. These women pay there taxes because the are offical working girls,
wich is good for Amsterdams economics.
"soft"-drugs like marihuana and hassish are also "legal"(long story) so we have here
the Coffeshops where you can buy your stuff get stoned and don't worry about police etc.
also for this its very good for Amsterdam economics the coffeshops pay their taxes
over their sold stuuf, those tourist spend money in hotels, shops, bars etc.

I think smokers in general are relaxed peolpe so I like to go to a coffeeshop and
meet people from other country's .
I think I'm lucky to live in Amsterdam I only think:
We have SEX.....
we have drugs...
we only need a bit more Rock 'n Roll

Greetings From Amsterdam

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:06 am

I live in a little tourist area located in the Shenandoah Valley 120 miles from Washington DC. I call it "The land that time forgot". It's a ski resort but not a large one. It started 30 years ago but recently there has been more development due to low interest rates and the low cost of homes here. There was another resort a few miles from where I live which was much more crowded 100 years ago because of the springs which people thought had magic healing powers. That all ended when the highway system was created and people could go on more distant and exotic vacations. The 300 room hotel is still there. It is now owned by the Episcapol church of Virginia. They have outdoor music festivals there where you can hear Beethovan and cows while you gaze at the mountains.

Post by **garyb** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:09 pm

lot's of tourists here...
we have sports, themeparks, beaches, skiing, fishing and shows all within easy automobile range...eh, so what..

Ken, don't beleive everything these guys tell you. if you're ever in this part of the world i'll show you some really crazy evidence of what REALLY goes on in this world..

many of the cubans in florida are deposed members of the previous extremely corrupt system that existed prior to castro and they are understandably upset at the loss of status and often, family fortune. they are also often mafia...

[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2006-03-03 14:12 ]

H-Rave · Post by **H-Rave** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:24 pm

I Live in Toulouse,France which has a thriving tourist trade,which brings in alot of money.But then We also build the biggest passenger planes in the world which brings in ten times more than that.Economic slavery isn't confined to one sector or one ethnic minority, it also covers classes and education.
I don't think that injustice is a battle which should be fought on one front.

ali · Post by **ali** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:08 pm

Vancouver Canada ......enough said.

Post by **garyb** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:15 pm

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:29 am

Bath's pretty touristy - it's a World Heritage City (best example of Georgian architecture) and fills up alarmingly in the Summer, so I try to avoid the town centre then as much as possible!

There's a saying, something like, "if you throw a brick into a Bath crowd during Summer, you've only got a one-in-five chance of hitting a Bathonian"

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:11 pm

A friend has moved down to Surfer's Paradise in Queensland Australia. I've popped in to visit. I've never seen so many drunk "young bucks" in one place.

The locals got upset some time ago because all they could ever see were Japanese. The council finally converted beach signs over to Japanese, they were that important to the economy.

Then the Japanese got wise. They bought/set up their own duty free shops, did closed deals with tourist services, tours etc. The Japanese were only taken to Japanese owned businesses...... and charged ridiculous prices. A boat trip that a local would pay $25 for, the tour operators were charging their countrymen $100 for......etc etc. I heard from my Korean friend that they were even charging their tours to step on the beach!!!!! (They were told that this is how it is in Australia)

Seems there are less Japanese tourists now, and more a mixture of Koreans, Chinese, Europeans etc. Apparently the Japanese found Australia "too expensive".

tgstgs · Post by **tgstgs** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:46 am

vienna austria
people come for culture and music (clasical) they go to theatres and opera but real live (music) is in small clubs the tourists never see sorry;
this year is Mozart year everything is Mozart from cake to coffee you cant escape they get you! sorry wolfgang
good vibes

Post by **hubird** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:13 am

I'll be one of those tourists next week, but I'll hide myself up high in the mountains

CU later guys

H-Rave · Post by **H-Rave** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:41 am

I come from a place called," the future ",where everything is more expensive.But the good thing is,to visit,"the future",is free,all you have to do is wait for a minute and your already there.

Post by **garyb** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:18 pm

i don't believe you. everytime i think i'm there i find it was the past.

H-Rave · Post by **H-Rave** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:50 am

Anyway that's what the tour guide told me,I hope he's right,because I gave him my last 25 bucks!.
Oh and that reminds me I've gotta get hold of the hitchikers guide to the galaxy,or the lonely planet.

[ This Message was edited by: H-Rave on 2006-03-12 06:53 ]

ARCADIOS · Post by **ARCADIOS** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:53 pm

greece.
no tourism at all

Post by **garyb** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:10 pm

AudioIrony · Post by **AudioIrony** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:13 pm

Canberra, Australia.... and we're all tourists

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:30 pm

Too right

AudioIrony · Post by **AudioIrony** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:10 pm

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:27 am

I'm no tourist. I know the bloody where I am.