Following a backlash over staycationers and second home owners flooding the beach resort of St Ives, Cornish business owners have stated they ‘totally rely’ on tourists and encouraged locals to ‘simply move forward.’
Every year, about 540,000 day visitors and over 220,000 overnight visitors visit St Ives in Cornwall, with the tourism industry employing around 2,800 people – nearly one in every four residents.
‘People in the town feel like they are just operatives in a theme park at times,’ Stefan Harkon, an RNLI lifeguard in the town for several years, said, adding, ‘We work in an area but we can’t live in it.’
However, Sarah Hocking, owner of Fabulous in St Ives, told MailOnline that tourism accounts for 85 percent of her business, adding, ‘You live in a place that is frantic at times, but you kind of work around it.’
‘It can get a little intense at times, but you can avoid the town at various times, and a lot of the residents do,’ she added. What we don’t want to do is scare tourists away by the way we talk about them.
It was crazy last year, but we thought it would never happen again. In fact, there has been a significant drop in business since Christmas, and I know it isn’t just us.’
‘Can’t we all just move forward and get on?’ said Jane Friggens, owner of St Ives’ Allotment Deli, adding that the town’relies on an increase in footfall’ and that stores ‘close every day.’
‘We as a tourist town rely on an increase in footfall, whether it’s visitors from other parts of Cornwall or farther away, we bloody need you,’ Ms Friggens wrote on Facebook last month.
‘Every day, shops close, landlords double our rents, bars and restaurants lose workers and bookings.
‘Can’t we all just go forward and get on, don’t be disrespectful, we’re all trying our hardest on minimum pay,’ she added.
The post from April 19 received a lot of positive feedback from local business owners.
‘We wouldn’t have a business if it wasn’t for the vacationers,’ Sharon Spencer, who operates the holiday rental agency So So St Ives, said. ‘We need visitors, the majority of whom are nice and helpful.’