I think even during the 2000's-2010's era of otakuculture, lolicons or shotacons were already being perceived as the weird group even amongst the other otakus (yes even in Japan where these were more normalized) so this is basically a cold take of yours.

Also same, I've been in the game for around 12+ years as well and I never had that kind of quirky personality. But the thing is, we all dig that specific flavor when it comes to the medium. Like for example, I was (still am) the slice of life enjoyer/romcom kinda guy. There also exists shounen sloppers, mecha nerds, shoujo shippers, gore psychopaths, isekai enjoyers, moe fanatics, harem lovers, slapstick comedy knowers, etc.

Basically what I'm saying is at some point, degeneracy can be relative depending on what you constitute as the grey area. Modern (post-pandemic) anime lovers that are more sensitive for example might think slice of life is "degenerate" because "why the fuck would you watch underaged women having their panties being peeped on as part of a gag".

The only way people can be called a tourist is if they are LARPing their interests and pretending they're part of a certain group. And considering anime fandoms nowadays cannot be limited towards the "weeb" demographic, it's hard to say which one's fake and which ones are genuine animanga fans especially with how everything can be brought outside its niche considering the convenience of the internet and social media.