Influencers are invading some of Britain’s most popular tourist destinations and causing chaos – while infuriating locals.
Social media is awash with videos of influencers enjoying themselves at some Britain’s most picturesque locations, including Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, beaches in Cornwall and mountains like Snowdon.
However, locals near some of these sites are complaining about the impact of these tourists with photos and video showing piles of rubbish left behind and fights breaking out over issues like parking and queueing.
Less savoury scenes see influencers seemingly disrespecting monuments – including a woman who ran away from security and touched the stones at Stonehedge.
Other influencers filmed themselves signing their social media handles on beaches and climbing on top of an abandoned tank.
Footage has also been shared of a TikToker signing her internet name on a Cornish beach
One of Britain’s most popular beauty spots was described as ‘almost impassable’ after coastal erosion buried the only access to the beach at Durdle Door in Dorset
A TikToker captured on camera and shared online pictures of the confrontation in Wiltshire
A TikTok user condemned ‘idiot tourists’ plaguing Snowdonia in Wales over the weekend
People have been seen climbing on the abandoned Ramshaw tank in Derbyshire’s Peak District
Cornish locals have slammed ‘idiot’ holidaymakers who had to be rescued by lifeguards after driving onto the beach and getting stranded in their cars
North Wales Police shared photos of vehicles being towed away at Pen y Pass in Snowdonia
The complaints come as fed-up residents in the Canary Islands in Spain launched protests demanding a crackdown on British holidaymakers – with graffiti appearing on walls saying: ‘Tourists go home.’
MailOnline revealed yesterday how UK visitors were responding by daubing their own messages, including one reading: ‘F*** off, we pay your wages.’
There was also a 10 per cent surge in Tenerife bookings despite the local backlash.
But staycationers travelling across Britain for holiday breaks are also under fire.
Fuming locals living near Snowdon hit out as Easter tourists saw their cars being towed by police after parking illegally and clogging up the Welsh attraction, while there were also scuffles as queues snaked up the mountain.
Photos shared online showed a lengthy line of hikers heading towards the summit of England and Wales’ highest peak last weekend.
Others revealed illegally-parked cars blocking pavements before police towed many of them away, with trucks pulling unwanted vehicles from the snaking country roads.
North Wales Police said 29 vehicles parked near Llyn Ogwen and another nine in Pen y Pass at the bottom of Snowdon were removed on Good Friday.
Snowdonia is the largest National Park in Wales, attracting 4million visitors each year – and the crowds were especially intense this past Bank Holiday weekend.
Traffic Wales said the A5 was closed near Ogwen Cottage outdoor pursuits centre on due to the vast number of cars needing to be towed.
The force posted on X, formerly Twitter, a picture of vehicles parked on both sides of a narrow mountain road – urging: ‘Please park responsibly on the roads and avoid obstructing emergency vehicles. Blocking their way could lead to serious consequences.
‘Let’s be considerate of our fellow road users in need and make way for emergency services. Your cooperation can save lives!’
An angry local has shared a TikTok video with the words: ‘Idiot tourists showing up in Snowdonia again! How some people get through life is beyond me.’
There were also disputes among people queuing on the mountain, with one TikToker sharing footage and saying: ‘There is no allocated queue for Snowdon.
‘People choose to queue of their own accord. There is no one telling you that you have to queue.
‘People think it’s really against the rules to join an imaginary queue. It’s not Thorpe Park, it’s a mountain.’
A visitor to Stonehenge has been accused of touching the monument despite warnings
Lengthy queues of hikers headed up Wales’s highest peak Snowdon over the Easter break
A video posted on TikTok shows vehicles queuing on the narrow roads in the picturesque Derbyshire countryside as staycationers tried to head to their Easter getaways
Locals were delighted as police were seen towing cars away – with trucks pulling unwanted vehicles from the snaking country roads
Icy ground and snow-capped mountains have not deterred dogged explorers trekking to Snowdon in Wales – with some even wearing shorts to battle the elements
Another shared photos of a woman accused of disrespecting the Stonehenge monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
The witness wrote: ‘You’re not supposed to approach or touch Stonehenge, but this woman walked over the fence and proceeded to touch it while blatantly ignoring workers and security demanding she stop.’
Meanwhile, one couple filmed themselves climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh after being inspired by popular new Netflix show One Day.
However, moments into their climb, the couple realised the walk was far more difficult than the TV series made out.
One of Britain’s most popular beauty spots was described as ‘almost impassable’ after coastal erosion buried the only access to the beach at Durdle Door in Dorset.
There was also criticism about cars clogging the Peak District, with one TikToker posting: ‘Crazy Peak District traffic today! Cars everywhere.’
The clip received more than 44,700 likes on TikTok and photos of the traffic backlog caused outrage on local Facebook groups.
One person wrote: ‘I am afraid that it has all gone too far. The main aim of the National Park was conservation of countryside and wildlife and encouraging people to respect and enjoy nature.
‘I don’t think that remit covered leaving dirty nappies and litter and just generally slobbing about with their chips and beer.
‘If this is helping local business they can stick it. A cafe or shop can only cope with so many people not hoards who will be just as happy in Blackpool.’
Elsewhere, there have been complaints about rubbish dumped at the abandoned 19th-century Gaewern slate mine near Corris Uchaf in Gwynedd, south Wales.
Volunteer Anthony Taylor blamed wannabe social media stars for ‘killing’ the historic mine – which closed in the 1970s – by littering it with plastic bags, inflatable dinghies and even human excrement.
He says it has increasingly attracted the attention of influencers snapping selfies after the cave’s fame spread thanks to a popular YouTube video in 2018.
A crude 6ft long banner – written in black paint on a white board – was held aloft by three people over the over the A30 at Bodmin in Cornwall, saying: ‘Turn around and f*** off’
A TikToker shared footage of people heading towards the summit
The centuries old mine became the site of a bizarre phenomenon following its closure in the 1970s when people began dumping old cars and televisions into one of its main chambers
Volunteers carry a dinghy out of the cave after it was left behind by visitors
TikTok user @stells_press was inspired to visit Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh by TV drama One Day
And Mr Taylor, 42, worries the site could end up closed to public access for good unless visitors start behaving better.
He told the BBC: ‘Instagram seems to be the killer of a lot of things. People turn up, take a picture and then leave – it’s just disgusting, really sad and disheartening.’
TikTok and Instagram videos show visitors to historic sites across the UK which have prompted complaints from onlookers.
These have included a woman apparently struggling to make it to Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh after seeing it on recent Netflix drama One Day.
Another TikToker was seen writing her online profile name in the sand in Cornwall.
Locals’ anger about second homeowners hitting Cornwall resorts such as Newquay and St Ives have also prompted volunteer wardens to go on patrol with CCTV.
Visitors have been shamed online for driving their cars on to Cornish beaches and leaving them there – with one even spotted submerged in the sea.
Locals set-up a Facebook group called ‘Utterly Preposterous Parking in Cornwall’.
People in the Cornish seaside town of St Ives say it has been turned into a ‘theme park’ after being swamped by tourists and Airbnb rentals.
And three people were seen holding up a crude banner on a bridge over the A30 at Bodmin in Cornwall, telling drivers: ‘Turn around and f*** off.’
At the same time, tourists arriving in Dawlish in neighbouring Devon were greeted by a man dressed as the Grim Reaper with a sign saying: ‘Welcome holidaymakers.’
Complaints about ‘self-entitled’ and ‘rude’ day trippers parking for free on beaches have also been made in other coastal resorts, including in Wales and West Sussex.
Complaints were made by residents in Snowdonia over the influx of visitors’ vehicles
Another, known as Barbiana, also posted footage of herself on a Cornish beach
A TikToker was among those complaining about cars clogging the Peak District in Derbyshire
Holidaymakers were also greeted by a person dressed as the grim reaper in Dawlish, Devon
One Anglesey resident said: ‘I’m not a fan of selfish, inconsiderate and self-entitled behaviour.
‘I wouldn’t dream of driving on to a beach, but it seems that some people think they can park wherever they want.’
Another said: ‘It is totally selfish to drive cars onto that beach – clearly not appropriate, but some people don’t care about others.’
And makeshift signs taking aim at visitors and second home-owners have also appeared across the UK.
Holiday properties in Anglesey in south Wales have been covered in posters declaring ‘Nid yw Cymru ar Werth’ – Welsh for ‘Wales is not for sale’ – by activists demanding council tax on second homes be increased.
A spoof English Heritage blue plaque was also placed on a wall in Burnham in Norfolk, calling it ‘a dying village poisoned by wealth’.
Residents of the picturesque seaside community on the east coast of England bemoaned rich celebrities buying up properties for second homes and holiday rentals there, pricing out locals.
And villagers near a beauty spot in the Lake District barricaded themselves in with makeshift roadblocks, plastic fences and fake signs in a bid to keep tourists away.
Campaign group Nation Cymru has said four times as many houses have been sold second homes across Wales compared to the rest of Britain, ITV reported.
Yet social media’s influence on getaways shows little sign of abating, as new figures suggest video sharing site TikTok is the ‘go-to platform for travel inspiration’.
Almost half of adults, or 47 per cent, are now turning to the website to plan their holidays – with 39 per cent spending an extra four to seven hours each week doing so compared to two years ago, according to research by Tourism Australia.
Three Audi-driving visitors were berated by locals for deciding to park on the sand in Newquay
Holidaymakers have been dubbed ‘idiot tourists’ after cars ended up in a river and parked in the sand in Cornwall
A blue Mini was seen submerged in Cornwall’s Calstock river last August
A blue plaque spoofing those made by English Heritage was put up in Norfolk village Burnham
Tourists gather at St Ives Harbour in Cornwall during hot weather around Easter in 2022
Anti-foreigner graffiti has been appearing on walls in Canary Islands resorts popular with Brits
A British tourist appears to have hit back at anti-holidaymaker graffiti with this message
A record 6.5million visitors went to Tenerife last year, an annual increase of 11 per cent
Slogans include ‘too many guiris’, using a disparaging Spanish slang word for foreigners
Their survey of 2,000 Britons found 46 per cent say they trust TikTok recommendations more than other holiday review websites.
The UK’s top five favourite long-haul destinations were said to be Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand.
And 57 per cent told of being more likely to visit a place after seeing it on TikTok.
Sally Cope, Tourism Australia’s regional general manager for UK and Northern Europe, said: ‘It’s a natural fit for people to seek out their next destination inspiration whilst scrolling.’
