Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tour Company

Photography by Ed-meister  


I’m very skeptical of tour companies that work as middle-men; who create tour itineraries and then hire outside vendors to actually produce the tours.  They scare me in their ability to (1) shield travelers from seeing the actual location they came to see and (2) bastardize the local community into a tourist trap—diluting local customs and way of life.  

I got a text message late on Tuesday night: Hi Andres and Michele, how are you doing so far?  We hope you are doing well. Anyways, we have something would like to discuss with you.  If you don’t mind please let us know when we could meet.  Thanks.

They wanted to start a tour company in a town where supply of tourism services is far greater than the current demand—and they wanted our advice.  Our fist question: well, how are you going to be different than all of the other companies?  As the night went on and we continued to throw ideas around I was jealous of the great opportunity they have.  Two twenty-something men from the country side, who came to Siem Reap for a university education, and now having a day job wanted to start their own business from the corner of their desk.  Not only that, but they have the scale, and local knowledge to actually provide meaningful, locally sensitive, and interesting experiences to travelers.  

By the end of the night, they were suggesting different ways to bring authenticity of experience in a culturally sustainable manner—and allowing travelers to interact with the location and its beautiful people, as opposed to just observe them through a tour bus window.  Tour operators aren’t all bad.