Even though connotation for the language “tourist traps” is quite often less than appealing, several places are in fact interesting on a less than mainstream type of way. There are people these days that could rather enjoy quaint, off-road, eccentric places than the most popular tourist spots. Tourist traps, as a rule, are roadside or tourist attractions which have acquired bad reputations. And this reputation has been steadily drilled into public consciousness by unscrupulous individuals who are after a quick buck. Their main victims are unsuspecting out-of-town visitors or overseas tourists who’d not dare raise issues for anxiety about upsetting the locals’ sensibilities. These days, tourist traps have become synonymous with cheesy out-of-the-way locations that offer only cheaply made trinkets with exorbitant price tags. More frequently than not, these places are surrounded by small stores offering food, beverage and even a sampler of the local brew. Interestingly, these small stores make a considerable income from tourists who just would like to get away from the madness of the place. And yes, every one of these places have rest rooms – the main one consistent element that produces them attractive to passer-bys. Unfortunately, many of them look for a particular fee for performing normal bodily functions.
Tourist traps originally started as innocuous roadside attractions. open trip karimunjawa There was a period when long distance traveling on solid ground became most of the rage among erstwhile travelers – think for one moment of pre-commercial airlines flight period. These places were (and still is) frequently advertised all throughout main thoroughfares. Huge billboards and even haphazardly staked signs were intended to catch the interest of tourists without planned itineraries.
These “places of interest” were considered as brief interludes to a traveler’s journey – except that some of these places had almost no to supply, or in certain extreme cases, were outright shams. These places usually charged for entrance fees, but their main almost all income was from selling merchandise promoting the place. Postcards, cheap shirts and even cheaper caps were the norm. However, there have been other unique pieces like rocks harvested from the region, beaded jewelry created by the locals and other unique curiosities that you would almost certainly see in another area of the country (at a fraction of the price.)
These days, tourist traps remain virtually the same. Many of them evolved from previously respectable tourist attractions which became so outdated people wonder why they still exist. Others are places specifically intended to attract more visitors to a particular location; great types of they are establishments with novelty architecture (buildings with unusual shapes like a huge tea cup house or even a large doughnut-shaped bakery); and small town places with one unique product (like the World’s Largest Ball of Twine.) Others yet, are legitimate tourist attractions that are overrun by commercialism and unchecked tourist population.
Not all tourist traps are gateways to a prolonged hell, though. There are enough activities in some of these places; enough so that a few of then are dubbed unofficially as “family attraction stops.” There may be services offering arcade games, carnival rides, pony rides, thematic restaurants, and even wax museums. However, if you would rather not work the trails of the tourist traps, here are some suggestions as to how you can differentiate legit tourist attractions and tourist traps – and eventually, avoid them altogether.
There is a superb line about what tourist attractions and what tourist traps are. Most legitimate attractions simply succumb to the call of commercialism; or rather, the entrepreneur minded individuals around the region take advantage of the glut of tourists, and inadvertently developing a tourist trap.
One great indication of a tourist trap may be the price. If everything seems to be swimming in inflation, from the entrance tickets, to the merchandise and even the food offered in the place (anything at all that can be rightfully constituted to highway robbery,) then this really is probably one heck of a tourist trap. If your specific location is just a lot of for the wallet, then it would be better to use your luck somewhere else. This really is probably one of the greatest reasons as to why you need to not contribute to the offered packaged tours. Inadvertently, one of them will add a tourist trap; and since it’s a packaged tour, you truly can’t bail out of it.
Another indication can be measured by ratio. If there is a balance involving the ratio of interesting things to see / do / experience versus the merchandise being sold in the place, then you are likely in a legit tourist attraction. Naturally, there can be merchandise sold in these places, but its main focal point may be the structure or architecture it represents. Tourist traps, on the other hand, have almost no to represent, and they thrive on selling merchandise. It therefore goes without saying that in order to keep carefully the economy afloat around tourist traps, entrepreneurs have to market merchandise and price them expensively too.