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Mass-marketing debases Key West's uniqueness
OK, you got
me. I was feeling disappointed this year because I thought that The
Citizen had forgotten to do an April Fool's Day prank. But now I
understand that you were just saving it for Easter Sunday to further
trick us.
Printing guest
editorials from Ed Swift, co-owner of Historic Tours of America, the
Conch train/trolleys, his partner, Chris Belland, and his lawyer, Ed
Scales, all on the same page on the same day was definitely amusing. The
only thing missing was a cruise ship endorsement from God.
The charm,
funk and uniqueness that once was Key West is fading fast, gentlemen. It
is being replaced by Disney-like statues and actors in cute pirate
outfits helping to push imported trinkets from the Philippines sold at
HTA train/trolley stops.
That
uniqueness was inspired and embraced by us all, but it is being
over-mass-marketed, trampled and otherwise debased for the financial
benefit of a small minority. The rest of the country/world is trying to
tell us this through media articles and commentary, but apparently the
ring of cash registers is too loud for some to hear it.
Most of us
commonfolk are not anti-tourism. I, myself, have made my income
primarily from tourists for over 25 years. Yes, I've even ridden the
Conch Train, and enjoyed it. But there is a point, just like with strip
mining, when the results of present prosperity can ultimately defile the
once-promising cradle of those resources.
When cruise
ships bring tourists to Key West to see why it is different and then
block the view of the Sunset Celebration, which makes it different, a
piece of paradise dies. When a Conch Train passes a "quiet and quaint"
Key West lane six to eight times a day and announces over a loudspeaker
system that it is a "quiet and quaint" Key West lane, it is, sadly, no
longer a quiet and quaint Key West lane.
When five
cruise ships a day stir up the water so badly that the reef cannot be
seen by the people on those boats who come to see it, and on and on. Key
West charm can still be salvaged by focusing on "tourism with
character," instead of tourists-by-the-pound.
And please, no
more "monopolies" on the guest columnist page.
Will Soto
Key West
Cruise
ships disturb residents' quality of life
I want to take
issue with Gregory Curry's April 7 letter to The Citizen, which urges a
boycott of Mangia Mangia and other businesses that supported the March
11 protest against the infestation of cruise ships into Key West.
Curry accuses
anti-cruise ship businesses of working against tourism dollars, which,
for Curry, means acting "to destroy my quality of life." Au contraire,
Mr. Curry, preserving the quality of life in Key West is the keystone of
the anti-cruise ship movement.
Over and over
it's been pointed out that cruise ship passengers contribute minimally
to Key West's tourism account. Cruise passengers spend their money
mainly on beer, fast food, and cheap trinkets while polluting Duval and
other main arteries with crass behavior, provoking Key West residents to
stay home when cruise ships are in town.
For me, and
many others, cruise ships are the nails in the coffin of the essence of
Key West, portending an end to our diverse, open, caring, artistic
community.
Pat Taub
Key West
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