Residents at a popular holiday spot have shared their disgust at tourists who behave like “animals” leaving restaurant staff in tears and causing chaos in local businesses.
Locals of Gwynedd, north-west Wales, have said they are fed up with Airbnb guests who are “horrible horrible people” with “disgusting behaviour”.
Some living in the area have blamed a change to council rules on second homes for the influx of badly behaved tourists - with more people turning to airbnb instead of families buying second homes in the area and visiting themselves.
An incident at a beach restaurant on the Llŷn Peninsula sparked the outburst from locals, North Wales Live reports. Matters came to a head when a party of “horrible people” reportedly became abusive and refused to pay for meals.
A social media post by Llanbedrog Beach Bar showed CCTV images of diners who allegedly threw their plates at a staff member and told her to “f**k off”.
Leaving a mess strewn across a table, they apparently filmed staff as they refused to pay for spurious reasons.
“They were the rudest people we have ever had here,” wrote a staff member, urging other local eateries to ban them. “They are horrible horrible people! I felt so bad - they were all shouting and causing a scene in front of the children and they were old enough to know what was going on.”
The video sparked fury from locals, many of whom said it was indicative of a decline in standards among visitors to the region.
A woman from Ruthin summed up feelings saying: “Disgusting behaviour. Animals!”
A holiday let owner in Llanbedrog pinned the blame squarely on Cyngor Gwynedd Council for hiking council tax premiums for second homes. In April, the rate was raised from 100% to 150% but many second home owners, fearing the worst, had already sold up.
Sold properties were being converted to Airbnbs and “rented out to anyone”, he said. No longer were they a bolthole for families that have been coming to the area for years.
A woman from Wigan said some second home owners were being forced to let their properties at “massively discounted prices” to meet the Welsh Government’s 182-day occupancy threshold for avoiding council taxes and premiums. The overall impact is a change in the type of customer the area has traditionally attracted, some believe.
“Definitely noticing the difference,” said one woman. “Glad I am not the only one disgusted with the behaviour of the visitors this year.” A Pwllheli man added: “The behaviour of the few so far this season has been sadly quite shocking!”
Around one in five second homes in Wales are in Gwynedd, bringing misery to generations of young people unable to afford their own homes or forced to move from their communities. Cyngor Gwynedd has brought in a suite of measures designed to restore some balance and address the issue of homelessness in the county.
A Staffordshire visitor said falling standards of behaviour wasn’t limited to former second homes. “People are renting caravans to people they do not know,” she said. “A lot more problems on our caravan site this year than ever before.”
Some people have taken issue with the broad characterisation of the type of people blamed for lowering standards. The owner of holiday cottage near Pwllheli said this was grossly unfair.
“Even the most affluent entitled public have bad behaviour,” she wrote. “No need to blame families who may only be able to afford lower-end affordable accommodation.”
Similar sentiments were expressed when, on Thursday, another cafe worker issued a heartfelt Facebook plea for better behaviour. Asking customers for patience as businesses struggle to find staff, she said 14-year-old waitresses were being “reduced to tears because of horrible customers” impatient for their orders.
This prompted another online debate. Some people said “well educated privileged people” were as much to blame as those who “can’t read or even use a knife and fork.”
A travel boss said there was a changing of the guard in places like Abersoch. “The new lot and their off-spring with money, have no manners, no consideration, no courtesy, no compassion, no kindness, no inclusiveness,” he said. “Abersoch has not gone off, just the quality of the visitor.”
Agreeing with this was a woman from Pwllheli. “I worked in Abersoch for many many years from the 80s up to 2000,” she said. “It’s really sad to see the decline in basic manners. The “old money” knew how to treat people with respect.”
Another woman concurred. “Abersoch sadly isn’t how it once was,” she said. “People with inflated egos are having a detrimental effect with such behaviour!”
Speaking on behalf of hard-pressed hospitality staff was an employee who works at establishments in Pwllheli and Llanbedrog. Urging greater respect towards serving staff, he said the sector has been left short staffed all over the Llŷn Peninsula since the Covid pandemic.
“The lack of respect from these outsiders to the area is shocking,” he said. “If you guys want quick service, f**k off to McDonald’s.”
