Hard hard disagree. I grew up in a tourist town, and every kid I talked to for over 20 years had one goal on their mind: getting out of there as soon as they could. Job opportunities outside of tourist focused seasonal industries were practically non-existent. Your choices were wait-staff, landscaping, or deli/grocery store clerk. Any other industries had at most 1 business in the single industrial park in the area. Tourists destroying local beaches was and continues to be a major issue. Everything closed after the tourist season so there’s nothing to do other than drink or do heroin, and during the summer there’s too many tourists to be able to go out and do something. Tourist areas consistently have the highest rates of substance abuse and homelessness. Low wages from low skill industries focused entirely on serving the out of town seasonal tourist economy combined with high CoL as prices are determined by what tourists can pay, not locals, and little long-term housing as rentals are focused towards short-term leases for the tourist season and competition for housing is fierce with wealthy out of towners buying summer homes.
Skill issue? Maybe. But conjecture? Hardly. The data says that across New England summer tourist towns consistently have the highest rates of drug usage, alcohol addiction, homelessness, and highest CoL for their region. And this is in large part attributed to the lack of job opportunities outside of the seasonal tourism sector, expensive prices caused by the focus on wealthy tourists, and the competition for housing caused by both landlords seeking seasonal rentals and the wealthy buying or building summer homes that will sit empty for 9 months out of the year. This is also backed up by the findings of the committee in my hometown that was created to solve the issue of young people moving away and the looming crisis that will happen as the town becomes more and more one massive retirement home with too many retirees and not enough staff.
Of all the people that I knew who grew up in my hometown (which is at least 2 generations of teens that I trained at work plus my generation), I found 2 types of people: those who left and never went back, and those who never left and never will.
Care to share this data because from googling around for regions I’m familiar with the story is exact opposite. I’m not familiar with New England but the data is quite the opposite for places I am familiar with.
Just some examples I pulled up in some quick searches. One specific to Cape Cod that I know of that’s not mentioned here is the damage to fragile beach environments due to trampling delicate beach grasses by tourists who either don’t know any better or don’t care. The beach grass there is easily killed by walking on it, which not only destroys the environment that many creatures depend on, but also leads to rapid destabilisation and erosion and full on loss of the beaches within a handful of years (5 to 10 at most). It’s such an issue that there are constant beach patrols of environmental officers across more than a hundred miles of beaches every summer.
Exploring the Impacts of Tourism on the Well-Being of Residents in Host Communities (2025)
Shows that tourism can improve residents’ well-being, community pride, and access to better services.
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5849
Tourism Development and Its Socio-Economic Impact on Local Communities
Reviews evidence that tourism improves employment, diversifies income sources, and leads to infrastructure growth.
https://www.geojournal.net/uploads/archives/6-2-9-955.pdf
The Social and Economic Impacts of Tourism Development on Local Community Satisfaction (2019)
Finds residents perceive tourism as increasing economic opportunity and enhancing city services.
https://www.sciepub.com/JCD/abstract/10306
Challenges and Opportunities in Local Sustainable Tourism: A Systematic Review (2025)
Shows how community-based tourism preserves culture, empowers locals, and strengthens local economies.
https://posthumanism.co.uk/jp/article/view/636
Hard hard disagree. I grew up in a tourist town, and every kid I talked to for over 20 years had one goal on their mind: getting out of there as soon as they could. Job opportunities outside of tourist focused seasonal industries were practically non-existent. Your choices were wait-staff, landscaping, or deli/grocery store clerk. Any other industries had at most 1 business in the single industrial park in the area. Tourists destroying local beaches was and continues to be a major issue. Everything closed after the tourist season so there’s nothing to do other than drink or do heroin, and during the summer there’s too many tourists to be able to go out and do something. Tourist areas consistently have the highest rates of substance abuse and homelessness. Low wages from low skill industries focused entirely on serving the out of town seasonal tourist economy combined with high CoL as prices are determined by what tourists can pay, not locals, and little long-term housing as rentals are focused towards short-term leases for the tourist season and competition for housing is fierce with wealthy out of towners buying summer homes.
I have the exact opposite experience and I also grew up in a tourist town.
Just like any other town you leave to get education and come back with your money and get a house to enjoy your home town :)
What you’re describing is mostly skill issue and conjecture.
Skill issue? Maybe. But conjecture? Hardly. The data says that across New England summer tourist towns consistently have the highest rates of drug usage, alcohol addiction, homelessness, and highest CoL for their region. And this is in large part attributed to the lack of job opportunities outside of the seasonal tourism sector, expensive prices caused by the focus on wealthy tourists, and the competition for housing caused by both landlords seeking seasonal rentals and the wealthy buying or building summer homes that will sit empty for 9 months out of the year. This is also backed up by the findings of the committee in my hometown that was created to solve the issue of young people moving away and the looming crisis that will happen as the town becomes more and more one massive retirement home with too many retirees and not enough staff.
Of all the people that I knew who grew up in my hometown (which is at least 2 generations of teens that I trained at work plus my generation), I found 2 types of people: those who left and never went back, and those who never left and never will.
Care to share this data because from googling around for regions I’m familiar with the story is exact opposite. I’m not familiar with New England but the data is quite the opposite for places I am familiar with.
https://invisiblepeople.tv/how-tourism-negatively-impacts-homelessness/
https://assets.moravian.edu/static/soar/proposals/2017/Keshodkar_LaBare_Proposal.pdf
https://www.flasprings.com/blog/drug-and-alcohol-addiction-in-tourism-hotspots/
https://wewantrelief.com/the-nexus-between-cape-cod-tourism-and-substance-abuse/
https://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/one.html
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9389488/
https://www.uni.lu/en/news/the-dark-side-of-tourism/
https://mize.tech/blog/the-true-impact-of-the-tourism-industry-on-the-environment/
Just some examples I pulled up in some quick searches. One specific to Cape Cod that I know of that’s not mentioned here is the damage to fragile beach environments due to trampling delicate beach grasses by tourists who either don’t know any better or don’t care. The beach grass there is easily killed by walking on it, which not only destroys the environment that many creatures depend on, but also leads to rapid destabilisation and erosion and full on loss of the beaches within a handful of years (5 to 10 at most). It’s such an issue that there are constant beach patrols of environmental officers across more than a hundred miles of beaches every summer.
None of this is actual research just yellow articles.
Here’s real research:
The Impact of Tourism on Local Communities: A Literature Review of Socio-Economic Factors Shows how tourism increases income, employment, and infrastructure in host communities. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373644263_The_Impact_of_Tourism_on_Local_Communities_A_Literature_Review_of_Socio-_Economic_Factors
Social Impacts of Tourism Perceived by Host Communities – A Review Paper (2021) Finds that tourism promotes cultural exchange, social cohesion, and improved public services. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357139679_Social_Impacts_of_Tourism_Perceived_by_Host_Communities_-_A_Review_Paper
The Economic and Social Impacts of Ecotourism on Local Employment and Income (2025) Case study showing ecotourism boosts jobs and income in rural areas while supporting sustainability. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1757780225000101
Tourism and Its Socio-Economic Impacts on Local Communities Demonstrates that tourism stimulates small businesses, improves infrastructure, and raises living standards. https://www.researchpublish.com/upload/book/Tourism and Its Socio-Economic-2434.pdf
The Role and Impact of Tourism on Local Economic Development Comparative study showing tourism contributes to GDP growth and helps reduce poverty. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287645318_The_role_and_impact_of_tourism_on_local_economic_development_A_comparative_study
Exploring the Impacts of Tourism on the Well-Being of Residents in Host Communities (2025) Shows that tourism can improve residents’ well-being, community pride, and access to better services. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5849
Tourism Development and Its Socio-Economic Impact on Local Communities Reviews evidence that tourism improves employment, diversifies income sources, and leads to infrastructure growth. https://www.geojournal.net/uploads/archives/6-2-9-955.pdf
The Social and Economic Impacts of Tourism Development on Local Community Satisfaction (2019) Finds residents perceive tourism as increasing economic opportunity and enhancing city services. https://www.sciepub.com/JCD/abstract/10306
Challenges and Opportunities in Local Sustainable Tourism: A Systematic Review (2025) Shows how community-based tourism preserves culture, empowers locals, and strengthens local economies. https://posthumanism.co.uk/jp/article/view/636
Role of Tourism in Sustainable Development (Oxford Research Encyclopedia) Explains how sustainable tourism supports economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation. https://oxfordre.com/environmentalscience/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.001.0001/acrefore-9780199389414-e-387
Let me know if you need more actual research or i can also produce some blogs and yellow journalism articles if research is too high brow for you.