It’s tourist season, perhaps we should bite our tongues

I spent my childhood vacationing throughout Michigan.

I grew up just outside Kalamazoo, but when I was young we’d camp in Mackinaw City. One summer we took our boat up to Charlevoix for a couple nights. Every fall we’d spend a weekend or two at campgrounds in Grand Haven and near Muskegon with my best friend and her family. There was one summer we spent two weeks visiting a bunch of spots throughout the Upper Peninsula.

I grew up a Fudgie. Then I ended up living in Fudgieland.

There’s a reason people love to vacation in Petoskey, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix. It’s the same reason people spend summer weekends in Holland, Traverse City and on the Leelanau Peninsula. People in southern Michigan and beyond love to head Up North where they create memories that last a lifetime.

Those of us who have called these cities home love to talk about why we love living where we do. We can go on and on about the how the crystal blue waters of Lake Michigan are so vibrant under that summer sun that you’d think you were looking at the Caribbean. We love to talk up our local shops and restaurants where we are often greeted by our first names. We know our neighbors and feel lucky to live in a place so many others want to visit and spend their hard-earned money.

Sure, not everything is rosy all the time. The tradeoff is that the job market is incredibly tough. Wages are often on the lower end of the spectrum, and finding a job in your field — even with a degree — is often impossible since so many of the jobs are seasonal or are in the retail and hospitality industry. Housing costs in Petoskey and many other of these vacation communities are not only sky high, but there is a lack of places to live for the amount of people who need to live here. Need to buy groceries or get gas? You’ll likely pay more than your downstate counterparts; it’s just a fact of life.

Even so, vacationers keep coming. And we need them to come. Petoskey, Holland, Traverse City, Charlevoix — they all need the tourists to come and spend their money. If you live in one of these communities, there’s a good chance your job is dependent on visitors in some way, whether directly or indirectly. When visitors don’t come, hotels, along with the restaurants and shops you love to visit throughout the year struggle.

Yet so many who live in so-called God’s Country have a tendency to complain about the tourists. I know, I know — they contribute to the traffic that makes you late to work or are the reason it can take 45 minutes to get from Harbor Springs to the south end of Petoskey during the height of the tourist season. They are why you have to wait for a table at your favorite restaurant in July and August. Tourists are the reason your favorite beach that has long been a secret is no longer much of a secret.

Except we need them. Tourists are Northern Michigan’s greatest natural resource and if they stop coming, what happens then?

I understand the complaints about traffic and congestion. I also understand that some tourists can be rude and demanding when they visit our beloved communities. And to that I say being a jerk when you’re a visitor is never OK. But on the flip-side, living here and publicly shaming tourists who visit our cities and towns and pour money into our communities isn’t cool either.

Tourists are our bread and butter and we need to keep giving them reasons to come back.

So as Michigan’s busy tourist season kicks off, let’s do what we can to encourage visitors to keep vacationing in our beloved cities and towns. Tell them to bring their friends and family. Be kind to them. Offer suggestions for places and businesses to visit. Because if they stop coming, you have to wonder what we could all lose. And don’t we all want our communities to thrive?

After all, we are all tourists visiting other people’s favorite places at some point.

Rachel Brougham is the former assistant editor of the Petoskey News-Review. You can email her at racheldbrougham@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Tourists are Northern Michigan's bread and butter.