Tourist trap

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Billboards are used to advertise the attractions

Tourist trap is a phrase for any establishment or set of establishments that have been created to attract travelers or tourists and provide products for the tourist to purchase.^[1] While the term may have negative connotations for some, such establishments may be viewed by travelers as fun and interesting diversions, with realistic expectations as to their true importance, or lack thereof. There is some ambiguity in the definition of the phrase as it relates to size, activities, cost of products, and legitimacy. Some operators prefer to call them "family-oriented tourist attractions".^[2]

[edit] Goods and Activities

Tourist traps provide an opportunity to separate a consumer from their money and are oriented primarily towards non-native or non-local consumers. Because the tourist is on her or his way to a particular attraction, the tourist trap will either offer a distinctly contrary experience or an allied experience. They will offer up "unique" natural or artificial features (the "World's Largest Ball of Twine" or "Silver Springs") that can only be had at the particular stop, and will then offer up conveniences or activities to entertain and capitalize upon the stopped tourist.

[edit] Goods

Typically goods available for purchase will include souvenirs and curiosities embossed with the name of the establishment and or local points of interest. Additional products may include the normal range of items found in a Gift shop.

[edit] Activities

Activities at Tourist traps vary greatly based in part on the surrounding economy and infrastructure. In some areas like Ishpeming, Michigan, Flush toilets may be a sufficient draw to entice tourist to stop. In other locations like Anaheim, California more robust activates are required to draw a tourist to a specific activity over a competitors activity. Other activities may include, thematic restaurants, arcade games, wax museums, collections of unique artifacts, and so on.

[edit] Mule Rides

Ralph H. Cameron^[3] a former resident of Maine, traveled west with his brothers around 1880. Arriving in Flagstaff, Arizona where they took up sheep herding. Ralph visited the nearby Grand Canyon and realizing its potential as a tourist trap began acquiring properties. Before the Grand Canyon became a National Monument in 1906 the Cameron’s and accomplices had secured over 100 claims including some of the most scenic. They improved an old Indian trail that would become Bright Angel Trail and began charging tourists a dollar toll. For an additional fee you could rent a mule to take you to the bottom of the canyon. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon the trapped tourist would have an opportunity to be sheared again as they were given an opportunity to hire a mule to carry them back to the top! Other opportunities to separate tourists from their dollars included charging for comfort stations.^[4] In 1928 after a legal battle Coconino Country gained ownership of the profitable toll trail.^[5] It costs more than a dollar now but you can still rent a mule to take you down the canyon. The web site^[6] does not list the cost for the ride down or back up.

[edit] Natural features

When a significant natural curiosity is present, such as a geyser or a waterfall, the tourist trap will seek to highlight an allied or similar curiosity. Therefore, in an area near Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, etc., tourist traps might be organized around "Little Falls" or "Painted Rock" or "Hot Springs." These traps do not strive to compete with the tourism attraction as much as draw surplus commerce on the way to and from the attraction. These parasitic tourist traps are in contrast to those which take advantage of the monotony and lack of attractions between conventional destination points.

[edit] Size

Tourist traps range significantly in size, from a single tree^[7][8] to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. There may be valid arguments to include traps that are bigger or smaller than these as well.

[edit] Stop and Shop

"Da Yoopers Tourist Trap" Notice the 4x4 1957 chevy sedan and HUGE chain saw, there is also what is probably the worlds largest working rifle (mounted on a truck), it is all about getting you to stop and look, then shop.

A few establishments take pride in the term and embody it into their names, such as "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap"^[9] in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and "The TOURIST TRAP"^[10] at Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Other establishments like The "Trees of Mystery"^[11] in Klamath, California avoid the phrase. If the term is embraced or not, regardless of the price of products, the two things that all tourist stops have in common are restrooms and items for sale with the name the establishment or other nearby points of interest.

[edit] Negative Impacts

Current news articles point out that attracting a high volume of tourists can have negative impacts. An article in The Washington Post “The True Meaning of the Tourist Trap”^[12] discuses the impact of the December 26, 2004 tsunami on the tourist themselves. The New York Times in an article on November 1, 2006^[13] discuses the impact of 33 million tourists a year on the city of New York. Eco-tourism as outlined in an April 19, 2006 article in the Guardian^[14] describes the potential to impact fragile environments.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Asia

• Mao Zedong Memorial Park^[15]

[edit] Europe

• Atomium in Brussels
• Mijas in Costa del Sol or Gibraltar

[edit] North America

• Clifton Hill at Niagara Falls, Ontario
• Corn Palace at Mitchell, South Dakota
• Harold Warp's Pioneer Village near Minden, Nebraska
• House on the Rock near Spring Green, Wisconsin
• International Drive in Orlando, Florida
• Marsh's Free Museum, home of Jake the Alligator Man, in Long Beach, Washington
• Meramec Caverns near Stanton, Missouri, "Jesse James' Hideout"
• Mystery Hill and Prehistoric Forest in Marblehead, Ohio
• Mystery Hill near Salem, New Hampshire, recently redubbed the even-more ostentatious "America's Stonehenge"
• Mystery Hole in Ansted, West Virginia
• Oregon Vortex in Gold Hill, Oregon
• Rock City near Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri
• South of the Border near Dillon, South Carolina
• The Thing? in Dragoon, Arizona
• Trees of Mystery in the redwood region of Northern California
• Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota

[edit] South America

• Frango Assado at São Paulo, Brazil

[edit] Popular culture references

These kinds of attractions find their way into popular culture. A few examples, in addition to the Charles Ogden book and the horror film mentioned elsewhere on this page:

• In an episode of I Love Lucy, in which the four main players are driving to California, they see a sign advertising a Praline Pecans shop hundreds of miles away. As they approach its location, the signs appear with greater frequency, and their interest grows, only to learn that the store is out of business.
• In the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation, Ellen Griswold ridicules her husband, Clark, for being distracted trying to find attractions such as "the world's largest ball of twine" on their way to their actual destination, the fictional amusement park called "Wally World".
• The Adventure Game Sam and Max Hit the Road largely takes place at a series of tourist traps across the United States.

[edit] See also

• Gift shop
• Roadside attraction
• Tourism

[edit] References

1. ^ Gaines, Barbara K. (May 31, 1986). Idiomatic American English: A Step-By-Step Workbook for Learning Everyday American Expressions. Kodansha International, 85. 0870117564. 
2. ^ Associated Press Writer, Todd Richmond. "Wisconsin's 'Wonder Spot' faces wrecking ball", News Article, USA TODAY, 2/5/2007 11:09 AM ET. Retrieved on February 6, 2007. (in English)
3. ^ Cameron, Ralph Henry, (1863 -1953); Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
4. ^ Horace M. Albright and Marian Albright Schenck: “Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years, Page 265, University of Oklahoma Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8061-3155-1 http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/albright2/
5. ^ Ribokas, Bob (Copyright © Bob Ribokas, 1994-2001). Cameron, Ralph on Grand Canyon Explorer (Web). Grand Canyon Explorer. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
6. ^ Canyon Trail Rides “The Only Ride in the National Parks” (Web). Howdy Partner Come Ride With Us. Local Matters, Inc. (© Copyrighted 1997/98). Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
7. ^ The Eternal Tree House in Redcrest on the Redwood Highway (Web). TUNNELTREE and CALIFPOSTCARD Home Pages (© 2003). Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
8. ^ Drive thru "The Stump" at the Redwood Shop near Pepperwood, Calif (Web). TUNNELTREE and CALIFPOSTCARD Home Pages (© 2003). Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
9. ^ Da Yoopers Tourist Trap & Museum (Web). Ishpeming, Michigan, Business web site. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
10. ^ The TOURIST TRAP (Web). Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, Business web site (©Copyright 2003 - The Tiurist Trap). Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
11. ^ Trees of Mystery (Web). Klamath, California, Business web site. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
12. ^ Kurlantzick, Joshua (Sunday, January 9, 2005). The True Meaning of the Tourist Trap (Web). News article. The Washington Post. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
13. ^ Kirby, David (September 27, 1998). The Tourist Trap; With All Those Visitors Trampling the Welcome Mat, Can New York Be the Host With the Most for Everyone? (Web). News Article. The New York Times. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
14. ^ Nicholls, Henry (Wednesday April 19, 2006). The tourist trap (The Galapagos islands are the world's prime eco-tourism destination. Now the sheer number of visitors is endangering their future ) (Web). News article. Guardian. Retrieved on March 21, 2007.
15. ^ Dutton, Michael (Jan 13, 1999). Streetlife China (Cambridge Modern China Series). 0521637198: Cambridge University Press, 232. 0521637198.