cheesemonster2005 Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 Have also been to Amsterdam a couple of times and it is a beautiful city. Visited the The Rijksmuseum museum and Cannabis museum, as well as plenty of other interesting places. Also hopped on a train and went to see Gouda and Utrecht - nice to get a feel for other parts of the the country too. We did go have a skeet at the red light district and amazingly enough there were tourists taking their children for a look round too. Right in the centre of the red light district there is a church and you can see the nuns walking around and not bothered by the RLD. There are also sizable muslim communities who may not approve of the district but, like all Dutch people, tolerate it. If prostitution and soft drugs were legal in more places you wouldn't get this type of tourism as you'd be able to get it all in your home town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScope Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 We should have it here. It'd revitalise our tourist industry make no mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 We should have it here. It'd revitalise our tourist industry make no mistake. But it wouldn't revitalise our toursist industry at all IMHO, cannabis is "practically" legal pretty much europe wide, - if not "decriminalised" you can get hold of it in Germany and France just as easily as the Netherlands without having to pay the rip off tourist coffee shop prices. Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bremen, Papenburg, Cuxhaven, Bremerhavan are other European cities I've been to with the same relaxed attitudes to "pot & porn" and exluding Hamburg all are MUCH more relaxed than Amsterdam because they aren't really seen as a "pot & porn" destination. Those who have been smoking it for years know this, they can't be bothered making a big fuss about it's legal, or tourist status, they just get on with it. If we tried to make the IOM a "pot tourist" destination, it would just bring over trouble making idiots that IMHO would cost more to police than the perceived financial benefits. At one time in my younger years, I was very pissed off about the way the Island seemed to be going regarding the finance sector as more important than the tourist sector, but now, the fact is, we would be totally stuffed if the finance sector upped sticks and dissapeared. I beleive we should be looking at having fingers in more than one pie, and do what we can to enhance tourism, but I certainly don't think having "pot tourism" is the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 but I certainly don't think having "pot tourism" is the answer. Any suggestions as to what is the answer...if indeed there is one? What brings "toursism" to other areas....do we have a competetive advantage in those areas? If not what is our competetive advantage...if any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 but I certainly don't think having "pot tourism" is the answer. Any suggestions as to what is the answer...if indeed there is one? What brings "toursism" to other areas....do we have a competetive advantage in those areas? If not what is our competetive advantage...if any? Like you, I'm not really sure what the answer is. I think we could do a lot more for the outdoor pursuit type tourism, we have a fantastic coastline, great for various watersports, we have some pretty good mountain biking trails, a great coastline for walking (mm Langness - that's another thread), lots of nature, and some amazing history - these features could certainly be pushed better by the tourist industry - we also have the various road races & car rallies etc - I would prefer these things promoted more than they are at present Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Totally agree...the motorsport side of things could be promoted above and beyond the TT for sure and the outdoor prsuits side of things is also a goo angle on it....pity that we couldnt push for a world class racing circuit but I guess that the Govt is tyred of that one (pun intended!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesemonster2005 Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 I think we could do a lot more for the outdoor pursuit type tourism, we have a fantastic coastline, great for various watersports, we have some pretty good mountain biking trails, a great coastline for walking (mm Langness - that's another thread), lots of nature, and some amazing history - these features could certainly be pushed better by the tourist industry - we also have the various road races & car rallies etc - I would prefer these things promoted more than they are at present The costline (what's not already privately owned!), hills and glens of the island are fantastic and make the island so much better than, for instance, Jersey where there's sod all room and none of the hills or glens. Tourists can get all this though in places like Italy and Croatia which have one extra factor: nice weather. The island isn't going to win any tourists when competing against Italy and Croatia unless it reduces the cost of travel to the island. People constantly quote economies of scale when justifying the prices but surely the Government has a responsibility and should subsidise prices. It's far cheaper for one to travel from London to Sardinia, Ljubljana, Verona and most other places than it is to the island. And hotels and hostels are cheaper on mainland Europe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Though undoubtedly pot tourism would attract some wankers, I don't think it would be the hell you're talking about matty. We already attract what must be the worst tourists in the world every weekend: Irish/English stag parties. Due to the above and more we really need to have a "Unique Selling Point" if we're to revitalise our tourism. I do agree we could push the motorsport side of things much more than we do though, even what's successful (TT) could do with much improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Alex, - I agree that having "Unique Selling Points" would give be advantageous, - IMHO one of them is we're not over-run by stag weekenders like Blackpool, or many other European destinations - sure we get a couple of them, but it's nothing like a hord that descends every weekend. Another one of our selling points is (depsite the weather) that people can come to the Island, and walk the hills/coasts and be assured that they're pretty secure - they're very unlike to get mugged. And back to my earlier post on "pot-tourism" - it's practically legal Europe wide so who in their right mind would pay extortionate travel costs getting to the IOM to smoke a few joints when you can do it with relative ease at home. Amsterdam has a lot more to offer than being able to buy some weed in the local coffee shops (as previously posted in this thread) - some fantastic musems, galleries etc, and also the sex industry (which is pretty much the same as the rest of mainland Europe). So if we're going to even try to compete with Amsterdam's tourist industry we would probably have to open up "knocking shops" in all the towns and have a huge influx of illegal immigrants to work in this trade, and find somewhere to house them. We would have to grow some decent weed (would be very difficult to bring it in by sea), so this would require land / greenhouses / warehouses (would the government fund this????) - this could possibly be another source of income for some of the local farmers - so they would need some eduaction on growing the stuff. - I just don't think trying to present the IOM as a Pot-tourist destination would be viable at all. Maybe it could somehow - but you would have to convince me on how it could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesemonster2005 Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 We would have to grow some decent weed (would be very difficult to bring it in by sea), so this would require land / greenhouses / warehouses (would the government fund this????) - this could possibly be another source of income for some of the local farmers - so they would need some eduaction on growing the stuff. Maybe it could somehow - but you would have to convince me on how it could work. Why couldn't we bring it in by sea? Netherlands stocks a variety of weed (apparently) with home grown and imported. Many people could be attracted to the island if this was the case because of a variety of weed available. Like with beer some people will travel far and wide just if there's another variety elsewhere - the island could start a festival: Decemberfest and have competitions for the weed that gets an MHK stoned the quickest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 ....have competitions for the weed that gets an MHK stoned the quickest! How could you possibly judge it? Most of them are so divorced from reality that they appear to spaced out anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesemonster2005 Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 ....have competitions for the weed that gets an MHK stoned the quickest! How could you possibly judge it? Most of them are so divorced from reality that they appear to spaced out anyway. You'll find that many are simply ordinary people: ministers, civil servants, shop assisstants, police officers). I think it's underestimated the number of people who use this drug and for the majority it doesn't affect their lives although like every drug there are a minority who are affected and these are the visible minority. By walking through Douglas at a weekend I would see so many people pissed as a hare that I might jump to the conclusion that alcohol is evil and it destroys everybodys life but it's not true. The same applies with marijuana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 How could you possibly judge it? Most of them are so divorced from reality that they appear to spaced out anyway. PMSL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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