We attended the Bay Area Travel & Adventure Expo at the Santa Clara Convention Center today.
I was surprised by the number of people interested in travel!
First, we listened to the talk by Rick Steves on travels through Europe. Rick Steves' talk was extraordinarily crowded and standing-room-only for many visitors (including me).
He talked about his guidebooks and about how he got started. He travels to Europe for 100 days a year and has about 100 employees in his company. He spent nearly 15-20 minutes of the talk pushing/selling his guidebooks and tours while pointing out how other tour companies make money by getting kickbacks from the gift shops and restaurants they stop at.
He says that it's essential to connect to the locals in the country being visited. Traveling in a comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle with all the luxuries and amenities is not much different than watching an Imax movie. Connecting to local people and experiencing their way of life makes all the difference.
He mentioned that his guidebooks now focus on the experience of travel rather than just the main attractions. It is this experience that most new travelers seek.
He encourages Americans to travel and minimize luggage, enabling them to travel easily using public transportation. He said that when he flies to London, instead of taking a taxi from the airport to his hotel, he buys a week-long tube pass for the same amount, allowing him to travel for a whole week using the subway and buses.
He told a few interesting anecdotes about finding parking in Rothenburg, Germany, and Venice, Italy. One needs to get up early or come out late to see how locals live. Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., both cities are overrun with tourists, and he encouraged us to experience both towns when they were more regular.
After the show, Inna got Rick to autograph the Rick Steves Scandinavia Travel book (although Rick was mobbed by all the participants). Rick probably feels like a minor celebrity now.
The next talk at 12:15 p.m. by Joe Diaz - "Travel Like a Local" was a bit boring. Joe started talking about how he got into traveling and began his Afar magazine. After a while, we decided to skip the rest.
We decided to explore the convention floor, where many booths offered local and exotic destinations. There were many beautiful offers for inexpensive trips to Napa, San Diego, and other countries. I was surprised by how crowded it was. The tourism industry is doing well here!
I wanted to listen to the talk by Samantha Brown on Travel Channel. Although it was very crowded, I also enjoyed her talk. She made a big point of connecting with the locals, and her anecdote about trying to buy peanut butter in Greece comes to mind.
I was surprised by the number of people interested in travel!
First, we listened to the talk by Rick Steves on travels through Europe. Rick Steves' talk was extraordinarily crowded and standing-room-only for many visitors (including me).
He talked about his guidebooks and about how he got started. He travels to Europe for 100 days a year and has about 100 employees in his company. He spent nearly 15-20 minutes of the talk pushing/selling his guidebooks and tours while pointing out how other tour companies make money by getting kickbacks from the gift shops and restaurants they stop at.
He says that it's essential to connect to the locals in the country being visited. Traveling in a comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle with all the luxuries and amenities is not much different than watching an Imax movie. Connecting to local people and experiencing their way of life makes all the difference.
He mentioned that his guidebooks now focus on the experience of travel rather than just the main attractions. It is this experience that most new travelers seek.
He encourages Americans to travel and minimize luggage, enabling them to travel easily using public transportation. He said that when he flies to London, instead of taking a taxi from the airport to his hotel, he buys a week-long tube pass for the same amount, allowing him to travel for a whole week using the subway and buses.
He told a few interesting anecdotes about finding parking in Rothenburg, Germany, and Venice, Italy. One needs to get up early or come out late to see how locals live. Between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., both cities are overrun with tourists, and he encouraged us to experience both towns when they were more regular.
After the show, Inna got Rick to autograph the Rick Steves Scandinavia Travel book (although Rick was mobbed by all the participants). Rick probably feels like a minor celebrity now.
The next talk at 12:15 p.m. by Joe Diaz - "Travel Like a Local" was a bit boring. Joe started talking about how he got into traveling and began his Afar magazine. After a while, we decided to skip the rest.
We decided to explore the convention floor, where many booths offered local and exotic destinations. There were many beautiful offers for inexpensive trips to Napa, San Diego, and other countries. I was surprised by how crowded it was. The tourism industry is doing well here!
I wanted to listen to the talk by Samantha Brown on Travel Channel. Although it was very crowded, I also enjoyed her talk. She made a big point of connecting with the locals, and her anecdote about trying to buy peanut butter in Greece comes to mind.
She said she does not speak Greek and tried purchasing peanut butter in a Greek grocery store. She tried to explain what she wanted, eventually seeing walnuts, pointing out the nut part, and explaining that peanuts are also nuts. The Greek shopkeeper and his wife finally found peanuts but did not have peanut butter. Nevertheless, this search for peanut butter, despite language problems, was a highlight of her trip - because it engaged her abilities to communicate despite the language barrier.
Samantha also pointed out that after traveling for two years- a job that everyone considers the "best" - was no longer satisfying her. Visiting museums, churches, and galleries no longer sparked her interest until she flew to Guadalajara, Mexico. In the new world, there are few monuments to the past, and one has to connect more to the people. It was by visiting there that she started to love travel. She saw a beautiful shop and told the owner she thought it was perfect. She was invited to the owner's house and was made very welcome. These gestures of kindness made the trip to Guadalajara so special.
Samantha also pointed out that after traveling for two years- a job that everyone considers the "best" - was no longer satisfying her. Visiting museums, churches, and galleries no longer sparked her interest until she flew to Guadalajara, Mexico. In the new world, there are few monuments to the past, and one has to connect more to the people. It was by visiting there that she started to love travel. She saw a beautiful shop and told the owner she thought it was perfect. She was invited to the owner's house and was made very welcome. These gestures of kindness made the trip to Guadalajara so special.
0 comments:
Post a Comment