Disappointed Tourists

Tourists are good business for most cities. In Africa and the Pacific, they check out elephants and lions or waterfalls. Some do niche tourism, like Japanese golfers that fly to South Africa every year, just to tee.

Tourists also buy necklaces and other mementos made in China.  In Paris and Rome, they buy bags and shoes with French and Italian names, but manufactured in factories, somewhere in China.

Tourists are also a source of amusement for local people because some look sad. They can smell a tourist a mile away. How? Tourists and locals wear the same clothes: leggings, summer shorts, t-shirts with messages, baseball caps, flip flops or hoodies.  Believe me, they do. Whatever you do, don’t advertise yourself by hanging that camera around your neck. Definitely a no, no, in some countries.

Most locals in tourist towns believe that tourists are rich. Because they equate money with happiness, they don’t understand why some tourists walk around looking dejected or hungry. Maybe they are looking for McDonalds because they don’t want to try eel, haggis or fried bean cakes.

Tourists look sad because it’s not what they expected. They came because of a favourite movie. Ads also play a part.  Beautiful secluded beaches in ads are full of plastic and trash like streets back home. Some are not secluded. Local boys walk around offering ‘fun’ for a price.

It depends on why we leave home in the first place.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.