Millions of people visit the city every year – but locals have said that they feel the city has been ‘overrun’ with tourists and that many people have left the area
Boasting more than 800 years of heritage, Cambridge draws visitors from across the globe to marvel at its stunning architecture, world-class educational institutions and distinctly English setting.
Yet residents insist the city centre has become swamped with tourists, with most folk “only coming in for work”. Cambridge depends heavily on its tourism and hospitality industries, welcoming 8.1 million visitors annually.
The historic city is remarkably small in scale, meaning most tourists typically drop by for just one day. Representing nearly a quarter of local jobs, the sector continues to grow, but locals aren’t particularly impressed, reports the Express.
Ray Brenan, a street performer in the area, said: “Apart from a few old stones and its cobbled streets, I have nothing else nice to say anymore. Take away the universities and there’s really nothing else to it, it’s overrun with people visiting.”
Cambridge is famous for as the home of one of the finest universities in the world. As a collegiate institution, with administration split into smaller establishments, more than 25,000 students reside and learn within their individual colleges.
Among the most celebrated colleges is Kings College, featuring its distinctive chapel and prime city centre position. Long queues of people gather outside the entrance gates along the pavements, packed with sightseers snapping photographs.
Local market vendor Lorain Cheeseman described how “everyone just comes here to visit people at university”.
“We get a really huge amount of visitors, everyone is always here on holiday,” said Cheeseman. “There are a lot of students in the city, I don’t live here anymore, I just come in to work.”
Another market trader felt the same: “I don’t live here and I don’t know many people who do nowadays.”
The overwhelming majority of tourists that visit Cambridge are day-trippers – arriving in heavily packed coaches, large groups of visitors get dropped off, spend a few hours exploring the city, and then get back onto the coaches. Express trains from London also enable tourists to reach Cambridge in less than an hour.
However, some local workers view the influx of people positively. “I love selling ice cream to the visitors. Everyone is so nice and really friendly, but it does get very very busy at the stall,” said Kristof Santha, a local ice cream stand worker.
Masters student at Cambridge, Muhammad Mudassar, shared this view: “People here are more friendly than other cities, but most people are students here like me.”