|
Key
West — taken for a Conch Tour Train ride?
Oh, boy — all three of
the conch train conductors on one [Easter Sunday, April 11] editorial
page! And all three of them trying to defend mass tourism with
questionable rationale. Cruise ship arrivals are down, the working class
needs all the cruise passengers or they will be without jobs, and it is
elitist not to welcome every tourist, no matter what impact he may have
on the island.
Historic Tours of America
must be making a lot more money than we think for them to be so upset
about the opposition to their monopoly of the mass tourism business. Mr.
Swift says that there were 87,105 fewer cruise ship passengers this year
than there were a year ago, but what do the numbers matter? All one has
to do is take a walk down lower Duval Street when two or three large
cruise ships are in port to realize that there are far more tourists
than a small island like Key West can absorb. Mr. Swift says that The
Citizen is being "destructive" to the island by reporting the negative
comments the National Geographic Traveler published about Key West.
Imagine a newspaper being criticized for printing news of interest to
its readership!
He mentions the many
positive upbeat articles about Key West in the national and
international news, but doesn't tell us who is writing these articles or
when they were written. I suspect they are old articles written before
the deluge of tourists hit us. Mr. Belland accuses The Citizen of taking
the side that will most benefit its finances. What does he think he and
Mr. Swift are doing by encouraging the massive overcrowding we
experience from all the cruise ships? He incorrectly says that most of
the community has been working to bring the cruise ships here for the
past two decades. Most of the community did nothing to bring them, but
did not object to them until their numbers became exaggerated. His goose
that is laying the golden eggs is being killed by overfeeding.
Mr. Scales thinks it is
elitist not to welcome "everyone." I guess this means that we should
welcome the spring breakers who disregard the open-bottle laws, and the
Harley-Davidson bikers who scoff at our noise ordinances. And perhaps we
should be happy that too many cruise ships arriving here have polluted
our waters and jammed our already overcrowded streets? Is it elitist to
want clean water, a little peace and quiet, and an island atmosphere
instead of the Southernmost Disneyland his cronies have created? I would
agree with all three of your guest columnists that Key West should
encourage tourism, but not the kind they want.
The sheer numbers of
cheap tourists will ultimately drive away the ones we should be
encouraging — the ones who stay in our hotels and inns, eat and drink in
our restaurants and bars, and spend money on something other than
trinkets, T-shirts and Conch Tour Train tickets. Apparently the Monroe
County Tourist Development Council agrees with this point of view, and
not with that of HTA.
Robert Schettig
Key West |
