Are "Tourist Traps" That Bad? A Few Insights

From the requests of people building their plans to Costa Rica, one of the most common is avoid tourist traps. What does this mean exactly? There is not a very standard definition of what a tourist trap is, so let me try to explain first.

I would say a tourist trap is a place that attracts many tourists, and because of that prices tend to be more expensive. From this angle, I want to argue against the idea that because something is a tourist trap it should be avoided.

The Eiffel Tower would be a tourist trap, same as the Roman Colosseum or Barcelona's Las Ramblas. I do not consider that anyone visiting these places would regret it, and the reason is that they still add to the experience of the traveler. I would argue this is actually the true criterion to determine what to visit. It is surely crafted for a non local experience, but that does not mean a bad one.

A night walk that went wrong

I remember going to a coastal city in the Caribbean on a holiday. This is not a tourist trap for sure, mostly kept to local people. Based on the experience I am about to describe, I would rather keep the name of the place out of the note.

I remember walking at night looking for a place to have dinner, and a couple who was clearly not local was walking right behind me with two small kids. As we were walking, a guy came up to me to offer me drugs. I just turned him down, but I could see the couple acknowledge what was going on and how their posture quickly changed to a very defensive one. They became very wary of the situation and were looking for a place to get off the street.

This had to be a very unpleasant experience for them. Would this couple have enjoyed a trip to a tourist trap built for families more? I would say so. How their view of the country and their trip overall could have been affected by the experience is unknowable to me, but I can guess that the impact was quite negative.

And a trap I happily fell into

I can also speak from the other corner. When I visited Santa Teresa in Guanacaste, I fell into all the tourist traps myself, and honestly I had a great time. Yes, the hotel and food were overpriced. I did some snorkeling and took a surfing class, but I had a great time. I went there with my partner and her family, and it all went amazingly smoothly.

These are not inherently bad experiences. They have a niche for sure. I would just argue that where they fit should be examined on a case by case basis.

It all comes back to the individual traveler, what their needs and expectations are.

Enjoy your trip. Make it worthwhile.