I have been pondering the issue of travel agents, tour guides, travel tours and the like to try to determine what I would like from these services versus what I feel I have gotten from them.
The first thing that comes to mind is that I don’t like the idea of traveling with a large group of strangers in a tour situation. At first I thought that my objection was in being forced to follow the time and direction of the tour – which is part of the problem. I also find that my encounters with tour groups have not been pleasant; the folks see to be extremely rude and self centered – promoting the idea of the “ugly American.” As far as I can tell it isn’t limited to Americans, it has to do with traveling with a large group and that somehow carries the culture of the group along with them – which inevitably clashes with the local culture and customs. I don’t think it is reflective of a nationality, but rather a mode of travel.
Upon further contemplation, the problem that I have with traveling in a large group has to do with the type of experience that is possible. I am much more interested in the people and culture than in the “things” when I travel. Experiencing or seeing the things gives me an excuse to move from place to place, but my interest is in meeting new and different people (who seem to always turn out to be amazingly the same). In order to do this I want to slide between the currents as invisibly as possible. I don’t want to change the flow, I want to observe and experience it. Large groups of people in a tour completely change the environment that they travel through. You can see the effect very forcefully if you watch what happens when a tour group shows up and finally leaves. The enter experience of the place changes to take maximum advantage of the dollars that the tour group brings with them. The local flow of life stops long enough to take advantage of the group, then it falls back into the normal pace of things once the tour has passed. It is kind of like hunkering down for a tornado, and then coming out and resuming life after the storm. I want to experience life where I am visiting without the storm.
One way to do this is to just dive in and wander about the new and strange country on your own. The problem that I find with this is that I usually don’t find the interesting things to find, often don’t really contact any of the people because of language difficulties and other reasons, and have the risk of exposing myself to more danger than is necessary. It seems to make sense to me to obtain assistance in moving through the unknown country. This can be obtained either by hiring someone or “imposing” upon a friend. The friend is of course the preferred approach, but is seldom feasible. My wife and I toured Australia with friends who have lived there for many years and were totally spoiled by the experience because they knew the place, knew us, and we got to play together on our trips.
Assuming that it is not possible to find a knowledgeable friend to act as a tour guide, then the option is to hire someone. For me, this is the reason for going to a travel agent – to get expert assistance in getting the kind of trip/experience that I want. Most travel agents seem to believe that their job is to book travel and accommodations. In the age of the internet that is not necessary. I am perfectly capable of finding and booking transportation and lodging, and can do it at a significantly reduced rate. Travel agents are not the way to take a “bargain” trip.
To be useful, travel agents must provide a service beyond simply booking the services such as transportation, accommodations and tours – I think they need to find ways to act as the traveler’s “agent.” What I am looking for in terms of a travel agent and/or local guide is someone who will act in my behalf, as my agent – rather than as a person who seems to always be working to maximize their profits, or the profits of their friends. I want a travel agent who will make sure that as I travel I feel like I have gotten a fair deal all along the way. I am not pleased with spending $450 for a local tour before I go only to find that it is normally priced at $150 when I get there. The extra $300 leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t like to find that I have been booked into a dump of a hotel that is located across the street from a nicer place at a lower price. Basically, what I am paying for is someone to do the foot work required to find out what a fair deal is rather than my having to do that on my own.
When I get to wherever I am going, I like the idea of obtaining a local guide that can show me around, find ways for me to experience the people and culture, and help me get “good” deals on purchases of goods and services. Basically, I want them to act as my advocate and/or agent helping me to find my way around. I would also like them to assist me in getting my bearings so that I can explore on my own, in relative safety and in ways that maximize enjoyment of their country. I don’t want to always be taken to the stores of their friends to purchase over prices, crummy trinkets. I don’t want to just go to the places where the big tours visit, I don’t want to always be on the lookout for price gouging and shoddy merchandise. I want someone to help me find good things for reasonable prices. I guess I want them to treat me as a friend, rather than as a source of extra income. I am of course willing to pay for these services, but don’t want to feel that there is always “extra” income in the form of kickbacks. I want the guide to pay attention to my interests, rather than just follow the course of most profits for them and their friends.
Examples of what I am looking for are directions to good restaurants that the locals use and that serve local food and local prices (rather than very expensive restaurants that serve “tourist” food), places where locals go to find entertainment (local music, etc – something besides casinos and whore houses would be nice for a change), assistance in understanding how to judge and price local arts and crafts, etc. In short, I am hoping for someone who is there to help me rather than help themselves and the local economy to my detriment. I would rather stumble around by myself than be in a situation where I am always having to be on guard from the person who I have hired to help.
It is my expectation that travel agents will have created a network of trusted contacts that can assist them in providing good services and a reasonable price, and that can assist me as their client once I get there in finding trusted guides, services and goods. If travel agents can’t provide this kind of quality service, then I have no need for their services, I am better off doing the best that I can do by myself.
