How Tourist Traps Actually Work

Ever wonder why entire streets of restaurants seem to serve the same mediocre pasta? It's not laziness or greed — it's a system of interlocking incentives that lock into place one mechanism at a time. This episode unpacks the three forces that turn ordinary neighborhoods into tourist traps: information cascades that reward volume over quality, rent gradients that filter out family-run kitchens, and signaling arms races that make laminated menus mandatory. We also explore whether the cycle can reverse — from Google Maps algorithm updates to the rise of anti-tourist influencers who read one-star reviews as recommendations. Episode #482142 — open it directly at myweirdprompts.com/482142