Cornwall locals who branded tourists 'ants' are now desperate for them to return - as restaurants, hotels and pubs are left on the brink by Labour's skyrocketing rates

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Just a year ago, locals in some of Cornwall's most popular towns were busy griping about the impact holidaymakers were having on their daily lives.

Enraged by a 'tourist takeover' of resorts such as St Ives, where around one in six houses in the picturesque Cornish town is a holiday home, full-time residents have been more than vocal about their desire to reclaim the coastal areas they grew up in. 

Perhaps the most plain-speaking example of such frustrations though came during the last major staycation summer in 2022, when the head of now defunct tourist organisation Visit Cornwall, Malcolm Bell, said the region only wanted 'certain types' of holidaymakers.    

He told Cornwall Live at the time: 'You have friends, then you have guests, then you have tourists, then you have bloody tourists, then you have f***ing emmets. You can quote me on that.'

Emmets is the Cornish word for ants – and slang for tourists. The term has also been spotted daubed on road signs across the holiday region - despite the industry contributing £2billion annually to the local economy. 

Such a potentially chilly welcome has undoubtedly had an impact on the number of visitors to the South West, with tourism down by 12 per cent in 2024 before rising slightly last year.

Visitors who were once drawn to the area for its pretty seaside villages and warm climate have cited high costs, gridlocked traffic and crowded beaches as reasons for staying away. 

In the autumn, Cornwall's official tourist board entered voluntary liquidation, saying it faced 'insurmountable financial problems'. 

The Iran War has sparked a fuel crisis that could see Cornwall enjoy its biggest staycation season since the pandemic, with struggling business owners saying tourists are needed more than ever

Locals have made their disdain for mass tourism clear, with this sign in the harbour town of Hayle daubed with graffiti describing visitors as emmets - the Cornish word for 'ants' 

If locals bemoaning overtourism was a minor headache for those whose livelihoods depend on the hospitality industry in the region, it is nothing, they say, compared to the sledgehammer blow the Government has inflicted via skyrocketing rates, which began in Chancellor Rachel Reeves's October budget. 

Labour increased the national living wage for those aged 21 and over to £12.71 an hour this month - a 4.1 per cent rise, with rises in the minimum wage, national insurance contributions and the introduction of pension auto-enrolment leaving many Cornish business owners in fear of insolvency.  

Victims are piling up already. One grim February day saw four pubs, including The Golden Lion in Port Isaac which has appeared in TV show Doc Martin, close on the same day. 

The Pityme Inn at St Minver, The London Inn in Padstow and The Lugger Inn in Polruan, all part of The Cornish Inns group, were shut suddenly after the company's co-director Jason Black said there was 'simply not enough capital left to continue safely and responsibly'.

Vanessa Clark, who runs Falmouth waterside restaurant Indidog, says she's currently not taking a wage to ensure the business remains stable after rate rises

And in March, trendy Falmouth restaurant Hevva!, with top chef Will Johnson at the helm, announced it was closing its doors just weeks after being listed in the 2026 Michelin Guide. 

While Johnson told customers on Instagram 'opportunities too good to pass up' in London had contributed to the closure of the popular restaurant, he acknowledged that 'times are tough for restaurants, and they’re getting tougher.'

Another restaurateur, also in Falmouth, this week shared with the Daily Mail the realities of trying to run a business while being hamstrung by soaring rates. 

Vanessa Clark, 52, has run 100-seater Grade II-listed waterfront dining spot Indidog since 2019 but says neither she nor her husband Simon are taking a penny in wages as they fight to survive the impact of Labour's quadruple rates hit. 

She added: 'Last year, it was £1,300 extra for every member of staff, and we have 31 on average. That cost us around £50,000. And then they changed the levy for business rate relief. 

'What I have to now do is pay more for more senior people, of which there's not very many, so that I have a more effective team. I can't train up young people anymore, because it's very rare that you get someone who can hit the ground running at the age of 16 or 20.

'I'm not earning any money, and people who are 18 years old are earning more than I am. How can it be that, because I own a company, I'm therefore told, "You wear the t-shirt, so don't get paid?"'

Brothers Hugh, left, and Steve Ridgway, who have run Falmouth's St Moritz Hotel and Cowshed Spa since 2004 say many in hospitality have feelings of 'utter frustration and hopelessness'

The mental and physical toll is clear. She continues: 'I'm quite a positive person, I've worked in a blue chip company or two and I'm well versed in the idea that if something goes wrong, you can find a silver lining, but this is too much all at once. 

'We're backed into a corner, there's no one to speak to about it, nowhere to go for fair representation. We're down to three profitable months out of 12, and not because we're not doing anything well.'

Up the road at the luxury hotel St Moritz Hotel and Cowshed Spa, owned by brothers Hugh and Steve Ridgway since 2004, staff numbers have reduced from 95 to 83, despite the biggest summer staycation since the pandemic, sparked by fears over aviation fuel supplies. 

Hugh says: 'The Government has priced people out of the market. We can't afford to employ people. No one is more eager than me that people should be earning a decent living on the minimum wage but we can only do that when the economy allows us to do it. 

'I think what the Government forgets is that the minimum wage on a 40-hour week is now at the top end of £26,000 a year. By the time we've added NI and pension costs, a minimum wage person costs us £34,000 a year. A heartbeat ago, we were paying highly qualified graduates that sort of money.'

Hotel owner Hugh Ridgway says holidaymakers deserve a warmer welcome to Cornwall - and locals should be careful about being vocal on overtourism

It's hard not to be angry, he says, with business owners in the region saying they're experiencing feelings of 'utter frustration and hopelessness'.

'We have a government that seems to be completely paralysed. They've come into power saying 'growth, growth, growth' and the first thing they've done is put a tax on jobs. That is the economics of the madhouse.'

The hotel is even offering to pay fuel surcharge costs to ease the pain of the British holidaymakers heading there this summer. 

He adds: 'We have to be very innovative, very deft of foot in the hospitality industry at the moment, because the government is just making life so difficult for us.' 

What about those unhappy locals? Ridgway has little sympathy. 

He says: 'The only time that Cornwall has been oversubscribed was in 2022, when we unlocked from the pandemic but that was the first time ever. 

'There is a very vociferous, tiny minority talking about overtourism but they should be very, very careful about what they wish for, because we [the hospitality industry] are 20 per cent of the economy down here.

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'The tourism industry employs a lot of young people. We are the first port of call, we train them and inculcate a work ethos into them.

'We're a wonderful stepping stone to future employment. So, yes, people need to be careful what they wish for.'

Can tourists visiting Cornwall work a little harder to endear themselves to locals? 

Indidog owner Vanessa Clark says successful holidays are often a two-way street.  

She adds: 'If you want to go to Cornwall and have a lovely time, thank the people in the shop, smile at them, ask them how they are. Our customers are lovely and we give them everything we've got.'

Ridgway remains optimistic that Cornwall's tried-and-tested formula of great food, great beaches and, yes, a warm welcome, will help the region's hospitality business stay afloat this summer, in spite of the rate rises. 

'Cornwall is just particularly special. It's just that little distance away from everywhere else and magical. 

'Where we sit, we've got just this wonderful light reflected off the Atlantic Ocean. We've got extraordinary beaches, we've got the surfing. You can play in the water, under the water, on the water. 

'You can just have an absolutely wonderful time. And that's what my team are going to deliver this summer.'