All the s’mores

Well, it’s half-past August. At this time of the year it feels as if the hour hand moves more quickly on the seasonal clock. The County streets are still clogged with visitors. But time slows almost to a stop when locals are trying to get from here to there during tourist season. Slow going or not, right now we need those darned tourists. We asked for it by having beautiful beaches, great shops, great places to eat and drink and lovely scenery. We’re built for it, and we continue to build for it. We’ve got the goods they want and we need the dollars they spend in local shops and for local services. As annoying as it is from the two-four weekend to Thanksgiving, it’s the flimsy plate under our bread and butter in the off-season. It’s the difference between hand-tomouth and groceries for many local employers and employees. We can cry and shout about building “real industry”, but tourism is an industry and it’s an industry this community has dealt with for decades upon decades. Tourism in the County isn’t new, it’s just so much bigger than we expected, thanks to destination marketing.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to have so many “outsiders” cramming our streets with their cars and campers and attitude the moment “our” beaches are open? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go to “our” parks, during the high season, and not be turned away because of capacity crowds? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a coffee at “our” local shops without waiting in a line behind the dreaded “tourists”. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to “our” grocery stores and find shelves filled with products and not looking like a plague of locusts had just been through? Wouldn’t it be nice to find a parking spot near the place we want to be? Wouldn’t it be nice if the jobs the tourism industry offers were better than seasonal and paid more than minimum wage? Everything comes at a price. Tourism, as an industry, helps our community thrive but, ultimately, the people who live here year-round have to pay the price.

I believe one of the issues we have with our tourism industry is the feeling that we’re being invaded, overwhelmed. You know, the part where thousands of people show up late on a Friday night and the Clash of the Cultures begins. The “I’m on vacation” culture against the “this is my home” culture. This particular type of cultural clash has always had an impact on the environment by way of excess auto pollution, road congestion, trespass and damage to natural habitats by overly enthusiastic, and sometimes ignorant, visitors. And then there’s the litter, disturbance to livestock and crops, vandalism and noise. I know. I know. Some of us locals aren’t saints. We all have had our moments of wild abandon, but when thousands of extra people are added to the mix, life in paradise becomes a little unbalanced.

Dare I say it, we got what we wished for as regards to tourism, but we need so much more than what today’s style of tourism has to offer. We have to protect our local environment by making sure incentives are in place to preserve, maintain and to regenerate natural and cultural settings. We need to make sure our local workforce isn’t burnt out with low wages, long hours, seasonal employment and ill-treatment. It’s half-past August. It’s been a crazybusy tourist season, but it’s time to widen the focus. Tourism can’t stand alone. I think we may have put too many s’mores into our gobs.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca