Monday, October 30, 2006
The history of mass tourism - in a blog!
So. The long awaited blog has arrived - my personal history of mass tourism. visit:
http://youluckyholidaypeople.blogspot.com to get a little personal history!
http://youluckyholidaypeople.blogspot.com to get a little personal history!
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Speechless
I haven't made a post for a while because honestly, I've been speechless.
First it was Lebanon, and now it's the UK. Not satisfied with wrecking the Middle East tourism industry, we've now hit the millions that exit the UK and USA every day to spend their money and their time somewhere else.
When will the general public get it? To travel is dangerous. Yes, it's exciting. Yes it's illuminating. Yes, it's character-forming. Yes, it's a wonderful spiritual experience. But, yes, travel is dangerous - you may killed by a terrorist attack, you may get killed by a natural disaster - more likely you'll be so frightened by reading the press and watching the TV that you'll get killed by a heart-attack at the airport or on your holiday - outside their comfort-zone. Yes - statistically, that's actually more likely to happen.
Have we bred a generation of WIMPS? Frightened of eating real food in case they get a tummy upset, afraid of travelling unless they get killed, fearful of experience unless it's been health-checked.
They thought that the holiday was the easy experience, like the telly and the booze, just another escape. But it's not - travel is a real experience, and like that other real experience, life, it's dangerous too.
First it was Lebanon, and now it's the UK. Not satisfied with wrecking the Middle East tourism industry, we've now hit the millions that exit the UK and USA every day to spend their money and their time somewhere else.
When will the general public get it? To travel is dangerous. Yes, it's exciting. Yes it's illuminating. Yes, it's character-forming. Yes, it's a wonderful spiritual experience. But, yes, travel is dangerous - you may killed by a terrorist attack, you may get killed by a natural disaster - more likely you'll be so frightened by reading the press and watching the TV that you'll get killed by a heart-attack at the airport or on your holiday - outside their comfort-zone. Yes - statistically, that's actually more likely to happen.
Have we bred a generation of WIMPS? Frightened of eating real food in case they get a tummy upset, afraid of travelling unless they get killed, fearful of experience unless it's been health-checked.
They thought that the holiday was the easy experience, like the telly and the booze, just another escape. But it's not - travel is a real experience, and like that other real experience, life, it's dangerous too.
Friday, July 21, 2006
culture shock
My wife and I arrived in Bath in 1969. Beautiful, sleepy, historic, cheap, kindly. We rented a flat in the centre of the city, just by the river at its most-photographed, and with lovely views. We had a sitting room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. I was earning about £1,000 a year and we paid some £250 a year rent.
The children came along, so we had to get something a little bigger and in 1975 we managed to buy a rather battered Georgian house - four bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room and dining room and a long garden, spectacular views over the city. By now, I was earning nearly £4,000 a year. The house cost a stately £12,000 and we got a mortgage from the local council, payments were about £1,000 a year.
The wonderful thing about our situation was that we had nice neighbours, interesting,friendly, educated, polite, relatively hard up. Some had lived there all their lives, some had recently moved in, we had a bookmaker, a writer, a builder, a clerical officer and a teacher amongst the others - classless, you may say.
I saw that same house in an estate agents window today priced at £875,000. The mortgage to purchase this house would cost in the region of £50,000 a year. On the same scale as me, 30 years ago, you'd have to earn at least £200,000 to finance that reasonably.
What is the moral that we must draw from this - you need to be very rich to enjoy the style of life your parents had, and if you're not OUT!
Out far enough to roam the streets on Saturday nights, drunk, dejected, arrogant, abusive.
Housing is important, it's not just the roof over your head, housing dictates the mix of society and has an effect over how we think and act. Where you live and with whom is the primary effect of society on you and your family day after day.
What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government depends on the support of right wing newspapers? What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government sells off supported housing? What kind of society do we live in when our kids have no hope of expecting the same lifestyle as their parents.What kind of society do we live in when greed is rewarded and open-heartedness laughed at? What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government fosters xenophobia in its wish to support its agressive actions.
A dysfunctional society. That's what.
It's all wrong. But most wrong is the physical segregation of the working classes.
The children came along, so we had to get something a little bigger and in 1975 we managed to buy a rather battered Georgian house - four bedrooms, kitchen, sitting room and dining room and a long garden, spectacular views over the city. By now, I was earning nearly £4,000 a year. The house cost a stately £12,000 and we got a mortgage from the local council, payments were about £1,000 a year.
The wonderful thing about our situation was that we had nice neighbours, interesting,friendly, educated, polite, relatively hard up. Some had lived there all their lives, some had recently moved in, we had a bookmaker, a writer, a builder, a clerical officer and a teacher amongst the others - classless, you may say.
I saw that same house in an estate agents window today priced at £875,000. The mortgage to purchase this house would cost in the region of £50,000 a year. On the same scale as me, 30 years ago, you'd have to earn at least £200,000 to finance that reasonably.
What is the moral that we must draw from this - you need to be very rich to enjoy the style of life your parents had, and if you're not OUT!
Out far enough to roam the streets on Saturday nights, drunk, dejected, arrogant, abusive.
Housing is important, it's not just the roof over your head, housing dictates the mix of society and has an effect over how we think and act. Where you live and with whom is the primary effect of society on you and your family day after day.
What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government depends on the support of right wing newspapers? What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government sells off supported housing? What kind of society do we live in when our kids have no hope of expecting the same lifestyle as their parents.What kind of society do we live in when greed is rewarded and open-heartedness laughed at? What kind of society do we live in when a socialist government fosters xenophobia in its wish to support its agressive actions.
A dysfunctional society. That's what.
It's all wrong. But most wrong is the physical segregation of the working classes.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
where have all the coaches gone?
How do you lose a train coach? "Incompetence" said the pretty German lady opposite. Yes, you're right, I'm back on a South West train from Salisbury to London Waterloo, more people standing again.
The rest of the day could have been good except that London was basking in what felt like 50 degrees c (actually 37 - that's about 100f). Nice walk across the new bridge over the Thames - looking at all the fabulous buildings and the majestic river always gives me a a feeling of great pride and wonder. Off to see Tourism Concern, my fave people in the business. Why? Cos their heart's big and it's in the right place - see what I mean at:
http://www.tourismconcern.uk.org
At the moment they'e campaigning about tourism sweatshops and Burma (Myanmar) again, plus, they're set to get a Fair Trade in Tourism label. Tricia who runs it wasn't ready for me - computer'd gone down so she stuffed a bunch of papers in my hand and sent me off to read them. The bunch included the Ethical Travel Guide, their new publication - fabulous. Then meeting.
Coffee and tiramisu in Soho, at Bar Italia outside opposite Ronnie Scott's, then an inspirational walk across the Thames again to Waterloo.
Looking for a nice air-conditioned seat in a pleasant train? Forget it! South West trains had lost another coach. Plus the train was late plus the air conditioning was broke. Outside temperature at Waterloo maybe 40, inside the train maybe 50+. So we all sat (stood) gently wilting there for another half an hour. I'm surprised that we weren't charged for a Turkish Bath - in the event they gave us a little bottle of water each - great.
Got back to Bath to give Pam some little marzipan animals to eat. She doesn't like marzipan any more. Back home to join in the e-conference - look at it -Ethical Travel Forum at
http://www.planeta.com
The last one, that's if you want a behind-the-scenes glance at sustainable tourism was at the World Bank -
http://www.devcomm.org
Let's hope for a thunder storm.
The rest of the day could have been good except that London was basking in what felt like 50 degrees c (actually 37 - that's about 100f). Nice walk across the new bridge over the Thames - looking at all the fabulous buildings and the majestic river always gives me a a feeling of great pride and wonder. Off to see Tourism Concern, my fave people in the business. Why? Cos their heart's big and it's in the right place - see what I mean at:
http://www.tourismconcern.uk.org
At the moment they'e campaigning about tourism sweatshops and Burma (Myanmar) again, plus, they're set to get a Fair Trade in Tourism label. Tricia who runs it wasn't ready for me - computer'd gone down so she stuffed a bunch of papers in my hand and sent me off to read them. The bunch included the Ethical Travel Guide, their new publication - fabulous. Then meeting.
Coffee and tiramisu in Soho, at Bar Italia outside opposite Ronnie Scott's, then an inspirational walk across the Thames again to Waterloo.
Looking for a nice air-conditioned seat in a pleasant train? Forget it! South West trains had lost another coach. Plus the train was late plus the air conditioning was broke. Outside temperature at Waterloo maybe 40, inside the train maybe 50+. So we all sat (stood) gently wilting there for another half an hour. I'm surprised that we weren't charged for a Turkish Bath - in the event they gave us a little bottle of water each - great.
Got back to Bath to give Pam some little marzipan animals to eat. She doesn't like marzipan any more. Back home to join in the e-conference - look at it -Ethical Travel Forum at
http://www.planeta.com
The last one, that's if you want a behind-the-scenes glance at sustainable tourism was at the World Bank -
http://www.devcomm.org
Let's hope for a thunder storm.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Ownership
I've finally finished my article for planeta about ownership: http://www.planeta.com/planeta/06/0607ownership.html
Thank God for that.
And now got launched into a heatening debate on pro-poor tourism which I seem to have written a lot about lately.
We're a complicated bunch (us humans I mean) I think we all mean well but sometimes we get it sooo wrong. Take propoor tourism. There's a lot of poverty in the world. Places like Spain were quite poor in the 1950's. They made loads of money by creating a tourism industry, and everybody shared in the tourism currency. Now we've got more poor people, let's help them to develop tourism of their own and make lots of money like the Spanish did. That's how the thinking goes.
We're right up to the line in the MDG's (remember, we agreed to halve poverty by 2015?). Tourism may do, think the Development agencies. "Let's make it happen" they say.
Now the big discussion is young tourism consultants who charge $1000 a day to help tourism eradicate poverty. They're only doing their jobs. It's not charity. They had to submit to a recruitment formula.
It may not be wrong but it's perhaps a little inept, isn't it? Or do the basket-case economies get the cheap consultants?
By the way, I'm still formenting over my trip back from London last Sunday (after the stag). It was hot, the train was packed and the train company (South West Trains) took a carriage off. Who knows why.
Over the last 20 years we've been fed so much rubbish in the travel business, we don't believe anything anymore. Friends of mine (accountants) were so happy to break up and sell off the railways to people who'd actually make money out of them. Nobody said how they'd do it. By screwing the customers, that's how, it always is.
Thank God for that.
And now got launched into a heatening debate on pro-poor tourism which I seem to have written a lot about lately.
We're a complicated bunch (us humans I mean) I think we all mean well but sometimes we get it sooo wrong. Take propoor tourism. There's a lot of poverty in the world. Places like Spain were quite poor in the 1950's. They made loads of money by creating a tourism industry, and everybody shared in the tourism currency. Now we've got more poor people, let's help them to develop tourism of their own and make lots of money like the Spanish did. That's how the thinking goes.
We're right up to the line in the MDG's (remember, we agreed to halve poverty by 2015?). Tourism may do, think the Development agencies. "Let's make it happen" they say.
Now the big discussion is young tourism consultants who charge $1000 a day to help tourism eradicate poverty. They're only doing their jobs. It's not charity. They had to submit to a recruitment formula.
It may not be wrong but it's perhaps a little inept, isn't it? Or do the basket-case economies get the cheap consultants?
By the way, I'm still formenting over my trip back from London last Sunday (after the stag). It was hot, the train was packed and the train company (South West Trains) took a carriage off. Who knows why.
Over the last 20 years we've been fed so much rubbish in the travel business, we don't believe anything anymore. Friends of mine (accountants) were so happy to break up and sell off the railways to people who'd actually make money out of them. Nobody said how they'd do it. By screwing the customers, that's how, it always is.
Monday, July 17, 2006
A tough weekend
My youngest son decided that he'd have his "Stag" weekend in London and, as I'd been on my other two son's weekends, I had to join in.
What an industry its become. I guess at least 50% of marriages in the UK have "Stag" and "Hen" weekends, plus probably 80% have honeymoons. In the UK alone, I guess that there's about 200,000 marriages a year say 20 stags and hens per marriage (50%) - 1million reveller/travellers potential and 320,000 honeymooners. Big business. Its made some resorts - Prague, Vilnius, Talinn particularily.
I wonder about tourism to USA. 10 years ago, in the good old days, I used to sell weekends to New York - we took thousands of people a year and I loved it. Now you couldn't give them away. I know internet tourism is holding up but those American bureaucrats sure know how kick tourism in its mouth.
Foreign policy including Iraq. Anti terrorism including visas. Fights with the EU about the disclosure of airline passenger lists. And now the Nat West 3, who put up a fabulous PR campaign, got extradited to the USA under a one-sided bill which even the American government won't agree to for their own citizens, and next appeared chained up outside a USA penitentiary.
It can't do their tourism any good. Plus, when they're held to task they say "You don't need to come if you don't want to."
Here's a good idea. Go somewhere you ARE wanted and needed.
Personally, I don't understand it. The USA should be our home, I don't know of any two documents as powerful as the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Or a piece of music as stirring as "Fanfare to the Common Man". I don't know of a people as generous, warm and brave. But our Earth is blown up by terrorists burnt down by global warming and desecrated by Aids and poverty while the Americans are taking a bull nosed approach to the first, a head in the sand attitude to the second and a prissy "Are they as democratic as us" attitude to the third.
Where are we if the Yanks aren't on our side?
What an industry its become. I guess at least 50% of marriages in the UK have "Stag" and "Hen" weekends, plus probably 80% have honeymoons. In the UK alone, I guess that there's about 200,000 marriages a year say 20 stags and hens per marriage (50%) - 1million reveller/travellers potential and 320,000 honeymooners. Big business. Its made some resorts - Prague, Vilnius, Talinn particularily.
I wonder about tourism to USA. 10 years ago, in the good old days, I used to sell weekends to New York - we took thousands of people a year and I loved it. Now you couldn't give them away. I know internet tourism is holding up but those American bureaucrats sure know how kick tourism in its mouth.
Foreign policy including Iraq. Anti terrorism including visas. Fights with the EU about the disclosure of airline passenger lists. And now the Nat West 3, who put up a fabulous PR campaign, got extradited to the USA under a one-sided bill which even the American government won't agree to for their own citizens, and next appeared chained up outside a USA penitentiary.
It can't do their tourism any good. Plus, when they're held to task they say "You don't need to come if you don't want to."
Here's a good idea. Go somewhere you ARE wanted and needed.
Personally, I don't understand it. The USA should be our home, I don't know of any two documents as powerful as the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Or a piece of music as stirring as "Fanfare to the Common Man". I don't know of a people as generous, warm and brave. But our Earth is blown up by terrorists burnt down by global warming and desecrated by Aids and poverty while the Americans are taking a bull nosed approach to the first, a head in the sand attitude to the second and a prissy "Are they as democratic as us" attitude to the third.
Where are we if the Yanks aren't on our side?
Friday, July 14, 2006
Holidays in Lebanon
Every time it happens it makes me want to cry.
A destination that's built up its business decade after decade - zapped. Back to work again, painstakingly recreating its tourism infrastructure. Slowly the clients come back, they tell their friends and they come back too. And after a few years tourists, like seasonal swallows, are returning to their old haunts. Locals come to depend on the income.
Beirut is known as the Monte Carlo of the Middle East. Beirut is a place where people can relax and enjoy its terraces, its promenades, its little cafes and restaurants, its nightlife. Beirut is a place that's painstakingly built up its tourist industry again after the recent desecrations.
BLASTED.
Its happened again and again, year after year there's violence and/or a natural disasters in tourist resorts. Naturally, one may think, the tourists stop coming and the locals now have at least two disasters to deal with.
It's no wonder that tourists are dealt with like commodities. That's how they deal with resorts which are after all the places that local people live, work and trade.
As part of my Sustainable Tourism Report which you can buy if you like! http://www.totemtourismmarketing.org
I did a little survey of a couple of dozen tourism professionals. Even though they all agreed that a disaster-management strategies were fundamentally important, only one of the group had one.
Interestingly, there's a new movement in tourism - "Solidarity Tourism" have a look at it: www.africania.org you'll see where its going and how helpful it could be.
After all, we do live on the same Earth, don't we?
A destination that's built up its business decade after decade - zapped. Back to work again, painstakingly recreating its tourism infrastructure. Slowly the clients come back, they tell their friends and they come back too. And after a few years tourists, like seasonal swallows, are returning to their old haunts. Locals come to depend on the income.
Beirut is known as the Monte Carlo of the Middle East. Beirut is a place where people can relax and enjoy its terraces, its promenades, its little cafes and restaurants, its nightlife. Beirut is a place that's painstakingly built up its tourist industry again after the recent desecrations.
BLASTED.
Its happened again and again, year after year there's violence and/or a natural disasters in tourist resorts. Naturally, one may think, the tourists stop coming and the locals now have at least two disasters to deal with.
It's no wonder that tourists are dealt with like commodities. That's how they deal with resorts which are after all the places that local people live, work and trade.
As part of my Sustainable Tourism Report which you can buy if you like! http://www.totemtourismmarketing.org
I did a little survey of a couple of dozen tourism professionals. Even though they all agreed that a disaster-management strategies were fundamentally important, only one of the group had one.
Interestingly, there's a new movement in tourism - "Solidarity Tourism" have a look at it: www.africania.org you'll see where its going and how helpful it could be.
After all, we do live on the same Earth, don't we?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
That done, on to beliefs
As the man said "You don't like my principles, don't worry, I've got plenty more!"
Me, I don't go big on principles, but I do have a few beliefs about the tourism business:
1. Over the last 50 years, tour operators have shafted the resorts until their eyes watered. After the Western resorts got wise to this fact and started biting back, the tour operators moved their custom a bit. Ever wondered why Turkey got its massive tourism growth? Ever wondered why Thailand and the Dominican Republic and a host of other exotic destinations hit the travel headlines? THEY ARE CHEAP, plus of course, they're beautiful, but beautiful resorts are all over - cheap is what gets tour operators' tourists.
2. Most less developed and developing resorts are angry too. That's because they're being shafted and they can't do anything about it. If they want tourism as an economic growth stimulator they have to join in the tourism plan and work for pennies because the tour operators say so and they have the relationship with the clientele.
None of this is a good idea. You don't want holidays where your hosts hate you and only want you for the (very little) money they get to look after you. Plus your holiday is building a world of environmental, cultural and economic unsustainability.
3. The answer is Fair Trade Tourism, marketing, ownership, the web, and the donors. It works like this:
Fair Trade Tourism will soon come. For a few extra pounds the operators will get a flash to flash about - just like the supermarkets with fair trade coffee and tea. They'll make a bit more profit (you didn't think they were doing it for Love, did you?) and fulfil another market requirement. The resorts will make more too. Tourism will all become more sustainable. The organisation behind this change - http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk have been promoting this idea assidously for the last 15 years - they will make it happen!
There is a possibility now that the resorts could market themselves directly to the worldwide public. That's real fair trade. To do this they'd need to know as much about marketing as those who started the tourism boom in the 1960's. Not a difficult task from a western-educated person's perspective. But a high wall to climb if you live in rural Uganda. My answer - exchanges, like school exchanges to learn a language, but marketing exchanges to learn a subject by doing it in a western company.
As you can see from my profile, I live in Bath. Bath has been doing tourism since 3k bc (the druids, then the Romans then the Georgians, now the world) so we know a bit about it . Stepping aside into the road for foreign school groups is just one hurdle our elderly have to negotiate daily. Luckily tourism brings money and a bit of prosperity so we put up with it, in a way, we're proud of our tourism. However, if we weren't getting benefits and were being treated as slaves (well, we were when the Romans were here) we wouldn't like it - we wouldn't have ownership of the process. I know a bit about ownership in third world countries (sorry) tourism I'm just writing an article today for http://www.planeta.com
The web makes it all possible, of course. Now we can practise PULL rather than PUSH marketing. Geographically that means that resorts get the people and the money, directly. Maybe.
Andd, finally, the donors (who?). Now you may not believe it but it was the multilateral Development Agencies - the donors in the form of the World bank and others who financed tourism growth through soft loans in the 60's and 70's. Tunisia? WB, Morocco (WB), Bali WB, Dominican Republic WB and loads more. Even Spain was financed with interest-free loans provided by the Spanish government. Now, of course, the donors have a major task - the Millenium Development Goals - and tourism will not be left out in the development cocktail.
That's my answer, those are my beliefs, What are the obstacles, I wonder?
Me, I don't go big on principles, but I do have a few beliefs about the tourism business:
1. Over the last 50 years, tour operators have shafted the resorts until their eyes watered. After the Western resorts got wise to this fact and started biting back, the tour operators moved their custom a bit. Ever wondered why Turkey got its massive tourism growth? Ever wondered why Thailand and the Dominican Republic and a host of other exotic destinations hit the travel headlines? THEY ARE CHEAP, plus of course, they're beautiful, but beautiful resorts are all over - cheap is what gets tour operators' tourists.
2. Most less developed and developing resorts are angry too. That's because they're being shafted and they can't do anything about it. If they want tourism as an economic growth stimulator they have to join in the tourism plan and work for pennies because the tour operators say so and they have the relationship with the clientele.
None of this is a good idea. You don't want holidays where your hosts hate you and only want you for the (very little) money they get to look after you. Plus your holiday is building a world of environmental, cultural and economic unsustainability.
3. The answer is Fair Trade Tourism, marketing, ownership, the web, and the donors. It works like this:
Fair Trade Tourism will soon come. For a few extra pounds the operators will get a flash to flash about - just like the supermarkets with fair trade coffee and tea. They'll make a bit more profit (you didn't think they were doing it for Love, did you?) and fulfil another market requirement. The resorts will make more too. Tourism will all become more sustainable. The organisation behind this change - http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk have been promoting this idea assidously for the last 15 years - they will make it happen!
There is a possibility now that the resorts could market themselves directly to the worldwide public. That's real fair trade. To do this they'd need to know as much about marketing as those who started the tourism boom in the 1960's. Not a difficult task from a western-educated person's perspective. But a high wall to climb if you live in rural Uganda. My answer - exchanges, like school exchanges to learn a language, but marketing exchanges to learn a subject by doing it in a western company.
As you can see from my profile, I live in Bath. Bath has been doing tourism since 3k bc (the druids, then the Romans then the Georgians, now the world) so we know a bit about it . Stepping aside into the road for foreign school groups is just one hurdle our elderly have to negotiate daily. Luckily tourism brings money and a bit of prosperity so we put up with it, in a way, we're proud of our tourism. However, if we weren't getting benefits and were being treated as slaves (well, we were when the Romans were here) we wouldn't like it - we wouldn't have ownership of the process. I know a bit about ownership in third world countries (sorry) tourism I'm just writing an article today for http://www.planeta.com
The web makes it all possible, of course. Now we can practise PULL rather than PUSH marketing. Geographically that means that resorts get the people and the money, directly. Maybe.
Andd, finally, the donors (who?). Now you may not believe it but it was the multilateral Development Agencies - the donors in the form of the World bank and others who financed tourism growth through soft loans in the 60's and 70's. Tunisia? WB, Morocco (WB), Bali WB, Dominican Republic WB and loads more. Even Spain was financed with interest-free loans provided by the Spanish government. Now, of course, the donors have a major task - the Millenium Development Goals - and tourism will not be left out in the development cocktail.
That's my answer, those are my beliefs, What are the obstacles, I wonder?
I'm going to rant a little 2
First an apology for my grammar yesterday - I did try to change it honestly. For all those offended this is what it should have looked like:
"I'm going to rant a little.
Ever since I was 8 years old, I've been in love with tourism. Going there, seeing it, understanding it, and, more importantly helping others to enjoy it too has been my life for the last over 5o years.
But, its all changed.Once upon a time everybody could benefit from tourism, now its just the chosen few. I don't mean the chosen few tourists, do I? One billion a year within the next three years - that's not a few.
50 years ago the travel and tourism industry got into its stride. Tour operators (a colourful bunch of people I might add) shook the industry into life and MARKETED. People bought their tours and, on the whole, they had a good time.
Here's how it STILL works - accommodation+transfers+transport+marketing+profit = selling price. The market rules so the cheapest price always wins. We don't want to lose the profit (even though we'll probably have to) so we'll screw the others into the ground to get a good sales price.
Survival of the fittest - that's what happens in a market economy. So you and I have now landed up with the toughest customers on the block dominating the travel industry.
Good for us - cheap prices, plenty of travel. Not so good for the resorts? Possibly not.
Enter the world wide web. The story continues...
"I'm going to rant a little.
Ever since I was 8 years old, I've been in love with tourism. Going there, seeing it, understanding it, and, more importantly helping others to enjoy it too has been my life for the last over 5o years.
But, its all changed.Once upon a time everybody could benefit from tourism, now its just the chosen few. I don't mean the chosen few tourists, do I? One billion a year within the next three years - that's not a few.
50 years ago the travel and tourism industry got into its stride. Tour operators (a colourful bunch of people I might add) shook the industry into life and MARKETED. People bought their tours and, on the whole, they had a good time.
Here's how it STILL works - accommodation+transfers+transport+marketing+profit = selling price. The market rules so the cheapest price always wins. We don't want to lose the profit (even though we'll probably have to) so we'll screw the others into the ground to get a good sales price.
Survival of the fittest - that's what happens in a market economy. So you and I have now landed up with the toughest customers on the block dominating the travel industry.
Good for us - cheap prices, plenty of travel. Not so good for the resorts? Possibly not.
Enter the world wide web. The story continues...
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I'm going to rant a little
Ever since I was 8 years old, I've been in love with tourism. Going there, seeing it, understanding it, and, more importantly helping others to enjoy it too has been my life for the last over 5o years. But, its all changed.
Once upon a time everybody could benefit from tourism, now its just the chosen few. I don't mean the chosen few tourists, do I? One billion a year within the next three years - that's not a few.
50 years ago the travel and tourism industry got into its stride. Tour operators (a colourful bunch of people I might add) shook the industry into life and MARKETED. People bought their tours and, on the whole, they had a good time.
Here's how it STILL works - accommodation+transfers+transport+marketing+profit = selling price. The market rules so the cheapest price always wins. We don't want to lose the profit (even though we'll probably have to) so we'll screw the others into the ground to get a good sales price.
Survival of the fittest - that's what happens in a market economy. So you and I have now landed up with the toughest customers on the block dominating the travel industry. Good for us - cheap prices, plenty of travel. Not so good for the resorts? Possibly not.
Enter the world wide web. The story continues...
Once upon a time everybody could benefit from tourism, now its just the chosen few. I don't mean the chosen few tourists, do I? One billion a year within the next three years - that's not a few.
50 years ago the travel and tourism industry got into its stride. Tour operators (a colourful bunch of people I might add) shook the industry into life and MARKETED. People bought their tours and, on the whole, they had a good time.
Here's how it STILL works - accommodation+transfers+transport+marketing+profit = selling price. The market rules so the cheapest price always wins. We don't want to lose the profit (even though we'll probably have to) so we'll screw the others into the ground to get a good sales price.
Survival of the fittest - that's what happens in a market economy. So you and I have now landed up with the toughest customers on the block dominating the travel industry. Good for us - cheap prices, plenty of travel. Not so good for the resorts? Possibly not.
Enter the world wide web. The story continues...
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