Don’t be “that” tourist – things to avoid when you are abroad

by Scott Carmichael on

We all make mistakes – but when you are heading abroad, little mistakes could mean the difference between being a prepared tourist, or a pompous jackass.

It isn’t too hard to look like a well traveled jetsetter, and it only takes a couple of common sense measures.

After the jump, you’ll find a list of things (I think) you should avoid if you plan to go abroad. Some of the items are quite logical, others may be things you’d normally overlook.

Feel free to add your own “don’t do’s” in the comments at the end of the article.
Leave the stupid T-Shirt at home

Your “Female body Inspector” T-Shirt may be a riot back home with the guys and girls, but when you are heading abroad, you may want to leave it behind.

A trip abroad doesn’t mean you need to dress up in your best tux, but remember that you are representing your country. A little respect and good behavior goes a long way. Plus most stupid t-shirts make you look like an immature jerk.

Loud and obnoxious

Speaking loud and slow is not a sure way to make people understand you. And no – this isn’t just something from the movies. I have witnessed plenty of people doing it.

Picture someone speaking Chinese (assuming you don’t speak any Chinese) – if they talk louder and slower, does it help you understand what they are saying?

Do keep in mind that foreigners may not always be able to keep up with your tempo or accent, so slow things down a little.



Don’t be the unprepared one


Before you leave, spend some time getting to know your destination. Investigate simple things like airport to hotel transportation, and the local voltage (that Travelocity gnome was onto something). Other things to keep in mind; will your phone work, can you get any required medications abroad and will your credit card be accepted.

Brush up on your geography

When you travel the world, you’ll come across people who are doing the same thing – so try and brush up on your basic geography.

I know it’s been ages since you had to learn the world capitals at school, but if you come across someone from Copenhagen, you’ll look like an ass if you tell them you’ve always wanted to see their home country of The Netherlands. And trust me, I’ve met people like this a lot, you’ll be amazed how quickly people forget basic geography as they grow older.

Learn the language (a bit)

Even if your only phrase is “do you speak English?”, speaking some of the foreign language will always show you put some effort into visiting their country.

English may be one of the most popular languages in the world, but to many people so is their language. Even with just a couple of hours practice a week, you’ll learn some of the basics of other languages.

Eating at US restaurants

Resist the temptation to ignore foreign foods by sticking to US restaurants when abroad. The only exception is when your favorite fast food chain offers something particularly local (like the Maharaja Mac in India). Try that once.

If you don’t want to eat all that icky looking foreign food, stay home next time. Part of heading abroad is adapting to their culture, which includes food.


Wearing a fanny pack

Seriously, just don’t do it. Very few people can pull it off without looking like a complete fool. If you need to carry that much crap with you, get a backpack or cargo shorts with big pockets. Nothing screams “rob me” like a loud tourist with a fanny pack.

Counterfeit products

You may think you look cool with your new Looey Vuitton luggage, or a nice Shannel handbag, but remember that anyone who knows a thing or two about luggage or handbags will spot you from a mile away.

Do you really want to be walking through the airport with people staring at you because they think you can’t afford the real thing? Just don’t do it – if you really want a piece of exclusive luggage, save some money, but don’t fall for the temptation of a counterfeit product.

The same goes for counterfeit watches, perfume or electronics. When you get back home and show off your new Roleks watch, do you really think your friends will think it is real? Another risk is the risk of being caught at the border – US customs and immigration will seize counterfeit products.

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Seven trends that will change business travel

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Obviously, the recession is changing the travel business. You’ve heard it all before – and if you’ve flow or stayed in a hotel lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen it. Sometimes, the big issue of the day can mask others that will be important down the road. Travel industry research firm PhoCusWright has identified seven trends in the travel business that you’ll want to keep an eye on. These are the factors that will have a long and profound effect on the business of getting suit-clad travelers from Point A to Point B. And, let’s face it: these are the people who matter most to travel and hospitality businesses.

“We have identified seven essential trends with the potential to shake corporate travel management to its core,” said Susan Steinbrink, PhoCusWright‘s senior research and corporate market analyst. “Ranging from the environment to videoconferencing, supply chain management, mobile services and more, these trends are poised to impact the amount spent on travel, alter corporate purchasing priorities and touch every player in the corporate travel landscape, including suppliers, TMCs, technology providers, credit card companies, and of course the corporate traveler.”

1. Managing the “Triple Bottom Line”
The “bottom line” is easy enough to understand: that’s the profit a company earns for all its hard work. But, two more bottom lines have entered the corporate lexicon, involving the environmental and social implications of how they operate. With more businesses committing to corporate social responsibility – and even hiring professionals to plan and manage these efforts – expect to see businesses that send their employees on the road to start considering the environmental effects of doing so. After payroll, travel and expense (T&E) is the second largest controllable expense in the business world, and air travel is responsible for 7 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. This is an area ripe for corporate action.

2. Integrated travel booking and expense management
Webs of partnerships have arisen, making it difficult for corporate travel buyers to get a single view of where and how travel dollars are being spent. Acquisitions and alliances are reshaping the booking business and will ultimately deliver a seamless solution for tracking and managing pre-trip spending through post-trip reconciliation and evaluation. With every budget dollar being watched closely, this is a natural result in an expense-sensitive business climate.

3. Tracking the travel supply chain
Businesses investing in travel for their employees are watching the data more closely, a trend that will only gain momentum, according to PhoCusWright. Buyers will start to watch every aspect of supplier relationships, looking for ways to increase collaboration and reduce costs. Metrics will reign supreme, as decisions that can be quantified can make a company’s cash more productive. And, incentives and penalties for expense management can be brought to bear on employees.

4. Switch from the trip to the traveler
An abundance of data will cause travel companies to look past the transaction, which has been their major focus to date. A wealth of information available now enables travel suppliers to examine consumer behavior more closely, providing insights that can lead to future opportunities to maximize revenue (a situation that these companies need desperately right now). As airlines, hotels and other travel companies learn more about you, they can do a better job of selling to you, ultimately leading to better financial performance (and possibly increased traveler satisfaction).

5. On your devices
Seventy percent of business travelers are using internet-enabled handheld devices, making mobile a promising channel for both sales and customer interaction. Enhanced technology will improve multimedia over the device-driven internet and improve payment systems. These developments will reshape how the traveler interacts with the service provider, challenging existing habits, loyalties and tolerances.

6. Skip the trip
Expense management has pushed travel spending downward this year, and memories of this recession won’t fade easily. Alternatives to travel – including conference calls and video conferencing – are increasing in popularity and should continue to erode travel spending.

7. Little guys become big players
Smaller and medium-sized businesses spend plenty of money on travel, but they tend to lack the resources to centralize the purchasing and management process. As they seek to control travel expenses, many will turn to hosted and integrated travel booking and reporting systems to help them find inefficiencies and save some cash. As this happens, the opacity of this sector will melt away, giving travel companies a better view of how to service this high-value segment of the market.

High-tech bridge to connect Singapore’s Sentosa Island

by Stephen Greenwood on

Construction began Tuesday on a 620 meter boardwalk that will connect Sentosa Island with Singapore’s mainland.

The resort’s annual 5 million guests will be able to access the island on foot come November 2010. A series of covered travelators will be capable of transporting an estimated 8,000 guests per hour in each direction.

The boardwalk will be lined with retail, food and beverage outlets and be divided into five garden theme areas – mangrove, rock garden, terrain / hill, coastal flora and rainforest.

The development is expected to cost USD $48.6 million, and will accomodate a surge in visitors next year when Resorts World at Sentosa opens. The island currently features two five-star hotels, two golf courses, and will be home to Universal Studios Singapore when it opens in early 2010.

And if all that isn’t enough to pique your interest, then maybe our list of Summer festivals in Singapore will.

More tech specs can be viewed via the Sentosa Leisure Group’s official press release.

What’s that bad smell? Travel impressions through the nose

by Jamie Rhein on

I haven’t noticed it, but there’s a bad smell at the Greyhound bus station in Columbus. A woman got off the bus and noticed it. As she pointed out in this article, a bad smell the first thing someone gets off a bus is not the best way to make a good first impression. As a matter of fact. it’s hell on tourism.

A bad smell might give a person an idea to get back on the bus and head back out as quickly as possible. Considering that I wrote up a walking tour of Columbus with the idea that someone might come in on the bus, I’m hoping that the odor caused by old cooking grease from the bus station restaurant is dealt with soon.

Last time I took the bus to New York City, I stopped in a Port Authority bathroom before I headed to the subway and have to say thought that New York had really gone down. There was a terrible smell. Unfortunately the smell was connected to a person. That made me feel bad and indicates a much more serious problem than a grease receptacle that needs to be emptied more often. As wonderful as New York City is, and it is, the smells can be overwhelming for a person not used to pungent odors. New York streets are not the days when women spritzed lavender on handkerchiefs to put up to their noses when passing by particularly bad spots, but there are those whiffs that can make a person’s eyes water.

This June, a green market was started at Port Authority and is now held each Thursday as one way to create a better impression. What better smell is there than fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers?

In Columbus, which generally has a neutral smell, I don’t notice a difference from one block to the next, although there used to be a strong fresh baked bread smell near the Wonder Bread plant that could get overwhelmingly sweet depending on which way the wind blew. The plant was to close in May which has narrowed Columbus’s repertoire of olfactory experiences.

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Airlines run out of services to cut, eye flights

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Cuts aren’t limited to airline employees and passenger amenities. In the next few months, capacity – the number of asses that can be accommodated – will be sliced. Having fewer flights will lower costs and boost the all-important revenue per available seat-mile (RASM) metric. For passengers, the drop in supply is likely to push fares higher and convenience lower (if you’re looking for non-stop flights, you’ll have to look harder).

It’s earnings season – and what happens down on Wall Street will ripple through every airport in the country. Six of the nine top airlines in the United States posted profits for the year – fun! – but they did it on falling sales. What’s that mean for the average traveler? It means airlines have had to cut their way to profits, because they aren’t growing. If passengers aren’t spending as much, all the airlines can do is take away services that cost money. And, with RASM down 19 percent year-over-year for seven U.S. airlines, they have little choice.

If you’ve been on a flight recently, you’ve seen there isn’t much left to cut, which is why airlines are going to be cutting the flights themselves. For the fourth quarter of 2009, total available seat-miles (one person flying one mile on one flight) is expected to fall to 12.4 billion – which is close to post-9/11 levels. Two years earlier (Q4 2007), it was 14.2 billion.

I hope you believe that “getting there is half the fun.” If you do, the decline in non-stop flights won’t bother you as much. Prepare for layovers – lots of ’em. This will help airlines consolidate flights, fill vacancies and boost RASM. But, it also means that you’ll spend a bit more cash at Auntie Anne’s (get some cheese with those pretzels!).

Cutting costs could actually lead to higher prices, which the airlines desperately need – but it means a smaller base of seat-miles on which to make money. Competition will fall on some routes, and overall supply drops – both of which give airlines the power to increase fares. Of course, these really are minor forces compared to broader economic conditions. The ability of customers to pay is ultimately what drives the cost of a ticket, and absent an economic recovery, fares will stay low, as will airline earnings.