Leisure Tourists - Why the Hate?

[AliasTheory]

Eeeuw...I have to say that I struggle with chopsticks, as I have rheumatoid arthritis and my fingers are awkward and very clumsy. For me it would not be a case of ignorance, but I would likely starve if I had to use chopsticks, as it would take me a year to eat lunch/dinner.

The chopstick thing isn't a big deal, really. It is the sunburnt people that really ticks locals off, especially. If you get all burnt up, expect people to be giggling behind your back for the rest of the week.

 

Hawaii is depicted as pure paradise in a lot of cases, but just like every other country out there, we have our own culture with our own unique set of problems. This is one of them.

[ub3rman123]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKx0aek1T0w

[Chaosblade02]

Tourism is about the only thing Hawaii has going for it to boost its economy, the way I look at it, if it wasn't for tourists, most people in Hawaii wouldn't have jobs. So that is incredibly ignorant to have ill feelings for and to stereotype tourists, in a country that has an economy almost entirely based on tourism. You should be thanking and welcoming them.

[Vagrant0]

Generally, people hate tourists because they're ignorant, disrespectful, and draw attention to things we take for granted. The moving slow, not knowing how to drive, bad fashion sense, and pasty complexion bit could really be said about anybody.

 

Although I havn't done much traveling abroad, I'd like to think that I was seen more as a foreign student who is living in the country instead of just some tourist. Of course, being versed on some of the customs, always looking like you know where you're going, even when you don't (and never having a problem with where you end up), having the ability to read, speak, and understand some of the language, and eating "normal" food (when in Rome, you eat what the businessmen eat), tends to help shed the tourist perception, even when you stand out like a sore thumb. In truth, during my trip to Japan over the last summer, my only tourist moment happened when I wasn't even in the country 3 hours and was confronted with a touch-sensitive door. Once I saw it used, I felt like an idiot, but yeah... Half of not looking like a jackass is doing your homework and maintaining an impression that you belong wherever you are. The other half is not being a jackass to begin with.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Vagrant0

[Maharg67]

Vagrant0, I agree but its easier said than done especially when dealing with more subtle, more assumed customs.

 

One reason tourists are not liked is that they are often seen, rightly or wrongly, as richer than locals and willing to splash out in a way that locals find impossible. Often what locals forget is that tourists tend to save up money to spend on their holidays. They may not be such big spenders back home where they also have to economise, to follow a budget.

[grannywils]

Tourism is about the only thing Hawaii has going for it to boost its economy, the way I look at it, if it wasn't for tourists, most people in Hawaii wouldn't have jobs. So that is incredibly ignorant to have ill feelings for and to stereotype tourists, in a country that has an economy almost entirely based on tourism. You should be thanking and welcoming them.

 

I guess I shouldn't make such a big deal out of this, but a few times now Hawaii has been referred to as a country. Hawaii is a State within the United States; and I'm pretty sure that many of the tourists being referred to are not only foreign visitors but fellow Americans. I used to do a great deal of business with Hawaii from over here on the mainland and have many friends living there, and I do know that many of the local Hawaiian people have expressed a certain disregard for tourists from both the U.S. and abroad. I think it is for the reasons already mentioned. Just as New Yorkers probably find some mid-westerners too slow moving and some southeners find north easterners too fast talking, etc., etc., once again we find ways to become separate from one another. However, it would seem to me if one is going to take the time to visit anywhere as a tourist it would be incumbent upon him to also prepare himself enough with information about where he is going in order to behave as a guest in that environment rather than a buffoon (seems like I just recently used that word somewhere else. hmmm). Why go to Greece from Iowa if you want to eat McDonalds (for example), and then complain to the Greeks for not having any.

[AliasTheory]

Tourism is about the only thing Hawaii has going for it to boost its economy, the way I look at it, if it wasn't for tourists, most people in Hawaii wouldn't have jobs. So that is incredibly ignorant to have ill feelings for and to stereotype tourists, in a country that has an economy almost entirely based on tourism. You should be thanking and welcoming them.

True, unfortunately. I proud to say I'm not part of those "haters." And state, please. D:

[Ghogiel]

, my only tourist moment happened when I wasn't even in the country 3 hours and was confronted with a touch-sensitive door. Once I saw it used, I felt like an idiot, but yeah...

But to be fair, even where I live stupid things like that happen to me. you spend a minute trying to press on anything that looks press-able on the restroom sinks, only to find they turn on by themselves if wave you hand the correct distance away in the right spot, or to get soap, or to turn on the hand dryer. light switches, doors, sinks, toilet flushing...It's gotten the better of me at some point. then you have to workout how to use the self service checkout at tescos, I was living abroad in the ghetto when they implemented those, so when I moved back after a couple years, i was an alien moron all of a sudden. :pinch:

japan would blow my mind i bet.

[evilneko]

That's nothing. Japan blows the minds of people who haven't even been there. :teehee:

 

The moving slow, not knowing how to drive,

 

YES!

 

Know where you're going, or at least pretend to! Miss your turn? Drive on until the next opportunity for a u-turn!

[Vagrant0]

That's nothing. Japan blows the minds of people who haven't even been there. :teehee:

Yes, it is a bit much if you can't learn to roll with the situation and adapt to your surroundings. It was quite entertaining hearing how some of the other tourists were managing their food situation. A good many of them were defaulting to western franchises, like Pizza Hut instead of just popping into a noodle house or many of the other nicer establishments, easily noted by either signage or a display of plastic food showing what was served inside. That said, I did go and grab a Big Mac while I was there, and can report that McDonnalds tastes the same even on the other side of the world.