1974: Is Tourism Destroying Cornwall? | Man Alive | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

Wish You Weren't Here?

"Holidaymakers are money - there can never be too many of them." - Cornish hotelier.

"We're busy creating in Cornwall the conditions they are trying to get away from in Birmingham."-Cornish resident.

The sinking pound and fuel surcharges mean fewer people going abroad, and the new motorway marching steadily westwards from Bristol makes Cornwall that much more accessible to weekenders from London and the Midlands. The result is ringing cash registers and prosperity for some. Others believe that Cornwall is being destroyed.

Jack Pizzey and the Man Alive team have been listening to both sides of the argument in Cornwall - and to the views of the tourists themselves.

In Penzance, Desmond Wilcox chairs a debate featuring politicians, hoteliers and residents as the people of Cornwall ask: how much tourism is too much?

Clip taken from Man Alive, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 14 June, 1974.

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