August 31, 2024 • 5 mins
There's growing pushback against tourists following the post-pandemic travel boom.
Venice has started charging day-trippers an entry fee, while one busy Swiss town has announced it wants to follow suit. Locals have also staged protests in Mallorca and Barcelona.
BloggerAtLarge.com Megan Singleton explains how people can go visit their bucket-list destinations without contributing to the problems.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB and it's.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time for travel. Meccan Singleton joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Now, good morning, Good morning Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Before we tear into travel, a happy random act of.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Kinderstone and to you, Happy rack day to you too.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Oh was that what we call it?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
That's how we Yeah, a little bit like riz and
all of that sort of stuff. We rack ra ak.
We do great racks today.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And when you set this up, when you set up
random act of kind of Stay, did you mean it
to be Father's Day or was that just No.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's the first of September. Yeah, so it's twice I
think maybe three times in the last we've been running
it nearly twenty years. It's only fallen on Father's Day,
I think about three times. Right, So the first of September,
first of spring was the idea for random acts of
kind of stay. And yeah, it's been a ride. I
tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
They kind of work together nicely, random acting kindness for dead.
So there we go. Hey, look, we've been talking a
lot about tourism and it rebounding after COVID globally and
things and there was definitely a time here in New
Zealand where even though the industry was absolutely devastated, we
got to New Zealand has got to go and enjoy
(01:23):
some parts of the country that are normally very populated.
I can remember one summer I traversed tonged Edo with
six other people. It was extraordinary as opposed to lines
of people crossing the volcano. But it is causing some
issues in some parts of the world. You know, people
(01:43):
you know appreciate tourism, but actually they also would quite
like to manage it better.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, it's an opportunity I think for New Zealand to
see what's happening around the world, because we're not quite
back to pre COVID levels with tourism yet, but the
cities and villages and countries and islands that are really
struggling with a lot of things. And it's not just
you know, too many people crowding the streets and like
on Santorini lining up for a photo op and then
(02:12):
you've got one you know Instagram at influencer there that's
taking ten to fifteen minutes just to get the right
shot and you've literally this is what happened and there
was a line, and I walked to the front of
the line and yelled at her because there were literally
one hundred people waiting to go and stand on that
spot to get that picture in Santorini. But also it's
(02:32):
the short term rental owners that are buying up accommodation
and then putting them out on Airbnbs and that sort
of thing. And so ironically staying in a hotel is
part of the solution. So I've got a few tips actually,
because you know, we still have to get Santorini or Barcelona, Venice, Paris,
New York off our bucket lists, right, and the only
way you're going to do that is by actually visiting them.
(02:54):
But there are ways to visit where we can tread
a little more lightly and not be part of the problem.
I obviously your second tier destinations are going to be better,
and visiting off peak is certainly going to be better.
Hiring local guides is the answer, get it. Like the
(03:15):
cruise ships are the worst, right, five thousand people. Maybe
there's five ships a day coming into Santorini and Mikinos.
So if you are on a ship, make sure you
eat a sure don't go back onto your ship and eat,
you know, like hire a local guide, hire a little moped,
hire a car, just put as much money as you
can into local hands. And I think that, well, you know,
(03:39):
it's not the answer. I mean, the answer is just
to not go at all to these for touristic cities.
But if you have to go, then that's a little
bit of the answer.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, it's I'm just sort of thinking about New Zealand
as well, because there was a period of time there
where we were, you know, the government was talking about
completely changing our approach to tourism and how we were
going to go high end and we were going to
manage these numbers and better on things. But I haven't
really heard a lot about that. I don't know if
we're moving in that direction in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Well, I don't think we can afford to. I remember
Stuart Nash really going hard after that, But then that
was pre COVID. Well that might have been in the
middle of the pandemic actually, and we thought, right, we've
got a chance here to reset. But actually it's the
backpackers and the cheaper tourists that provide our hospitality workers.
You know, we can't not have them because otherwise there
is nobody to pour your pint or clean your room
(04:31):
if you haven't got all the kids that are going
around the world on their oees. So it is, you know,
we don't have the problem yet, and maybe there's a
chance in some cities they're going to be limiting cruise ships.
I don't think adding a little fee like they tried
in Venice, or even if they try that in Santorini,
will will make a difference, because if you're on a ship,
(04:51):
you'll just pay your twenty dollars, it'll just be part
of it and off you'll go, you'll step on the island,
you'll just you know, crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Thank you so much began to read her blog's head
to blogger at large dot.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Com for more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rod.
Listen live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB and it's.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time for travel. Meccan Singleton joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Now, good morning, Good morning Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Before we tear into travel, a happy random act of.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Kinderstone and to you, Happy rack day to you too.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Oh was that what we call it?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
That's how we Yeah, a little bit like riz and
all of that sort of stuff. We rack ra ak.
We do great racks today.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And when you set this up, when you set up
random act of kind of Stay, did you mean it
to be Father's Day or was that just No.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's the first of September. Yeah, so it's twice I
think maybe three times in the last we've been running
it nearly twenty years. It's only fallen on Father's Day,
I think about three times. Right, So the first of September,
first of spring was the idea for random acts of
kind of stay. And yeah, it's been a ride. I
tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
They kind of work together nicely, random acting kindness for dead.
So there we go. Hey, look, we've been talking a
lot about tourism and it rebounding after COVID globally and
things and there was definitely a time here in New
Zealand where even though the industry was absolutely devastated, we
got to New Zealand has got to go and enjoy
(01:23):
some parts of the country that are normally very populated.
I can remember one summer I traversed tonged Edo with
six other people. It was extraordinary as opposed to lines
of people crossing the volcano. But it is causing some
issues in some parts of the world. You know, people
(01:43):
you know appreciate tourism, but actually they also would quite
like to manage it better.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, it's an opportunity I think for New Zealand to
see what's happening around the world, because we're not quite
back to pre COVID levels with tourism yet, but the
cities and villages and countries and islands that are really
struggling with a lot of things. And it's not just
you know, too many people crowding the streets and like
on Santorini lining up for a photo op and then
(02:12):
you've got one you know Instagram at influencer there that's
taking ten to fifteen minutes just to get the right
shot and you've literally this is what happened and there
was a line, and I walked to the front of
the line and yelled at her because there were literally
one hundred people waiting to go and stand on that
spot to get that picture in Santorini. But also it's
(02:32):
the short term rental owners that are buying up accommodation
and then putting them out on Airbnbs and that sort
of thing. And so ironically staying in a hotel is
part of the solution. So I've got a few tips actually,
because you know, we still have to get Santorini or Barcelona, Venice, Paris,
New York off our bucket lists, right, and the only
way you're going to do that is by actually visiting them.
(02:54):
But there are ways to visit where we can tread
a little more lightly and not be part of the problem.
I obviously your second tier destinations are going to be better,
and visiting off peak is certainly going to be better.
Hiring local guides is the answer, get it. Like the
(03:15):
cruise ships are the worst, right, five thousand people. Maybe
there's five ships a day coming into Santorini and Mikinos.
So if you are on a ship, make sure you
eat a sure don't go back onto your ship and eat,
you know, like hire a local guide, hire a little moped,
hire a car, just put as much money as you
can into local hands. And I think that, well, you know,
(03:39):
it's not the answer. I mean, the answer is just
to not go at all to these for touristic cities.
But if you have to go, then that's a little
bit of the answer.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, it's I'm just sort of thinking about New Zealand
as well, because there was a period of time there
where we were, you know, the government was talking about
completely changing our approach to tourism and how we were
going to go high end and we were going to
manage these numbers and better on things. But I haven't
really heard a lot about that. I don't know if
we're moving in that direction in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Well, I don't think we can afford to. I remember
Stuart Nash really going hard after that, But then that
was pre COVID. Well that might have been in the
middle of the pandemic actually, and we thought, right, we've
got a chance here to reset. But actually it's the
backpackers and the cheaper tourists that provide our hospitality workers.
You know, we can't not have them because otherwise there
is nobody to pour your pint or clean your room
(04:31):
if you haven't got all the kids that are going
around the world on their oees. So it is, you know,
we don't have the problem yet, and maybe there's a
chance in some cities they're going to be limiting cruise ships.
I don't think adding a little fee like they tried
in Venice, or even if they try that in Santorini,
will will make a difference, because if you're on a ship,
(04:51):
you'll just pay your twenty dollars, it'll just be part
of it and off you'll go, you'll step on the island,
you'll just you know, crazy.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Thank you so much began to read her blog's head
to blogger at large dot.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Com for more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rod.
Listen live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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