By Martin Owen
I’m a fan of TV programs about travel and hospitality. Find me a series about hotels and I’m hooked. Programs about airports and airlines will hold my attention for hours. I’m not talking about the ‘sensational’ types of productions that are looking for exposés, but more the behind-the-scenes type that show how the industries are developing and of course recently, how they are changing to cope with current situations.
Recently there has been a series called ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’. I believe it’s been shown the United Kingdom and also Australia. I don’t think it’s been broadcast on regular TV channels here, but may be available on some streaming services, and of course the internet is a great way to find such programs.
The subjects have been very varied and range from major, long-distance trains like The Orient Express in Europe, The Ghan in Australia (Melbourne and Adelaide to Alice Springs and Darwin) to some very short routes. Examples include the Glasgow to The Isle of Skye in Scotland, and trains in South America and Portugal.
Recently they featured a train called the Rocky Mountaineer. This comes in two varieties, the original Canadian train that runs from Vancouver through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and the newer route here in the USA that goes from Denver, Colorado to Moab in Utah. I was lucky enough to travel on the USA train last fall. It was an exceptional experience. The scenery was varied and beautiful and the on-board service was really very good.
Most of the trains featured in this TV series are specific tourist routes which include overnight accommodation, meals and excursions. These seem to be a type of ‘land cruise’ without the large numbers of other passengers we experience on sea cruises and of course no requirement to travel on the sea, which for me is a great advantage as I’m not good with sea sickness but quite happy with train and air travel!
However, quite a number of the trains are genuine local rail services that just happen to go through areas of outstanding natural beauty. They are available to book through your local friendly travel agent or indeed if you’re in the area while on vacation, you can just turn up and get on.
The concept of these scenic rail trips is growing in popularity and offer a whole new way to plan vacations. Well, I say new, but of course the trains have been around for very many years they just fell off most people’s wish lists. I glad that they are returning. There are quite a few here in the USA and Amtrak is trying to generate quite a few more.
Another rail tourism trend is the heritage railways that have become established all over the world. Again, pretty much local lines where volunteers run revived steam trains just for the tourists. I think actually the volunteers run them for their own interest, but we tourists benefit and our tourism dollars go into the restoration and preservation of the old lines.
I think this is all part of the welcome trend in tourism to discover new activities to attract visitors. Particularly welcome is that they’re aimed at smaller numbers of travelers avoiding the huge crowds of the theme parks, sea cruises etc., and are concentrating on more personalized service and experiences. Being a bit of a ‘train nut’, I’m all in favor.
Just an update on tourism here on the Northern Gulf Coast, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that visitation is holding up well throughout the summer season. The trend is that our tourists are becoming spread out throughout the year, rather than all coming at one time in the summer. That’s good for us locals as the roads are not quite so crowded, yet it will mean that tourism jobs are becoming less seasonal, and more year-round. I should have more updates on the successes the tourism business locally is experiencing next month.