BY REBECCA ADAMS

WEYMOUTH is a historic seaside town and one of the most popular tourist destinations along the UK coastline.

Living somewhere where millions of people choose to spend their holidays is very rewarding, but it’s also eye-opening to witness how much a town can solely rely on tourism for its economy.

Doubts were raised over Easter whether there would be many visitors to the town’s attractions because of the poor weather – meaning a loss in profit to many local businesses.

The weather, a part of nature that nobody can control, can determine whether a business will break even that day, probably because tourists only go into the rapidly emptying town centre after spending a sunny day on the beach or at the harbour.

Working in a tourist town that only gets busy during half terms and school holidays can be difficult for most people.

Many jobs in Weymouth are seasonal, meaning that many people struggle to find work in the town during the winter months.

A lot of businesses also only take on larger amounts of staff during the summer season.

Walking around Weymouth in the summer, you can see many staff are young and probably students that go back to university or college in September, as businesses can easily drop a large chunk of staff they cannot afford in the winter months.

“It’s nice to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here” is a quote that I’ve honestly heard a hundred times from tourists – and I have to agree with them.

When I was younger, and I’m sure many other people will agree, Weymouth was the perfect place to grow up.

There were fields, the beach and many trees to climb, but now that I’m older I can see there are poor shops, a lack of jobs, and barely any local careers.

I cannot count a single person who I have studied with or worked with who does not want to move out of Weymouth.

It is sad to see your hometown disliked by the people that live there, but maybe it shows how much the town revolves itself around tourists rather than its inhabitants.