Recent events around the world have proven once again that holding a major event is no easy matter.  Not only must a community deal with the event itself but there are always logistics, marketing, and public relations that go hand in hand with a major event.  To make matters even more challenging we live in a world of political unrest. Major events are of course targets for terrorism.  They also may incite local…

   Although it is no longer a rarely to find on a hotel bed a sign asking the guest to reuse his/her towel or to accept having sheets changed once every three days rather than once a day, many people still wonder if tourism is an environmentally friendly industry. Due to past mistakes the public often is cynical about tourism and it is not unusual to hear people wondering out loud if the desire to change sheets once every three days is more about saving the hotel money then about saving the…

Tourism is to a great extent a world of marketing.  In reality there are three major parts to the tourism product 1) the product itself, 2) the way the product is presented by both the provider (marketing) and perceived by the customer (reputation), and 3) the product delivery or service that is given as part of the product experience.  Often tourism professionals become so enthralled with one part of this triangle that they forget one or two of the other sides of the triangle.  This…

Many people outside of the tourism industry tend to think of tourism and travel as an ongoing never-ending party. Yet anyone who has ever worked in the world’s largest peacetime industry knows that travel and tourism professionals spend long hours at work and that travel and tourism works to a great extent like any other large corporation.  Just as in other businesses tourism and travel professionals need to deal with budgets, have to justify lost opportunities and…

With the onset of the summer travel season in much of the world June is a good time to ask ourselves how well we are protecting our tourism sites.  Airlines and other forms of transportation have the advantage that they received government security.  Most other forms of tourism, such as hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, and major attractions such as theme parks receive little or no government security or protection.  In most cases, the tourism industry can depend on no one but…

Tourism is not only the world's largest industry, but also often its most misunderstood.  Many people outside of the industry believe that tourism professionals are on a permanent vacation.  Others complain about tourism's negative impact.  They see greater traffic on the streets, they note the waits in restaurants and cultural events, and complain that visitors often get lost, are loud, and even rude.  While certainly the tourism industry has to plead guilty to some of these charges, any…

Travel and tourism professionals can never forget that their profession is not only one that evokes high levels of emotions, but is often open to all sorts of liability cases that range from the frivolous to the extremely serious.  To add to the confusion, what may be legal in one place may be illegal or liable in another location and often visitors may not only sue in the location in which an incident occurred but also once they have returned home.  This…

FROM TOURISM & MORE'S "TOURISM TIDBITS," JANUARY 2013:



The tragic recent school shootings in the US have underlined once again the fact that too many people see police departments and other forms of security as adding nothing to the bottom line.  For example, from the perspective of too many tourism professionals, security people, be they public or private, are a necessary expense.  These tourism professionals often express the opinion that security agents do nothing…

Tourism security professionals and managers often (and justly) complain that they are considered expendable due to the fact that the other parts of the tourism industry perceive them as adding nothing to the bottom line.  In fact often tourism officials believe that security is simply and added and required expense that must be accepted, be that expense a burden. This month's Tourism Tidbits focuses on the other side of the coin, and emphasizes that not only is tourism security not…

A word of caution: The following material does not come from a lawyer nor is it meant to give legal advice.  Instead the information presented below is meant to stimulate thought.  Please do not make any legal decisions based on the information contained within.  Instead consult an attorney in your state or country before making any legal decisions.

The tourism world seems to become more complicated by the day, with both customers and…

One of the most frequently heard complaints in the world of travel and tourism is that when things go wrong, few people accept responsibility.  Instead visitors are forced to hear a jet stream of excuses, or simply see a shrug of the shoulders or are simply ignored.  In today's world travel and tourism are hard, and when travel and hospitality professionals simply look the other way or ignore a problem, a hard situation becomes both stressful and often intolerable.  Taking responsibility is…

This summer much of the world's eyes will be on London, England and the Summer Olympic Games. Perhaps the world premier sporting event begins on July 27th and continues until August 12.  Needless to say, such a major event, even for a city as large as London is no simple matter.  Organizing such a major event is no easy matter.  For example the Olympics will have over 23,000 security professionals and it is estimated that security alone will cost more than one billion British pound sterling.…

TOURISM & MORE'S "TOURISM TIDBITS" - June 2012

Developing a Tourism Continuity Plan

This is one edition of Tourism Tidbits that you hopefully will never need, but definitely want to keep. No matter how good your risk management may be, the bottom line is that from time to time bad things do happen. No matter what we do, natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes occur, people get sick, a crime happens or a terrorism attack comes at the most unlikely place…

TOURISM & MORE'S "TOURISM TIDBITS"

May 2012

International Tourism Month and Tourism Security & Safety

The city of Las Vegas will hold its 19th conference on tourism security and safety during the month of May.  The choice of this month is not an accident as May is the international month for tourism, and the first rule of good hospitality is taking care of our guests.  All too often tourism professionals see themselves as marketers rather than…

There are two important tourism safety/security conferences in May and June.  

In May Las Vegas will be holding its 19th conference.  You can learn about it and sign up for it at www.touristsafety.org.  The conference is May 14-16 at the Flamenco Hotel

In June, Aruba will be holding its 4th biannual tourism security conference at the Westin hotel.  The…

TOURISM & MORE'S "TOURISM TIDBITS"

 

In most of the world, April marks the beginning of spring, a renewal and of fresh hope. It also marks the gateway to the busy tourism season and a time for tourism professionals to step back and contemplate their industry.  Tourism has become an ever more complicated industry.  Tourism professionals need to worry about everything from war to economic…

Tourism Tidbits for January is now on line.  Please contact me if interested in receiving it: ptarlow@tourismandmore.com.  Here is a portion on this month's theme: Luxury Travel.

Despite the worldwide recession, there is one area of the tourism market that is rapidly expanding, that is the upscale or luxury market.  Asian airlines, for example, have not only increased their first class capacity, but continue to offer a wide variety of this new luxury travel products. …

Please let me know what topics would you like to see me write about in Tourism Tidbits?  Please send requests to ptarlow@tourismandmore.com.  Thanks and happy holidays!

Favor de indicarme cuales son los temas sobre que desean que escriba en Probaditas Turísticas.  Mándenme sus solicitudes al email ptarlow@tourismandmore.com. Gracias y les deseo felices fiestas. 

The December edition of Tourism Tidbits in English, Spanish and Portuguese is now on line at www.tourismandmore.com or to get a free subscription write to me at ptarlow@tourismandmore.com