What Qualifies as a Tourist Trap? Not Everyone Agrees
Is it simply something that is exclusively for tourists? Or is it something more sinister?
The term "tourist trap" has an automatic negative connotation—no one wants to be seen as someone who was vulnerable to a trick, something designed to lure visitors and the unwise. But, what exactly is a tourist trap? Some of them are actually pretty popular with tourists, while others—like Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco—are considered totally not worth the time.
And, whether you want to go to a tourist trap or not, a recent survey shows that 89% of Americans are still visiting them during their travels. Software company PhotoAiD recently surveyed 1,000 Americans to determine what the current consensus on tourist traps is, including what most travelers considered to be the features that constitute a tourist trap.
According to the survey, the top factors that lead to a place being a tourist trap, versus a tourist attraction are:
- above-average pricing (30%)
- amenities tailored for tourists (28%)
- lack of cultural authenticity (27%)
As you can see based on the fact that all those options got similar levels of support, no one is in total agreement here. But honestly, these are very good reasons for a place not to merit the time and resources to visit—especially the lack of cultural authenticity. But what is most shocking is that even though there's a pretty clear disdain for visiting these sorts of attractions, 44.48% of respondents shared that they'd visited tourist traps between two to three times in the last 24 months, and 29% of respondents had visited tourist traps five times in the last 24 months.
My big question? Why? Fortunately, survey respondents answered that question as well. Here are the reasons why people reported visiting overpriced attractions:
- 33.67% said family/friends wanted to go
- 19.29% said it was highly recommended in guides/reviews/on social media
- 18.17% said it was curiosity or personal interest
- 14.16% considered it a landmark or symbol of the destination
- 13.82% said it was a part of a tour package or itinerary
Unfortunately, these experiences didn’t usually turn out to be an exciting and unexpectedly awesome addition to their trip. The survey showed that 69.56% reported that visiting the tourist attraction resulted in diminished enjoyment or significantly diminished enjoyment, as shown in the graph below.
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