I have to admit I have a thing about those “journalists” in the travel industry who use trips to Asia (especially) as shopping pilgrimages. I have been to many Asian destinations in groups which tend to be heavily weighed towards the XX chromosome, only to find that we are constantly dropping them off so that they can skip the group dinner and head out to the markets, the shopping malls and the sales. In Bangkok we were forced to wait every morning for our sleepy-head companions to rouse themselves after late nights of retail therapy, during which they barter and bargain their over-sized suitcases to the brim and then plead with the travelling airline representative for an additional baggage allowance. These trips are supposed to be about discovering new cultures and people and the many elements to each destination’s travel industry. What baffles me even more is that PR people not only allow this to happen, but also keep inviting these retail flunkies back for more (or in some cases jump in on the materialism band wagon). Moral of the story – ladies, if you really want to shop, stay a couple of extra days and don’t drag down the trip for the rest of us!
Another little nag of mine is “PR Tourist”, reps from airlines, NTOs etc who use the trips that THEY are supposed to be guiding, as a chance to visit family back home or to play the happy FIT traveller. I was recently in the UK and our airline rep took more photos and ran around more like a tourist than anyone else we encountered. Although he did not really hinder our progress, I must admit he did become the comic relief for the younger journalists. Moral of the story – have some professionalism and do the ticky-tour on your own time!
- Travel Editor
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