Let’s Talk About Tourism
By Martin Owen
I’m not only hooked on traveling, I’m hooked on watching travel programs on television.
I’m not talking about the shows that are trying to get you to book a vacation with the sponsor, but the real behind the scenes, genuine and authentic versions.
There’s been a great series over the past couple of years called ‘Amazing Hotels – behind the front desk’. The concept behind the series is that a chef and a restaurant and hotel critic travel to various hotels around the world and actually work in them. Well, I say work in then but really, it’s a case of shadowing various members of staff in their day-to-day tasks. While this is happening, they gain insights into not only how those hotels work, but what the front-line workers think about the industry and the effect that tourism has on their lives.
They’ve featured huge spectacular hotels in Singapore and Dubai, safari lodges in Africa, small and very expensive hotels in remote parts of South America and very remote lodges in Iceland. Over the past two years they’ve visited a wide variety of extremely different locations. Without exception they’ve found that working in the hospitality and tourist industry has had a profound effect on the local workers and the local economies.
Although tourism can have some devastating effects – like examples of over tourism (the problems being experienced in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Venice etc.,) and when too many tourists visit some remote locations and interfere with the ecology – much of this can be put down to lack of planning, albeit often unintentional. We’ve learned a lot over the past 100 years about what is good and what bad in tourism. But certainly, the hospitality industry has brought major economic improvements to many areas.
Thinking about our own area of the Northern Gulf Coast, tourism and hospitality has become the largest industry providing not only jobs directly in the hotels, attractions and tours businesses, but all the associated business and professions. I’ve mentioned it before, but without the local tourist business we wouldn’t have all the other support services that we locals benefit from and depend on.
But there’s even more to benefits to travel that aren’t immediately obvious.
A couple of months ago, the famous chef and writer Anthony Bourdain died. Sadly, he inexplicably took his own life. Bourdain had shot to fame not only as a chef, but because he wrote a number of books (most notably Kitchen Confidential) about the restaurant business which struck cords not just with people in that profession but with the public at large. This led to him hosting a number of television shows, most recently on CNN called Parts Unknown. If you’ve seen these, you’ll be way ahead of me. I should explain that these were not ‘cooking shows’ as such. Nothing like Top Chef or America’s best Restaurant. These were programs where Tony Bourdain and a very small crew visited diverse destinations from Seoul, Korea to The Bronx, from Miami to Paraguay, from the coalfields of Kentucky to the glitz of Tokyo. He met with local people and was taken to restaurants – often street food stalls – and talked about not only food, but the feelings of the local people – what life was like for them and what are their joys and fears. He examined the history and culture of the places and people. What comes across strongly was that he established a rapport with people and never appeared to judge. He just enjoyed their company and their food.
To real travelers, those that try and get under the skin of the places they visit, this is what it’s all about. Yes, you can just drive or fly to a place and remain locked in your hotel room. But many travelers talk to the locals and experience a life that’s different from their own. Even visiting a restaurant that serves something different than food you’re used to, and talking to the wait staff about it is enlightening. Not just to you, but to them too.
In 1869 Mark Twain wrote a book called ‘The Innocents Abroad’. In this he famously said “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”. That quote is as meaningful and true now as it was 149 years ago.
If you haven’t seen Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, look for it. I think it’s on Netflix. As a traveler, you’ll enjoy it.
In other news….
A lady was recently arrested in South Florida for collecting live Conch shells on the beach. She said she didn’t think it was illegal. She was aiming to clean them and take them home as gifts for friends. Regrettably for her it is against the law. She’s paid the $500 fine and is doing 19 days jail time. The moral of the story is travel, but take only memories away and leave only footprints.
