Somewhere around 1986, I was in SF and someone advised me to go to Pier 39 instead of FW, and I did and it was very neat. So, a few years ago I took my wife near there, Pier 39 was a tourist trap.
It's inherent I think.
One of the biggest tourist traps I've ever seen was at Petra in Jordan. It was worth seeing, mostly, but the junky stuff all over was a bit off putting.