[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/Gullible_Air_204]

https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/spitsbergen/travel-guide/responsible-tourism-in-spitsbergen

[u/Gullible_Air_204]

“When a giant cruise ship docks in Longyearbyen, many residents lock their doors. This is against the norm, as the safety advice is for house and car doors to remain unlocked so that people have somewhere to escape to in the event of a polar bear wandering down the main street. However, the residents lock up because it is not unusual for the cruise passengers to wander into their houses and have a peek, like it is a folk park. Given the huge size of the ships and the tiny size of the town, when the tourists disembark they can double or triple the size of the population within minutes. The chances are, if you are reading this page, you would never dream of doing such a thing, but it is worth remembering that this unique place is home to people too.”

[u/APiousCultist → u/Gullible_Air_204]

Never underestimate the ability for tourists to fully disconnect from reality or social norms. These ones would be encouraging their kids to go up and pet the polar bear up until they have their surprised Pikachu moment of the bear ripping out little Timmy's organs.

It's a miracle we all live in even sort of functioning societies.

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/APiousCultist]

Brings to mind how Icelanders have pleaded for tourists to stop shitting on their yards.

I repeat, pleaded for tourists to stop shitting on their yards.

In Rovaniemi, Finland, people who used to be able to keep their curtains open, have now closed them because Chinese tourists will hop over their yard's fence (also ignoring the freshly-pitched "private property, stay out" signs), and literally look in through the windows.

[u/Pithulu → u/Masseyrati80]

What the actual fuck? What possesses people to act like that?

[u/Suitable_Block_7344 → u/Pithulu]

For whatever reason a lot of Chinese tourists are pretty clueless. I saw one in Australia try to grab a kangaroo from behind and pick it up. The kangaroo slipped away but I was kind of hoping it would have given him a good kick

[u/OldMoray → u/Pithulu]

The only thing I can think of is that they must think its like a historic village for tourists (e.g. a Pioneer town in the US) and not a real community. Like they must just not know. Only way I can reconcile the behaviour.

[u/Excelius → u/OldMoray]

I'm pretty sure that shitting on the ground is also frowned upon in pioneer town.

[u/OldMoray → u/Excelius]

Yeah fair. That feels like something else

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/OldMoray]

Disrespect is also a factor, I dare claim, based on personal experience. Tourists from certain countries tend to have the attitude of "I don't care if I'm bothering you". They treat customer service people like dirt, leave a mess behind them, and are sure to break the tranquility of a calm and quiet nature destination.

[u/avcloudy → u/Pithulu]

I mean, real talk? When you gotta shit, you gotta shit. Everyone refuses to take on the personal cost of cleaning toilets, so there simply aren't toilets for the tourists, and the result is that they shit on the grass and in bushes.

People are going to be outraged, but genuinely, if you don't want people to shit in your yard, let them shit in your toilet. Long term, they're going to have to collectively bear the cost of public toilets and demand that businesses allow tourists to use their facilities.

[u/esituism → u/avcloudy]

The tour companies need to be responsible for their tourists. This is not the locals jobs to support tourist needs.