The cover of last week’s Panorama magazine featured an oversized tourist with his camera at the ready looming over a small version of the Colosseum. Kitted out in typical tourist gear of backpack and sun cap, the photomontage of the monstrous man was clearly meant to show the tourist as an overwhelming, undesired presence. In fact, the tagline splashed across the page was “Visitors” in blood-red, ominous capital letters. This was a reference to the 1980s TV show where aliens invade Earth apparently for benign reasons, but really to take over the world.
The perception of tourists as an unwelcome, hostile presence is taking root – especially in touristic hotspots where local residents feel besieged. The most tragic example of this is Venice – lovely, tragic Venice, which sees six gigantic cruise ships disgorging a total of 24,000 tourists a day. Add the 40,000 or so day-trippers to this and one comes up with a huge influx of humanity, which is making Venetians feel like strangers in their own town. They recently took to the streets to protest at the way they were being crowded out of their homes by sheer force of visitor numbers, rising rents and a monoculture of services that cater exclusively for tourists.
The same anti-tourist sentiment was seen in Spain, in besieged Barcelona, where radical groups were filmed trying to put tourists off by slashing the tyres of rental bicycles and a tour bus. In Magaluf, where every night sees scores of drunken tourists roaming the streets, the mayor has declared a crackdown on ‘drunken tourism’ in an attempt to shed the town’s ‘Shagaluf’ image.
It’s useless expecting a huge number of people to behave impeccably and not impose any sanctions for asocial behaviour
The hostile reaction to the tourist takeover is not new. Back in the 1990s, Brigitte Bardot said that the charming St Tropez that she had helped make famous was being swept away by a “tide of human filth”; that tourists “are mediocre, dirty, ill-mannered and rude” and that she intended leaving the place “to the invaders”.
That, of course, is an extreme position to take. Besides the economic benefits of tourism, there is another, more democratic argument in its favour. That’s the one where everyone is entitled to visit scenic spots, to be able to be stunned by amazing architecture or bewitched by beauty. It would be infinitely sad if, say, tourists were banned from being able to revel in Antoni Gaudí’s colourful mosaics or gaze upon magnificent Machu Picchu. How could people ever be moved to safeguard and protect what they don’t know?
There are measures that can be taken to alleviate local misery and to mitigate the burden on resources and infrastructure. But they consist in the (unfortunately) unfashionable concept of regulation and enforcement. It’s useless expecting a huge number of people to behave impeccably and not impose any sanctions for asocial behaviour.
And if we can’t keep up with the enforcement side of things, we would do well to consider measures such as people counters or seriously discussing our carrying capacity. Otherwise the strain will become too great to bear. Not in the short term maybe – but we’re getting there.
So Malta made it to Vogue. And guess what? They didn’t once mention high-rises, concrete breeze blocks or our plethora of petrol stations. The title of the article in question is ‘Why you should visit Malta’. And the answer to that is given as “Rustic beauty, hidden beaches and no crowds”.
I have no idea where they got the “no crowds” bit, but the main point of the article was an appreciation of what Malta is (or used to be) rather than this pathetic Dubai-like wannabe. Yes, we get it: contemporary architecture can be great, modern can be marvellous, high-rises need not necessarily be excluded. But it’s the extent and the scale of development and the lack of coherent planning that is eradicating the country described by Vogue.
This is what they loved about Malta: “There’s an alluring laid-back feel and modest beauty to this small Mediterranean island and plenty of activities (or stunning spots to sit and do nothing) to fill your days and impress your followers. Whether you’re plunging into Sliema’s Balluta Bay for an afternoon dip in the middle of the city, exploring the old, narrow streets of Valletta and Mdina, or jumping off cliffs with the locals into the country’s many natural pools, you’ll leave Malta wanting more.
“As a visitor, what will strike you the most about Malta is that it’s virtually untouched by other tourists. Don’t expect to see loads of tour buses or swarms of tour groups filling the streets.
“And if you’re a history buff, or just love marvelling at stunning architecture, you’re in for a treat.”
Not a word about petrol stations.
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