David on May 27th, 2010

Best tour guides A pattern struck me the other day, as I was thinking about what made a good tour guide. All the best ones I have encountered have had one thing in common – they weren’t from the place they were showing me around.   Great outsiders This holds true for the superbly knowledgeable [...]

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Continue reading about Being local: An overrated attribute

David on April 9th, 2010

Or why you should avoid Great Sights Fiji’s Nadi afternoon tour   Tourist vs traveller I’ve no desire to get into the hoary, old and frankly ridiculous tourist versus traveller debate. Going on a tour doesn’t necessarily make you a second class citizen to be sneered at. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t get [...]

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Continue reading about How not to operate a tour

Going solo When I was travelling down the Australian coast last year, I did so as a normal human being rather than a pampered travel journalist. One of the things that struck me was how difficult it can be to do anything when you’re on your own.   How many? The classic example was in [...]

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Continue reading about Solo travellers: Why tour companies are missing out on customers

David on January 15th, 2010

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 [...]

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Continue reading about How tour operators should deal with journalists

I’m sure many travel writers have encountered a situation where they have been offered a ‘media rate’ by hotels, airlines and tour operators. And I’m sure many of us have struggled to know how to word the most appropriate response. Well never fear – just alter the details on this template letter to suit your [...]

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Continue reading about Template letter for travel writers offered a ‘media rate’ by hotels, airlines & tour operators

Mental image of cruise ship passengers I’ve never been on a cruise ship, and I can’t see myself ever wanting to. This is partly due to the image I have of what a cruise holiday would be like – being surrounded by fat, elderly Americans who care about little but being able to graze on [...]

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Continue reading about Cruise ships and the damage they cause to destinations