Holiday@Home – Privileges for the locals

I currently live on the south coast of England, and with the sea, the South Downs, a few castles and some good pubs nearby we’re not usually short of things to do, when friends and family come to visit. Not for the first couple of visits anyway. But when it’s their third or fourth visit, it gets a bit harder.

So I panicked a little this morning, when I realized that it’s Wednesday already and we have family coming on their fifth visit this weekend. I panicked, because they have already experienced pretty much everything on my family-visit itineraries and I had run out of ideas. Sure the weather is nice and they’re not going to say no to a pint at the pub, but barbecues in the garden and visits to the pub will only keep them entertained for so long.

After a brief racking-my-brains moment I remembered the Holiday@Home initiative that Arun District Council launched last year. It consists of the Holiday@Home Passport and Privilege Card, which are sent out to all Arun residents.

I dug out the 2007 Holiday@Home Passport, (it came with our annual Council Tax bill – make of it what you will), which is a booklet full of offers and discounts from local tourist attractions, restaurants, etc, available to Arun residents. I found a few good offers in there, but I didn’t fancy trawling through all the free-dessert offers in order to plan our weekend.

Luckily the Passport is supplemented by a website, which aims “to help them [Arun residents] solve the problem of how to entertain their visiting friends and family.” Great, problem solved, I’ll be spending this evening browsing the Holiday@Home website looking for inspiration.

Now, I didn’t tell you about the Arun Holiday@Home initiative to make you jealous that I’m an Arun resident. Trust me, it’s not something to be jealous of, because along with the Privilege Card come a huge Council Tax bill, congested roads, housing problems, lack of decently paid jobs, fly-tipping, litter and a culture of self-centredness that beggars belief.

No, I wanted to write about it, because I like the idea that the locals of popular tourist destinations should be granted certain privileges when it comes to enjoying the area, where they live. Attractions should not be there only for tourists to enjoy, and initiatives such as Holiday@Home help to ensure that locals also get to enjoy all the reasons why visitors flock to their area.

I have come across similar and much better initiatives on my travels, which I believe help locals adopt a dignified attitude towards tourism. An example of a dignified attitude is the one, I noticed during a trip to Curaçao. The locals of Curaçao didn’t seem to mind sharing their island, but they also took the time to enjoy the island and what it had to offer themselves. The swimming pools, the restaurants, the clubs and bars were not just there for the tourists.

Please do share, if you know of initiatives similar to the Holiday@Home initiative. And if you are a local of a popular tourist destination, but don’t enjoy any such privileges, maybe it’s time to start campaigning for your privilege card?

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