What do you think when you see a tourist group in the city?

Not much. They come and they go all the time. It’s not a big deal – I live in a big city where people like to visit.

Mostly I’m happy that they are here and spending money, because the more taxes that they pay (hotel, restaurants, sales tax), the lower my taxes are. And the tourists coming here keep a lot of people employed.

So it’s no big deal to have tourists in town.

I spent my childhood at Berlin, where always and everywhere were groups of tourists. There is nothing special about seeing tourists. It’s like @elbanditoroso said.

I enjoy tourists here, older & rich, reaady to enjoy themselves. Plus they leave happy.

I think if my city were smart, they’d invest on cleaning up the neighborhoods around the major tourist attractions.

The only hotels close to Busch Gardens and Adventure Island are rented by the hour, if you know what I mean, by the night, or the week, and still boast that they have color TVs.

I don’t think anything. I usually live in places that attract a lot of tourists. If I get a chance to talk to them it’s interesting to hear about where they are from, if they like my city and other places they have travelled to.

@Seek_Kolinahr I have to agree with that.

I’m trying to gues from where are they by the lang or dress.

Seeing a bunch of old people cruising by on segways is kind of funny. There’s always that one person who loves to just book it on those things.

I look forward to them trying to ask me directions in broken French. :)

If I saw them outside right now I’d wonder if they were lost since I am away from the beaten path but I do live near one of the more popular destination malls for my state especially since they built the casino next to it so I do see a lot of tourists when I head that way. To me they are just non-locals so no biggie…..

I would just envy them. In my mind I would think “I wish I could travel like you do.”

Boston here. As the birthplace of the American Revolution, we host millions of tourists each year. They come here from all parts of the USA and all the other countries of the world. We even have tour guides who speak Italian, French, German, Chinese, etc. and lead groups of tourists from those distant lands. I’m always delighted to see them. It indicates people are still interested in an important phase of history; and, in a more self-interested vein, it means millions of dollars in spending in the local area, which in turn means lots of jobs and prosperity. Win-win.

If it’s not in the summer, I wonder why they don’t go to warmer places because it’s way too cold to walk around on sightseeing in Copenhagen from now until April. But I like it if I see it. I love travelling and when I can’t do that, it’s nice to hear or see a little bit of the wild world in my home town.

You know…I don’t think I have ever seen a tourist group in my Northern California city. Conventioneers, yes, and occasional couples with maps, and kids with backpacks, but a group of actual tourists with a guide? I don’t think so.

If I did, my thought would probably be, “I wonder what they’ve found to look at.”

Afterthought: I’ve probably seen a few tour buses cruising the high spots of Silicon Valley, just to look at the outsides of places with signs like Intel and eBay and Cisco and Apple and Google. I don’t know where the visitors go when they get off the bus.

@Jeruba – are you sure those are really tour buses? Might they be NSA employees invading places like facebook and Google and attaching their data suction equipment?

Oh, yes, I suppose they could. In fact, I’m going to have to take another look at the grocery-cart nomads, the all-night-bus riders, the pushcart vendors, and the skateboard hoodies. They could all be working for the NSA. NSA agents could be secretly siphoning data from our badges when they ring up our enchiladas and samosas and chicken Caesars in the company cafeterias. God knows who’s emptying the wastebaskets and data-rich recycle bins.

I see them from time to time, and I always hope they are having fun.

If it’s in a big city, then I’m probably the tourist. lol
About 12 years ago I went to NYC with my then fiancé, I wore my Red Wings jersey. Some people were really rude about it. Mission accomplished.

Sometimes when they look lost, I want to go over (and often do) help them find their destination, and then if they’re interested in chatting, I’ll often suggest other places that they might find interesting, or suggest great local restaurants.

I feel different about them depending on my mood.

I could feel ashamed because our city doesn’t look like much. And cam be pretty boring.

I could be annoyed because they clutter up the city and get in the way.

I could be grateful. Thanks for the boost in our economy suckers..lol
Or I feel completely diffident about it.

Every now and again I socialize with them. But the tours and tourist buses make me think of fight club… What a waste of money. You want to know what Alaska is like get off the damn bus. Forget the tour and immerse yourself in our culture. Go through life being told what to see do you? Any how over all I am grateful to tourists.

They are on holiday. If they are travelling together in a group by bus I always wonder why, it is not the way I would like to see a place, 6 cities in 2 days kind of thing, not my style at all. If they are very elderly though I understand why they might choose to travel in a group and let someone else make the bookings for them, yes I can fully understand that rationale.

Tourists crack me up. Why do all of them feel compelled to wear khakis and Hawaiian t-shirts, regardless of where they’re vacationing? It really makes them obvious. I still do all the normal touristy things when I travel, like take pictures, and point at things, and get excited over every food, but I dress like I normally do, and people think I’m local. I’ve been asked for directions several times.

I’m appreciative that they’re interested enough in my city and my part of the world to spend their hard-earned money and come for a visit. Some come from very far away, and you know travel is not cheap these days. If they seem to need help or information, I always try to do what I can to make them comfortable.

They’re a regular part of life here in DC. When people do the tourist thing here, they really go all out. We get huge groups of kids and parents in matching neon t-shirts, riding segways and wearing helmets, that kind of thing.

Most of them come here during the summer because that’s when the kids are out of school. That is the WORST time of year to be here. Summers here are humid, muggy, and terrible, because the land here literally used to be a swamp. This really nice couple from Canada were asking me if you could swim in the river, because it was so hot. I wouldn’t put my pinkie toe in there.

I feel proud to be the citizen of my city.

That they have no sense of urgency and commune in the more inconvenient areas!