re: Mass tourism protests in Europe

They protest tourism but are fine with all these “migrants” permanently staying in their countries?

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Against tourism, yet for mass, uncontrolled immigration.

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So ironic you could spread it on a cwossant

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Thousands rallied in Mallorca

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Maybe they just don’t want caveman tourists, especially on their honeymoon.

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Honestly, with few exceptions, I prefer hotels.

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Mo Jeaux

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You are either top 3% of income and pay for your kids to eat out all 3 meals every vacation or you just don't travel with kids. An apartment with a kitchen is far superior when traveling with kids. Between the space, a washing machine, small kitchen for breakfast and snacks, etc.

What good do hotels give locals? You think the Marriots and hiltons are owned locally? Apartments generally speaking are owned and managed locally. Locals can also live in them.

This idea that apartments are the issue here is nonsensical. There are plenty of ways to increase the amount of living spaces that has 0 effect on tourism.

If you really wanted to have an affect on apartments you'd not allow anyone to own something that wasn't a primary home. 2nd homes are a bigger issue in most of these places for local competition, someone that can afford to own and not rent it out will always outbid a local. I would never suggest that as it would cause a major housing crash, but that's what it would take.

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The only solution is limited tourism, so I would applaud some pushback. But now that they've built economies around it, it's impossible to go back.

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The other solution is to increase their economy. They don't want to work by and large. Their biggest issue is not the tourists, its their lack of income to afford those places. Most of that comes from work ethic, pretty much all across Europe sans Germany, London, and Scandinavia.

I don't blame them, I'd much rather work less. But that's their choice.

I was in Spain last summer and they were doing the same thing. Complaining about the tourists. Apparently, the AirBnB model they use in places like Barcelona, either displaces the locals or makes the rent so high they cannot afford it. Of course they don't mind you paying way too much for their overpriced items or their food, or charging you $100EU for a ride from the airport, but they don't want all the other things that come with a booming economy. As much as i tried I found it very hard to be sympathetic with the Spaniards in Barcelona and Ibeza as they were fawning over my weakened American dollar.

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This morning I read an article about the Lourve shutting down in response to “mass tourism.”

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that seems silly...why not just restrict ticket sales?

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You are either top 3% of income and pay for your kids to eat out all 3 meals every vacation or you just don't travel with kids. An apartment with a kitchen is far superior when traveling with kids. Between the space, a washing machine, small kitchen for breakfast and snacks, etc.

What good do hotels give locals? You think the Marriots and hiltons are owned locally? Apartments generally speaking are owned and managed locally. Locals can also live in them.

This idea that apartments are the issue here is nonsensical. There are plenty of ways to increase the amount of living spaces that has 0 effect on tourism.

If you really wanted to have an affect on apartments you'd not allow anyone to own something that wasn't a primary home. 2nd homes are a bigger issue in most of these places for local competition, someone that can afford to own and not rent it out will always outbid a local. I would never suggest that as it would cause a major housing crash, but that's what it would take.

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Eh, I do OK, and I do have 2 kids, so when I do travel (other than occasional business trips and a few trips with just me and my wife) I typically do travel with my kids.

I think that you're mischaracterizing the effect that the AirBnBs have on the local economies. They have in large part been blamed (fairly or not) on housing crises in certain cities. While they may be managed locally, they often aren't necessarily owned locally, and they are seen as taking away real estate meant for residential purposes and restructuring it for commercial purposes.

All that being said, my preference for hotels is based primarily on my own comfort. Except for our beach vacations (where we do tend to stay in more residential-type locations) we're generally not preparing meals and snacking in our rooms.