On the tourist trail
Apologies for this blog being quiet of late – I am currently in the middle of a fairly exhausting jaunt through South Africa.
As part of this trip, I have been doing a lot of tours, and as a result, have come to a conclusion or two about how tour operators and tourism authorities should deal with journalists.
Solo tours
A couple of times since I have been here, it has been just me on the tour. To all intents and purposes, it has been put on because I am writing about the destinations visited and – in all probability – the product that the tour company provides.
Problem with tours for journalists
And on more than one occasion, there has been a classic problem: the tour has been set up with me in mind. This means that the driver/ guide asks what I want to do, and the tour is adapted here and there to take in aspects of other tours that the company offers.
More material?
Brilliant, you’d think. I get to cover more ground and get more material for my article(s). But it’s not – it’s counter-productive for both me and the tour operator. Put simply, when the tour is adapted for my needs, I have no idea of what the real tour is. I can’t review it accurately, I can’t recommend it.
Focus
I can certainly write about the places I’ve visited as part of my tour, and frequently do so. But the focus has to be on the places rather than the tour itself. I can’t bring in the guide’s character, point out aspects that are neatly done or really say anything more than “XXX runs a tour of YYY for $ZZZ” in the factbox.
Tip for tour operators
So, tour operators, if you really want writers to focus on your product as well as the places you visit, this is the best way of doing it: Just do what you normally do.
No special treatment
The best possible scenario, from my perspective, is simply to book me on as another passenger and don’t tell the driver who I am. I don’t want special treatment; I want the other passengers to take up the conversational slack (those one-on-one tours can be mentally exhausting because of the need to strike up constant conversation). And most importantly, I want to see what you do.
This won’t always result in acres of publicity – mostly it is the place rather than the tour itself that counts – but at least give yourself a sporting chance. Do what you do well, and stick to it, and writers will thank you heartily for this.
Tags: marketing, PR, tourist boards, tours, Travel Writing
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Agreed. It can prove difficult when you ask ‘And what does this cost?’ only to discover that they don’t do it for regular travellers.
On a press trip to Grasse we had the most wonderful lunch in field of roses – but you can only go there if you’re booking a largeish function like a wedding etc so I couldn’t use this in a general piece. This kind of thing happens all too often. The other annoying thing is when they insist on showing you something when you’re quite specific that you want to see something else (that you’ve deemed more interesting for your readers).
So true. This has been a constant problem over the years, both on press trips and when hosted solo.
Another great treat, actually useless from a work point of view, is to be shown around historic buildings, art collections, libraries, palaces etc that are normally closed to the public. You can’t even mention them in your piece.
I find the same problem with hotels, B&Bs etc. They put fresh flowers or a bottle of wine, or a plate of chocolates in the room – simply because you are a journalist. You then write about how nice it is to get flowers/wine/chocolates and they come back to say “we only did that for you”. Don’t! I want to see exactly what a regular traveller gets so I can write about that experience. Not an enhanced one.
Totally agree. I particularly miss the presence of other travellers whose idiosyncracies, comments and reactions to the tour might otherwise add colour to my story.
Every tour operator should read this. Thanks for your wisdom, David.