Fair Trade Tourism may offer resort workers an escape from tourism poverty and powerlessness.
By 2010, the tourism industry will cater for over 1 billion international travellers spending hundreds of billions each year. About 1 in 10 of all global jobs are now related to tourism. The tourism business is now the world’s biggest industry, and it’s still growing fast. International charities even view tourism as an opportunity to eradicate poverty. But often all this activity provides little benefit to those who do the really hard work necessary for enjoyable holidays.
Quality, value and service are the watchwords of the very competitive global travel industry. Tourism has grown dramatically over the last 50 years by offering better and better deals - cheaper flights, more luxurious accommodation, more and more exotic destinations. Prices are easy to compare so the operator who delivers the best value gets the biggest market share. The less a tour operator pays, the less the holiday costs and the more profit the operator makes. So, successful operators pay less for accommodation and resort services, which means less money available in the resort to pay the staff who provide the holiday welcome.
Resorts are desperate to get tourists, hoping that rich holidaymakers will spend in their destination with local businesses, assisting the local economy . Often, however, holiday guests spend most of their time and money within the confines of their hotel and don’t venture into local markets, bars, restaurants and cafes.
The result is that, although tourists spend vast amounts of money on their travel arrangements, little of this actually gets into local hands. Hotel staff are often employed at near-poverty wage levels and conditions, are expected to work fatiguing hours during the season and aren’t paid or employed during the "Off-season". Hardly the conditions to expect a generous and kindly smile from a hotel waiter, barman or chambermaid, particularly when they see the amounts of money their guests have spent on their holiday and compare it with their starvation-level wages.
Added to this disharmony is that, in a search for both exotic and cheap holidays, tour operators are sourcing destinations that are further and further away, both in terms of distance and culture. From a holidaymaker’s point of view, grabbing a cheap deal to a faraway destination is a wonderful, easy, and affordable experience. From a resort inhabitant’s view, tourists bring little of value, spend little money and disparage their culture. They are, unfortunately, powerless over the annual influx.
Paradoxically, tourists often see their holiday as a return to human values of kindness and hospitality. What makes a holiday wonderful, after all, is the beauty of the natural surroundings and the kindliness and gentility of the service. To locals, this simply means THEIR beautiful home and THEIR beautiful culture - that they are providing FREE. It’s no wonder that tourists don’t respect it.
Fair trade produce is now an established part of our retail scene. You can buy fair trade chocolate, tea and coffee, bananas, clothes and much more guiltlessly, the list of fair trade goods is expanding all the time. The principle is simple - the wholesaler pays more than the market value for the goods, the extra money is helped to trickle down to the workers. Customers pay a little more for fair trade produce knowing that they are doing some good by their purchase. At the very least, the action of purchasing fair trade produce implies a little assistance and solidarity with those less fortunate.
So, why not fair trade in tourism? That’s the question that has been posed by Tourism Concern and others. The Fair Trade Labelling Organisation is investigating the situation and it is hoped that a "Fair Trade Tourism" label will be available within the next year or two.
In the meantime "it’s easy to avoid guilt trips" say Tourism Concern "Just follow our ten point plan:"
1. Be Aware
Start enjoying your travels before you leave. Think about what sort of clothing is appropriate for both men and women. If the locals are covered up, what sort of messages may you be sending out by exposing acres of flesh?
2. Be Open
Something may seem bizarre or odd to ‘you’, but it may be normal and just the way things are done to ‘them’. Try not to assume that the western way is right or best.
3. Our holidays - their homes
Ask before taking pictures of people, even children, and respect their wishes. Talk to local people. What do they think about our lifestyle, clothes and customs? Find out about theirs.
4. "One school pen"
Giving to children encourages begging. A donation to a project, health centre or school is more constructive.
5. Be fair
Try to put money into local hands. If you haggle for the lowest price, your bargain may be at the seller’s expense. Even if you pay a little over the odds, does it really matter?
6. Be adventurous
Use your guidebook or hotel as a starting point, not the only source of information. Find out what’s going on by talking to locals, then have your own adventures...
7. Ask questions
Write a letter to your tour operator about their responsible tourism policy. Tourism Concern will give a FREE COPY of their Ethical Travel Guide to the sender of the best (or worst) operator reply.
8. Think before you fly
Help repair the damage you do to the environment by flying less. The more and further you fly, the more you contribute to global warming and environmental destruction.
9. Be happy
By taking any, some, or all of these actions you are personally fighting tourism exploitation. Enjoy your guilt-free trip!
10. Help Us make it happen
Support Tourism Concern in their work to fight exploitation in tourism, a small monthly contribution helps us make all the difference. www.tourismconcern.org.uk
Monday, March 5, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Umbrian Odyssey
An Odyssey in Umbria and Lazio
Valere Tjolle 12/5/06
Apart from a brief visit to Spoleto and a series of meals laced with truffles, I’d never seen much of Umbria although I’d heard a great deal about the province. "Amazing food" they said, "Fabulous hilltop art cities and superb countryside, just like Tuscany but fewer tourists – you need to go there". Called "The Green Heart of Italy", this beautiful and mystical province has an intriguing history featuring the Etruscans, the Romans, the Gauls and a selection of other warlike races, all who left a little religion, food and architecture in Umbria. Together, they all created a fascinating blend of cultures and tastes. Of Lazio, I knew nothing except the name of the football team We were now to eat our way around this historic area in a matter of just a few days, I was certainly looking forward to truffles and ancient art treasures again – what else would we find?
Angelo had told me that we weren’t to get truffles. "Not any?" "No, it’s not the season." "Not even the summer ones?" "Have you got any idea about how much those white ones cost?"- " You can’t have any". Oh well. We’d left at a ridiculous hour on Sunday morning, so that we could have a quick coffee at Rome airport and get to Orvieto in time to check the restaurant, see the frescoes and have a proper lunch. And I was fed up that we weren’t going to have any truffles.
The cathedral is set just on the square, right at the top of the hill - it’s the must-see in Orvieto, not just for the Signorelli frescoes inside, the building itself is said to be Italy’s finest Gothic Duomo. Started in the 13th century, the Duomo was 300 years in the building, 33 architects, 152 sculptors, 68 painters and 90 mosaicists combined their skills to produce this masterpiece. The effect is stunning, from the outside, the silvery stone highlighted by the mosaics, the windows and the sculpture, makes the cathedral look like a glorious Byzantine jewel-box. And inside, we joined the crowds patiently waiting to be let into see the frescoes – Luca Signorelli’s ‘Last Judgement’, one of the greatest Italian fresco cycles. Frighteningly realistic, the paintings depicted those in the paradise serenely viewing the inferno’s debauchery and angst. Perhaps not the best thought to have in our minds before the lunch we were so much looking forward to.
As we walked towards the "Palomba" we asked directions "Don’t bother unless you’ve got a reservation" we were told. But we had reserved thank God, The moment we walked through the restaurant’s door, we could tell that there was real treat in store. The "Palomba" was packed with families thoroughly enjoying their Sunday luncheon feasts.
The smart young waitress showed us to our table and we considered the menu with her assistance. "Don’t eat the lamb" said Angelo "Why not" said I "Because you’re not going to get it pink in Italy and it doesn’t taste the same as in England – you won’t like it." I ordered the house antipasto, then a local version of ‘Pici’ (hand-made macaroni without wheat) with wild boar sauce and then the lamb. "You won’t like it’ he said again. The antipasto was perfect, a little local charcuterie, with local olive oil and bread, the soft, absorbent pici were sublime as a base for the wild boar sauce, which was dark and rich, the lamb was tough, dry and rubbish, and, of course, I’d forgotten to order any greens (one up to Angelo!), For pudding, I had a Pannacotta which was delicious although very, very liquid. Coffee and the bill, at about £15 a head we certainly couldn’t complain. Time for a little explore of Orvieto and, like a typical glutton (definitely right at the bottom of the Signorelli food-chain) I was off to the nearest gelato shop. Coffee, cream and tiramisu gelato – heaven, looking at the Duomo again, and culture too! Time to drive off to our beds for the night.
Monticelli seemed a pretty little village as we drove through on the way so we decided to come back after we’d checked in. Borgo Monticelli, where we were staying is a serious renovation job. Built as a hilltop castle in the 12th century, one of a series protecting Perugia. Its main job was to spot invading armies, hence the hilltop situation and the 360 degree views. What a position, now, to observe the enchanting Umbrian countryside from the castle’s lawns, swimming pool, from your window or from the outdoor bar. Now open to the public after years of thoughtful renovation by its owner, a Roman professor of Economics, the castle is comfortable and very romantic. Our rooms were seriously large and well furnished with antiques and big comfortable beds. There’s a little library in each apartment if you can tear yourself away from the window. Time for a quick stroll around the castle grounds. Originally this was an Etruscan temple, then it became a fortified alarm tower to watch the progress of the constant invaders - Goths, Lombards, Byzantines, Saracens and Gauls included in the early years of Christianity. Then, Borgo Monticelli became a protected Benedictine monastery and a little hamlet. The old church with its delightful frescoes inside, now sits directly opposite the farmhouse with its erect Etruscan rooftop phallus. The two buildings making a statement we could all understand.
All was Sunday night silent in the local village except for the outdoor cafÈ, which was having a little party. Most of the villagers (probably 20 or so of all ages) were enjoying a little dance to round off the weekend. We had a quick drink and went off to the local restaurant. Ristorante il Roseto, is owned and run by a Sicilian tax collector, he seemed jolly enough, much rubbing of hands and offers of Grappa, and the food was OK. Tonight was obviously music night in Monticelli and a saxophonist friend of the owner was giving a rendition of popular songs of the last 40 years or so including that old favourite "Ciao Ciao Bambina". Time for bed before the dancing started again.
In the morning, after enjoying the hillside sunshine, we headed for breakfast – a superb spread in Borgo Monticelli’s ancient vaulted hall. Home-made pastries and local bread, ham and good cheese and a freshly-made ricotta helped us get in practice for lunch.
A small, quiet village, a superb small hotel, restaurant and vineyard, that’s the Tre Vaselle (three vessels) – it simply oozed of class. The Maitre d’Hotel (unusually a Greek) showed us to a large comfortable table in the conservatory and proceeded to describe the distinctive menu and his, and the chef’s suggestions. Tiny warm, freshly-baked breads were served and we were encouraged to mix the restaurant’s own balsamic vinegar with the estate’s olive oil to taste with the bread – delicious. As an "Amuse-geule", they’d prepared us little savoury potato croquettes with three tiny dots of a balsamic reduction. The hors d’oeuvres was the most succulent thick carpaccio with a small-leaf salad and a mouth-watering Parmesan soufflÈ. This was followed by something a bit heavier - gnocchi lightened by the incorporation of wheat, in a sauce of local truffles (note Angelo!). Then the meat of my Italian food dreams – local Chianina beef cooked to perfect tenderness with asparagus and an artichoke-heart cream. With this feast, we naturally drank the house wine - Rubesco Torgiano Lungarotti Riserva. The owner of Tre Vaselle, Contessa Lungarotti is also a well-known local vintner and the sponsor of Umbria’s famous wine museum. Ready for dessert? Well, you simply have to finish a meal like this properly, don’t you? Fabulous icecream, in a spun-sugar casing with chocolate sauce, petits fours, coffee and grappa. We were full and quite ready for a walking tour of the 5 star luxury hotel which offers calorie-counting breakfasts! How much for the meal? £50 and worth every penny.
What to do on a lovely day in Umbria after a glorious lunch? Ice cream by the lake is a good start. And a boat trip to the Isola Grande on Lake Trasimeno, a bit of fresh air to blow the cobwebs away! Back to the castle for a wash and brush up before a (very tiny) dinner at the village cafÈ, but no dancing. The owner had made pizza bits for us that gave Angelo a bad tummy "I’m Venetian, I can’t eat all this Southern stuff – leave pizza to the Neapolitans."
It was a pity to leave the Borgo but we were to visit the Strada del Sagrantino.. Breakfast first. We had an appointment to meet Alessandro at 11 in the centre of Bevagna. Eschewing the car park on the outskirts, we drove through the delightful narrow streets of this ancient little city. Alessandro was waiting, obviously he’d dressed up for the occasion.
In his early 30’s, Alessandro’s long, tousled black locks fell over his unshaven genial face and he was wearing standard uniform – t shirt, jeans and sparkly trainers. Later, he told us he’d had a right hard night yesterday as he was soon to get married. Before we knew where we were, like a conjurer, Alessandro had turned a key in the lock of an old door and ushered us in. We were in a sensationally decorated, gilded and galleried tiny theatre – lovably perfect in every respect. If this was Bevagna’s place of entertainment – what else was there in this perfect little mediaeval city? Next to the market, in the cloisters of an old monastery, now a tranquil hotel. Olive oil and wine tasting at 11am, how better to get ready for lunch? A little tour of Bevagna followed. In Roman times, called Mevania, the city had been a staging post on the route north – the Via Flaminia. Mevania had all the necessary facilities for Roman travellers, hotel, mosaic-bottomed baths, stabling and hospitality services a great deal of which is now beautifully preserved.
You’ve guessed it, the Strada del Sagrantino was the local wine and food route, named after the local Sagrantino wine. Two vineyard tours and tastings followed and we ended up sitting in the sun, in some comfort at L’Alchimista, Cristina Magnini’s restaurant on Montefalco’s small but gorgeous historic main square. Some local ham and bread for starters then Alessandro convinced us to eat the wild asparagus by demonstrating his hands, cut while gathering it, and showing some of the haul. So, spaghetti with wild asparagus, it was with some of the Montefalco Sagrantino wine. By now the church museum and art gallery was open so it was time to see some more frescoes – this time Benozzo Gozzoli’s 15th century "Life of St Francis".
In the spirit of ancient Italian cavalleros, we felt it appropriate to take the old Roman road, Via Cassia, into Lazio, to our next stay "I due Laghi" and dinner. Architecturally, the hotel could be called "Big 1960’s Swiss Chalet" style. Comfortable enough, but a bit dark and with the odd boar’s head dotted around. The hotel grows all its own food including its meat (they’ve over 500 animals), and makes its own goats cheese. Thinking I was in for a treat I followed the boss’s (Matteo’s) suggestions in respect of the menu. "Don’t have the lamb" repeated Angelo. I ordered a cheese soufflÈ in a pastry case, seafood pasta and the lamb, a pity really. The biggest mistake was my pudding which was caramelised aubergines and ice cream (the chef’s speciality – apparently he was from the south). Anyway, it tasted as bizarre as it looked. Said Angelo "I don’t know what you’re complaining about – I had the Chianina and it was superb".
Of course, I Due Laghi is perfect if you’re an equestrian. The hotel has everything you need, even a drag hunt. You can ride in the sand arena, grass arena, cross country field or hack around the estate’s 150 hectares, and afterwards enjoy a game of billiards and a drink in the club. Matteo, in his hacking jacket and jodhpurs would be your perfect host.
Matteo had said "You must visit castle Orsini on lake Bracciano – It is so wonderful" and, there we were, getting vertigo on the battlements, high over the lake. On to Isabella Medici’s lavish bedroom and the door to the blade-covered, quicklime-bottomed chute where Isabella threw her lovers when she’d used them up. Old Issy must have been bored having to marry Paolo G (Orsini) in 1560 and stay in that dreary old castle instead of living it up in Florence-the-happening-city. A quick look at Lake Bracciano – where the Romans had picnic events to view mock sea battles complete with dying slaves and blood stained water – and we were on our way to our final gastronomic treat.
La Posta Vecchia was built by the Orsini family too. The grand house was perfectly placed right beside the sea in 1640, on an original Roman settlement. J P Getty spotted the house and purchased it in 1960. During the restoration work, the ruins of a large roman villa with fabulous mosaic floors were uncovered. These now form the core of the private archaeological museum in the hotel’s basement. JP gradually turned the villa into his dream holiday home with the addition of princely treasures from all over the world. This extraordinary seaside villa now operates as a small hotel, with just 19 rooms and a fabulous restaurant. The informal atmosphere, exquisite features and attention to detail gives you the feeling that you have joined an aristocrat’s house party – which you probably have.
Barbara Panzera the new, and very smart, manager of this luxury hotel hosted us for lunch. The youngest (and possibly most attractive) manager of a 5 star hotel in Italy, Barbara has the air of a very professional Tamsin Outhwaite – the manager in Hotel Babylon. I bet Barbara has some tales to tell – though I bet she’d not had any Issy Orsini’s to stay.
The chef had been asked to prepare us a meal of local seafood and we sat in the restaurant on the terrace overlooking the sea with Barbara waiting for this feast. After the, now compulsory, Amuse-geule with balsamic reduction, the breads, olive oils and balsamic, we started with a little pastry tart filled with shavings of artichoke hearts, delightful, fresh and aromatic. We then had both a delicate little risotto made with broad beans and a home made linguini with fresh lobster roe. The main course was king prawns on a bed of fresh little local lentils. With all this we drank some first growth 2003 Frascati. Dessert was a big favourite of mine –chocolate soufflÈ with a melting middle and cinnamon ice cream. This was relatively simple food, but absolutely delicious. Just time for a coffee and a few petits fours before we drove to the airport.
We couldn’t resist a stop en route at Frascati to pay tribute to the lunchtime wine and for a last afternoon ice cream and espresso. And then it was home after a relaxing and enjoyable four days. Great food, wonderful scenery, fascinating history, deft, thoughtful, educated and caring service – the whole trip was introduction to Umbria and Lazio that I certainly won’t forget.
Travel arrangements and hotels by Carefree Italy www.carefree-italy.com
Telephone: 01293 553232
Easyjet flies to Rome and, next year to Perugia www.easyjet.com
Borgo Monticelli – www.borgomonticelli.it
Hotel Le Tre Vaselle – www.3vaselle.it
Strada de Sagrantino – www.stradadelsagrantino.it
I Due Laghi – www.iduelaghi.it
La Posta Vecchia. – www.lapostavecchia.com
Entire contents © 2006 Totem Tourism Marketing and Valere Tjolle. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article has been obtained from sources Totem believes to be reliable. Totem does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of such information. Totem shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies of the information contained in this article or for any interpretations of that information. Any opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
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Valere Tjolle 12/5/06
Apart from a brief visit to Spoleto and a series of meals laced with truffles, I’d never seen much of Umbria although I’d heard a great deal about the province. "Amazing food" they said, "Fabulous hilltop art cities and superb countryside, just like Tuscany but fewer tourists – you need to go there". Called "The Green Heart of Italy", this beautiful and mystical province has an intriguing history featuring the Etruscans, the Romans, the Gauls and a selection of other warlike races, all who left a little religion, food and architecture in Umbria. Together, they all created a fascinating blend of cultures and tastes. Of Lazio, I knew nothing except the name of the football team We were now to eat our way around this historic area in a matter of just a few days, I was certainly looking forward to truffles and ancient art treasures again – what else would we find?
Angelo had told me that we weren’t to get truffles. "Not any?" "No, it’s not the season." "Not even the summer ones?" "Have you got any idea about how much those white ones cost?"- " You can’t have any". Oh well. We’d left at a ridiculous hour on Sunday morning, so that we could have a quick coffee at Rome airport and get to Orvieto in time to check the restaurant, see the frescoes and have a proper lunch. And I was fed up that we weren’t going to have any truffles.
The cathedral is set just on the square, right at the top of the hill - it’s the must-see in Orvieto, not just for the Signorelli frescoes inside, the building itself is said to be Italy’s finest Gothic Duomo. Started in the 13th century, the Duomo was 300 years in the building, 33 architects, 152 sculptors, 68 painters and 90 mosaicists combined their skills to produce this masterpiece. The effect is stunning, from the outside, the silvery stone highlighted by the mosaics, the windows and the sculpture, makes the cathedral look like a glorious Byzantine jewel-box. And inside, we joined the crowds patiently waiting to be let into see the frescoes – Luca Signorelli’s ‘Last Judgement’, one of the greatest Italian fresco cycles. Frighteningly realistic, the paintings depicted those in the paradise serenely viewing the inferno’s debauchery and angst. Perhaps not the best thought to have in our minds before the lunch we were so much looking forward to.
As we walked towards the "Palomba" we asked directions "Don’t bother unless you’ve got a reservation" we were told. But we had reserved thank God, The moment we walked through the restaurant’s door, we could tell that there was real treat in store. The "Palomba" was packed with families thoroughly enjoying their Sunday luncheon feasts.
The smart young waitress showed us to our table and we considered the menu with her assistance. "Don’t eat the lamb" said Angelo "Why not" said I "Because you’re not going to get it pink in Italy and it doesn’t taste the same as in England – you won’t like it." I ordered the house antipasto, then a local version of ‘Pici’ (hand-made macaroni without wheat) with wild boar sauce and then the lamb. "You won’t like it’ he said again. The antipasto was perfect, a little local charcuterie, with local olive oil and bread, the soft, absorbent pici were sublime as a base for the wild boar sauce, which was dark and rich, the lamb was tough, dry and rubbish, and, of course, I’d forgotten to order any greens (one up to Angelo!), For pudding, I had a Pannacotta which was delicious although very, very liquid. Coffee and the bill, at about £15 a head we certainly couldn’t complain. Time for a little explore of Orvieto and, like a typical glutton (definitely right at the bottom of the Signorelli food-chain) I was off to the nearest gelato shop. Coffee, cream and tiramisu gelato – heaven, looking at the Duomo again, and culture too! Time to drive off to our beds for the night.
Monticelli seemed a pretty little village as we drove through on the way so we decided to come back after we’d checked in. Borgo Monticelli, where we were staying is a serious renovation job. Built as a hilltop castle in the 12th century, one of a series protecting Perugia. Its main job was to spot invading armies, hence the hilltop situation and the 360 degree views. What a position, now, to observe the enchanting Umbrian countryside from the castle’s lawns, swimming pool, from your window or from the outdoor bar. Now open to the public after years of thoughtful renovation by its owner, a Roman professor of Economics, the castle is comfortable and very romantic. Our rooms were seriously large and well furnished with antiques and big comfortable beds. There’s a little library in each apartment if you can tear yourself away from the window. Time for a quick stroll around the castle grounds. Originally this was an Etruscan temple, then it became a fortified alarm tower to watch the progress of the constant invaders - Goths, Lombards, Byzantines, Saracens and Gauls included in the early years of Christianity. Then, Borgo Monticelli became a protected Benedictine monastery and a little hamlet. The old church with its delightful frescoes inside, now sits directly opposite the farmhouse with its erect Etruscan rooftop phallus. The two buildings making a statement we could all understand.
All was Sunday night silent in the local village except for the outdoor cafÈ, which was having a little party. Most of the villagers (probably 20 or so of all ages) were enjoying a little dance to round off the weekend. We had a quick drink and went off to the local restaurant. Ristorante il Roseto, is owned and run by a Sicilian tax collector, he seemed jolly enough, much rubbing of hands and offers of Grappa, and the food was OK. Tonight was obviously music night in Monticelli and a saxophonist friend of the owner was giving a rendition of popular songs of the last 40 years or so including that old favourite "Ciao Ciao Bambina". Time for bed before the dancing started again.
In the morning, after enjoying the hillside sunshine, we headed for breakfast – a superb spread in Borgo Monticelli’s ancient vaulted hall. Home-made pastries and local bread, ham and good cheese and a freshly-made ricotta helped us get in practice for lunch.
A small, quiet village, a superb small hotel, restaurant and vineyard, that’s the Tre Vaselle (three vessels) – it simply oozed of class. The Maitre d’Hotel (unusually a Greek) showed us to a large comfortable table in the conservatory and proceeded to describe the distinctive menu and his, and the chef’s suggestions. Tiny warm, freshly-baked breads were served and we were encouraged to mix the restaurant’s own balsamic vinegar with the estate’s olive oil to taste with the bread – delicious. As an "Amuse-geule", they’d prepared us little savoury potato croquettes with three tiny dots of a balsamic reduction. The hors d’oeuvres was the most succulent thick carpaccio with a small-leaf salad and a mouth-watering Parmesan soufflÈ. This was followed by something a bit heavier - gnocchi lightened by the incorporation of wheat, in a sauce of local truffles (note Angelo!). Then the meat of my Italian food dreams – local Chianina beef cooked to perfect tenderness with asparagus and an artichoke-heart cream. With this feast, we naturally drank the house wine - Rubesco Torgiano Lungarotti Riserva. The owner of Tre Vaselle, Contessa Lungarotti is also a well-known local vintner and the sponsor of Umbria’s famous wine museum. Ready for dessert? Well, you simply have to finish a meal like this properly, don’t you? Fabulous icecream, in a spun-sugar casing with chocolate sauce, petits fours, coffee and grappa. We were full and quite ready for a walking tour of the 5 star luxury hotel which offers calorie-counting breakfasts! How much for the meal? £50 and worth every penny.
What to do on a lovely day in Umbria after a glorious lunch? Ice cream by the lake is a good start. And a boat trip to the Isola Grande on Lake Trasimeno, a bit of fresh air to blow the cobwebs away! Back to the castle for a wash and brush up before a (very tiny) dinner at the village cafÈ, but no dancing. The owner had made pizza bits for us that gave Angelo a bad tummy "I’m Venetian, I can’t eat all this Southern stuff – leave pizza to the Neapolitans."
It was a pity to leave the Borgo but we were to visit the Strada del Sagrantino.. Breakfast first. We had an appointment to meet Alessandro at 11 in the centre of Bevagna. Eschewing the car park on the outskirts, we drove through the delightful narrow streets of this ancient little city. Alessandro was waiting, obviously he’d dressed up for the occasion.
In his early 30’s, Alessandro’s long, tousled black locks fell over his unshaven genial face and he was wearing standard uniform – t shirt, jeans and sparkly trainers. Later, he told us he’d had a right hard night yesterday as he was soon to get married. Before we knew where we were, like a conjurer, Alessandro had turned a key in the lock of an old door and ushered us in. We were in a sensationally decorated, gilded and galleried tiny theatre – lovably perfect in every respect. If this was Bevagna’s place of entertainment – what else was there in this perfect little mediaeval city? Next to the market, in the cloisters of an old monastery, now a tranquil hotel. Olive oil and wine tasting at 11am, how better to get ready for lunch? A little tour of Bevagna followed. In Roman times, called Mevania, the city had been a staging post on the route north – the Via Flaminia. Mevania had all the necessary facilities for Roman travellers, hotel, mosaic-bottomed baths, stabling and hospitality services a great deal of which is now beautifully preserved.
You’ve guessed it, the Strada del Sagrantino was the local wine and food route, named after the local Sagrantino wine. Two vineyard tours and tastings followed and we ended up sitting in the sun, in some comfort at L’Alchimista, Cristina Magnini’s restaurant on Montefalco’s small but gorgeous historic main square. Some local ham and bread for starters then Alessandro convinced us to eat the wild asparagus by demonstrating his hands, cut while gathering it, and showing some of the haul. So, spaghetti with wild asparagus, it was with some of the Montefalco Sagrantino wine. By now the church museum and art gallery was open so it was time to see some more frescoes – this time Benozzo Gozzoli’s 15th century "Life of St Francis".
In the spirit of ancient Italian cavalleros, we felt it appropriate to take the old Roman road, Via Cassia, into Lazio, to our next stay "I due Laghi" and dinner. Architecturally, the hotel could be called "Big 1960’s Swiss Chalet" style. Comfortable enough, but a bit dark and with the odd boar’s head dotted around. The hotel grows all its own food including its meat (they’ve over 500 animals), and makes its own goats cheese. Thinking I was in for a treat I followed the boss’s (Matteo’s) suggestions in respect of the menu. "Don’t have the lamb" repeated Angelo. I ordered a cheese soufflÈ in a pastry case, seafood pasta and the lamb, a pity really. The biggest mistake was my pudding which was caramelised aubergines and ice cream (the chef’s speciality – apparently he was from the south). Anyway, it tasted as bizarre as it looked. Said Angelo "I don’t know what you’re complaining about – I had the Chianina and it was superb".
Of course, I Due Laghi is perfect if you’re an equestrian. The hotel has everything you need, even a drag hunt. You can ride in the sand arena, grass arena, cross country field or hack around the estate’s 150 hectares, and afterwards enjoy a game of billiards and a drink in the club. Matteo, in his hacking jacket and jodhpurs would be your perfect host.
Matteo had said "You must visit castle Orsini on lake Bracciano – It is so wonderful" and, there we were, getting vertigo on the battlements, high over the lake. On to Isabella Medici’s lavish bedroom and the door to the blade-covered, quicklime-bottomed chute where Isabella threw her lovers when she’d used them up. Old Issy must have been bored having to marry Paolo G (Orsini) in 1560 and stay in that dreary old castle instead of living it up in Florence-the-happening-city. A quick look at Lake Bracciano – where the Romans had picnic events to view mock sea battles complete with dying slaves and blood stained water – and we were on our way to our final gastronomic treat.
La Posta Vecchia was built by the Orsini family too. The grand house was perfectly placed right beside the sea in 1640, on an original Roman settlement. J P Getty spotted the house and purchased it in 1960. During the restoration work, the ruins of a large roman villa with fabulous mosaic floors were uncovered. These now form the core of the private archaeological museum in the hotel’s basement. JP gradually turned the villa into his dream holiday home with the addition of princely treasures from all over the world. This extraordinary seaside villa now operates as a small hotel, with just 19 rooms and a fabulous restaurant. The informal atmosphere, exquisite features and attention to detail gives you the feeling that you have joined an aristocrat’s house party – which you probably have.
Barbara Panzera the new, and very smart, manager of this luxury hotel hosted us for lunch. The youngest (and possibly most attractive) manager of a 5 star hotel in Italy, Barbara has the air of a very professional Tamsin Outhwaite – the manager in Hotel Babylon. I bet Barbara has some tales to tell – though I bet she’d not had any Issy Orsini’s to stay.
The chef had been asked to prepare us a meal of local seafood and we sat in the restaurant on the terrace overlooking the sea with Barbara waiting for this feast. After the, now compulsory, Amuse-geule with balsamic reduction, the breads, olive oils and balsamic, we started with a little pastry tart filled with shavings of artichoke hearts, delightful, fresh and aromatic. We then had both a delicate little risotto made with broad beans and a home made linguini with fresh lobster roe. The main course was king prawns on a bed of fresh little local lentils. With all this we drank some first growth 2003 Frascati. Dessert was a big favourite of mine –chocolate soufflÈ with a melting middle and cinnamon ice cream. This was relatively simple food, but absolutely delicious. Just time for a coffee and a few petits fours before we drove to the airport.
We couldn’t resist a stop en route at Frascati to pay tribute to the lunchtime wine and for a last afternoon ice cream and espresso. And then it was home after a relaxing and enjoyable four days. Great food, wonderful scenery, fascinating history, deft, thoughtful, educated and caring service – the whole trip was introduction to Umbria and Lazio that I certainly won’t forget.
Travel arrangements and hotels by Carefree Italy www.carefree-italy.com
Telephone: 01293 553232
Easyjet flies to Rome and, next year to Perugia www.easyjet.com
Borgo Monticelli – www.borgomonticelli.it
Hotel Le Tre Vaselle – www.3vaselle.it
Strada de Sagrantino – www.stradadelsagrantino.it
I Due Laghi – www.iduelaghi.it
La Posta Vecchia. – www.lapostavecchia.com
Entire contents © 2006 Totem Tourism Marketing and Valere Tjolle. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article has been obtained from sources Totem believes to be reliable. Totem does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of such information. Totem shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies of the information contained in this article or for any interpretations of that information. Any opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
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Pearl of Africa
The Great Enigma
Sitting on the terrace of the Speke Hotel Kampala, I was thinking. You see, Uganda’s a great enigma to me. A small, friendly easily accessible country crammed full of environment and wildlife and with a tradition of tourism that goes back to the Great British Explorers SHOULD have tourists. You’d imagine that tourists from all over the world would be forming an orderly queue in front of the friendly immigration officer at Entebbe Airport to get their brilliant safari experience. But no. No
queue, not even a line for citizens of the US of A. In fact, practically no tourists at all.
Watching the Birds from the Speke Hotel
Well, the terrace of the Speke Hotel is a pretty good place to ponder such a problem. Built in the colonial style in Uganda’s tourism heyday and named after the great explorer, the Speke offers just the sort of ambiance necessary for relaxed and effective enigma-solving. You simply order your drink and sit and watch and think. You watch the newspaper and magazine sellers gently proffering their news, the upmarket local Asian and African families arriving to see and be seen, the foreign businesspeople cracking deals with locals. You count the white Land Rover Defenders of the aid agencies driving purposefully to do good deeds. You notice the (very) small group of self-conscious tourists. You watch the locals strolling to work through the park opposite, and the big fat storks trying to get comfortable in the trees. And you notice the local security guards in scruffy uniforms and with what look like pop guns chatting to each other.
On Safari
And I sat there wondering why Uganda isn’t packed with tourists. A few days previously, I’d gone to see the Murchison Falls. I’d read the books of course and I’d learnt what the Victorians had said about them, but I didn’t quite know what I was going to see, For two hours or so, I’d been driven along a pretty smart road, past lovely green undulating countryside, to Masindi for a colonial coffee. When the smart road dried up, we navigated a dust-road to the park gates. ‘Close all the windows’ said William, the driver -‘ Tsetse flies here’. So for another two hours it got uncomfortably hotter and very uncomfortably bumpier as we negotiated our way through the park to the Nile. Just looked like a river to me. And across we went, to the very upmarket luxury Sarova Lodge. All marble and swimming
pools. Lunch. Standard English Colonial Cuisine. And then a boat trip up the Nile to the falls.
Bloody Hell, It’s Amazing
It’s no wonder that Winston Churchill had described Uganda as being like Regents Park Zoo and Kew Gardens combined, I thought, as we were cruising down the Nile towards Murchison Falls. Proud fish eagles perched in the trees surveying the scene, pied kingfishers and bee eaters flew around busily, on the banks families of baboons were watching along with a mixed group of water buffalo and a few monkeys in trees, in the river, great pods of hippos were languishing and from the banks a big fat croc was sliding into the water. You know when you know something is fantastic, you don’t think, you just look and feel. I just felt supremely priviledged. Sitting on this little pleasure boat. An amazing scene. Just as it must always have been. Untouched. Raw nature.
Oh Dear, It’s Just So Romantic
Occasionally I get to a fantastic place and I look around and think ‘This is romantic, I wish that I had a lover with me now’. No such luck. Shit. I’d arrived at the Nile Safari Camp by boat to be met by David, one of the staff in smart safari uniform. Very attractive, very romantic. Off to the cabin, all with different names, all beautifully made. All romantic. Mine’s just on the Nile with a lovely little terrace. David says ‘I’ll fill up the shower with warm or cold water?’. ‘Warm’ says I. The shower is outside. Oilcan full of water above, pebbles below. Very effective. Very refreshing. And it’s dinnertime. Alfresco, naturally. The sun is setting magnificently over the Nile. The sounds of the river and its
inhabitants are everywhere. The food is very good. The company excellent. What more could you want? Never mind, eh!
The North Bank
So, we’d taken our boat back along the Nile to Paraa. Past a herd of elephants. We’re taking a game drive on the North Bank; Magnificent. Lots of giraffe, Uganda Kob, Hartebeest, Oribis, Lions and Warthogs. And there’s the birds. Everywhere, Spectacular Carmine Bee-eaters and Red Bishops, Eagles and Vultures soaring above us.
Can You Believe it?
So this is the Nile.The Nile that waters Egypt. The Nile we all read about as kids. The Nile of Cleopatra et al. The Nile that all the explorers looked for the source of. What did they think when they arrived at Murchison? ALL of the Albert Nile through a 8 metre (sorry 30 feet in those days) gap to a 150 feet drop? Awesome, majestic, amazing, incredible, extraordinary (choose your own few adjectives). History, nature, romance, power. It’s all there. But the most important thing, the best description - I was there, I saw it, I marvelled at it.
So, Why No Tourists?
Back on the Speke terrace, I still couldn’t understand it. So I thought I’d do a check list:
PEOPLE - friendly-but-not-over-friendly, dignified and polite
SERVICE STANDARDS - willing but patchy
FOOD - OK
COSTS - not cheap not expensive
POLITICS - stable government
SECURITY - a bit worrying in parts
TOURIST OFFER - simply magnificent, unmissable, possibly the best and most varied (birds, mammals, primates, water, environment) experience in Africa. Just compare it with Kenya, Tanzania or Zimbabwe (each country has more tourists in a week than Uganda has in a year!).
Maybe potential tourists are frightened of Amin (happily retired with a wife or two in Saudi), maybe they have just forgotten how astoundingly beautiful Uganda is. Maybe they
want their exploring prepackaged and the forests hoovered. It’s still an enigma.
The Missing Word
Until I realised that to get the correct answer one needs to ask the correct question. Which is ‘So why no tourists...yet?’ The answer is now perfectly simple - ‘There are no tourists in Uganda yet because it’s not yet been rediscovered, in the meantime it represents Intelligent Tourist Paradise; a magnificent place to explore, not without its difficulties, but the rewards from a visit are enormous.’ So, I’m just lucky. I was there before the crowds. Wouldn’t you like to be too?
Sitting on the terrace of the Speke Hotel Kampala, I was thinking. You see, Uganda’s a great enigma to me. A small, friendly easily accessible country crammed full of environment and wildlife and with a tradition of tourism that goes back to the Great British Explorers SHOULD have tourists. You’d imagine that tourists from all over the world would be forming an orderly queue in front of the friendly immigration officer at Entebbe Airport to get their brilliant safari experience. But no. No
queue, not even a line for citizens of the US of A. In fact, practically no tourists at all.
Watching the Birds from the Speke Hotel
Well, the terrace of the Speke Hotel is a pretty good place to ponder such a problem. Built in the colonial style in Uganda’s tourism heyday and named after the great explorer, the Speke offers just the sort of ambiance necessary for relaxed and effective enigma-solving. You simply order your drink and sit and watch and think. You watch the newspaper and magazine sellers gently proffering their news, the upmarket local Asian and African families arriving to see and be seen, the foreign businesspeople cracking deals with locals. You count the white Land Rover Defenders of the aid agencies driving purposefully to do good deeds. You notice the (very) small group of self-conscious tourists. You watch the locals strolling to work through the park opposite, and the big fat storks trying to get comfortable in the trees. And you notice the local security guards in scruffy uniforms and with what look like pop guns chatting to each other.
On Safari
And I sat there wondering why Uganda isn’t packed with tourists. A few days previously, I’d gone to see the Murchison Falls. I’d read the books of course and I’d learnt what the Victorians had said about them, but I didn’t quite know what I was going to see, For two hours or so, I’d been driven along a pretty smart road, past lovely green undulating countryside, to Masindi for a colonial coffee. When the smart road dried up, we navigated a dust-road to the park gates. ‘Close all the windows’ said William, the driver -‘ Tsetse flies here’. So for another two hours it got uncomfortably hotter and very uncomfortably bumpier as we negotiated our way through the park to the Nile. Just looked like a river to me. And across we went, to the very upmarket luxury Sarova Lodge. All marble and swimming
pools. Lunch. Standard English Colonial Cuisine. And then a boat trip up the Nile to the falls.
Bloody Hell, It’s Amazing
It’s no wonder that Winston Churchill had described Uganda as being like Regents Park Zoo and Kew Gardens combined, I thought, as we were cruising down the Nile towards Murchison Falls. Proud fish eagles perched in the trees surveying the scene, pied kingfishers and bee eaters flew around busily, on the banks families of baboons were watching along with a mixed group of water buffalo and a few monkeys in trees, in the river, great pods of hippos were languishing and from the banks a big fat croc was sliding into the water. You know when you know something is fantastic, you don’t think, you just look and feel. I just felt supremely priviledged. Sitting on this little pleasure boat. An amazing scene. Just as it must always have been. Untouched. Raw nature.
Oh Dear, It’s Just So Romantic
Occasionally I get to a fantastic place and I look around and think ‘This is romantic, I wish that I had a lover with me now’. No such luck. Shit. I’d arrived at the Nile Safari Camp by boat to be met by David, one of the staff in smart safari uniform. Very attractive, very romantic. Off to the cabin, all with different names, all beautifully made. All romantic. Mine’s just on the Nile with a lovely little terrace. David says ‘I’ll fill up the shower with warm or cold water?’. ‘Warm’ says I. The shower is outside. Oilcan full of water above, pebbles below. Very effective. Very refreshing. And it’s dinnertime. Alfresco, naturally. The sun is setting magnificently over the Nile. The sounds of the river and its
inhabitants are everywhere. The food is very good. The company excellent. What more could you want? Never mind, eh!
The North Bank
So, we’d taken our boat back along the Nile to Paraa. Past a herd of elephants. We’re taking a game drive on the North Bank; Magnificent. Lots of giraffe, Uganda Kob, Hartebeest, Oribis, Lions and Warthogs. And there’s the birds. Everywhere, Spectacular Carmine Bee-eaters and Red Bishops, Eagles and Vultures soaring above us.
Can You Believe it?
So this is the Nile.The Nile that waters Egypt. The Nile we all read about as kids. The Nile of Cleopatra et al. The Nile that all the explorers looked for the source of. What did they think when they arrived at Murchison? ALL of the Albert Nile through a 8 metre (sorry 30 feet in those days) gap to a 150 feet drop? Awesome, majestic, amazing, incredible, extraordinary (choose your own few adjectives). History, nature, romance, power. It’s all there. But the most important thing, the best description - I was there, I saw it, I marvelled at it.
So, Why No Tourists?
Back on the Speke terrace, I still couldn’t understand it. So I thought I’d do a check list:
PEOPLE - friendly-but-not-over-friendly, dignified and polite
SERVICE STANDARDS - willing but patchy
FOOD - OK
COSTS - not cheap not expensive
POLITICS - stable government
SECURITY - a bit worrying in parts
TOURIST OFFER - simply magnificent, unmissable, possibly the best and most varied (birds, mammals, primates, water, environment) experience in Africa. Just compare it with Kenya, Tanzania or Zimbabwe (each country has more tourists in a week than Uganda has in a year!).
Maybe potential tourists are frightened of Amin (happily retired with a wife or two in Saudi), maybe they have just forgotten how astoundingly beautiful Uganda is. Maybe they
want their exploring prepackaged and the forests hoovered. It’s still an enigma.
The Missing Word
Until I realised that to get the correct answer one needs to ask the correct question. Which is ‘So why no tourists...yet?’ The answer is now perfectly simple - ‘There are no tourists in Uganda yet because it’s not yet been rediscovered, in the meantime it represents Intelligent Tourist Paradise; a magnificent place to explore, not without its difficulties, but the rewards from a visit are enormous.’ So, I’m just lucky. I was there before the crowds. Wouldn’t you like to be too?
Bruges “Royal Flush” Sundays
Bruges "Royal Flush" Sundays
Sunday was delightful always, and to be perfectly honest, a dream Sunday for me has still got to be a nice breakfast, a bit of a wander, lunch and then an afternoon to Bruges. We’d usually go to Sluis first, chance to shepherd the passengers into the "Chosen" souvenir shop to stock up on much-needed little dolls, lace and Delft, little musical windmills that lit up, snaps with traditional locals, buy some Advocaat or Cherry Brandy (enormous delicacies in those days), stroll down the canal, see the windmill, board the coach, off to Bruges - the first and only "Venice of the North".
The customers loved Bruges, they always did and they always will. Yes of course, it’s a World Heritage site, yes of course it’s got loads of churches, museums and wonderful art treasures, yes of course it’s got stunning architecture created during its colourful historic past, but it’s got much, much more than all that. In my view, Bruges has got nearly every trump in the tourism suite and, over the years, it’s played them all extraordinarily well.
The two to the 8 of Bruges trumps...are "Special Interests",
In the travel industry "Special Interest Travel" is seen as a powerful magnet for tourists and a real money-spinner. Even to the extent that people are paid to sit around and create special interests where none exist, - think of darts festivals for instance - another example of a tourism consultant making money for his clients.
This is how it works... find a particular place where you only get gingham mice - sell trips to see them to the "Gingham Mice Lovers" brigades around the world. Niche product, niche market in today’s jargon - the nicher the better! Result... the "Gingham Mice" fancier not only gets a trip for his money but also they get to follow their addiction too...and they’ll pay more for it. It all gets a bit dodgy when you make your own gingham mice - but hey-ho that’s tourism for you - "Quality tourism" it’s called, quantity money it makes. Bruges has got lots of Special Interests, at least enough to count from 2 to 7 trumps. Just look at the list of potential clients - History buffs (you don’t get more Middle-Aged-Important than Bruges), religious pilgrims (the Holy Blood in the church of the same name is said to liquify every 10 years), lacemakers (a growth industry), beer drinkers (seriously, there’s one cafe in Bruges with over 200 types of beer), architecture enthusiasts (Just look at the Step-Gables) , art lovers (there’s even a Michelangelo Madonna and Child here), antique hunters (Bruges’ antique shops are stuffed with expensive old things and the flea markets are incredible), even chocoholics (believe me, there are more chocolate shops per square metre in Bruges than anywhere else in the world, if there aren’t Bruges chocolate-making courses for bored housewives in their hundreds now, you can bet your life there will be). Enough? Enough to ensure a steady flow of quality money, that’s for sure.
The nine of trumps is...visible history,
People like looking at history. Although learning about history is generally a complete No No, the general public love history facts and stories and they like to be where it happened. Often not to feel or look or indeed see, but to pick up stories and take pictures, go home and retail them to their friends. Also one of the greatest facets of tourism is right there at the top of Dr Maslow’s "Heirarchy of Needs" - self actualisation. This translates to the following statement "We went for a trip to Bruges, it’s very historic you know - would you like to see the pictures we took - bet you didn’t know we were into history did you - we loved it!". This actualises the speaker in his or her own mind as a lover of all things historic. Lovely - one step up. Also, visible history, in particular the sort that Bruges has, creates a fairytale atmosphere - just like the films - with knights and fair damsels and alchemists and witches and things. Except you’re in it, that fairytale world, just where it all happened. As all the theme parks have discovered, fairytale worlds draw in the clients.
The ten of trumps...Bruges is quaint, walkable and compact.
You can pack a great deal into half a day in Bruges. You can see the canals (can’t miss them in fact), you can walk over romantic bridges, you can see boats in the water, you can see delightful outdoor cafe’s with colourful awnings, you can bump along cobbled streets. You can get it all in a very reasonable period of time without missing a lot of the superficial stuff. That’s very satisfying to the tourist. "Been there, seen it, done it" and back onto the coach. Bruges "Drill-down" potential means that there can always be more, too, if you want to look deeper on a second or twenty-second visit.
The Jack of trumps...there are a lot of things to do in Bruges
This fulfils two very important tourism-industry needs - a) provide the tourist with a fully-satisfying visit - a real experience that they can go home and tell their friends about, and b) provide earning opportunities for the locals. So, in Bruges you can take a canal boat trip (with commentaries in numerous languages), you can tour by horse drawn carriage where you’ll get blanketed-up and trotted about, you can visit lace-making factories staffed with dinky old ladies who must have been damsels in those olden days - and who’ll sell you lace with a fervour, you’ll have opportunities to see and hear the Carillon bells. Enough. Until the next time.
The Queen of trumps...There are plenty of things to buy.
Tourists, generally, want more than snaps as proof of their visit. They need souvenirs too. Yet another opportunity for self-actualisation here. So, you’ll find the whole range of Bruges souvenir-tat readily available on each and every tourist-street corner. Plenty of Manneke Pis’s for the "Bucket and Spade Brigade", nice bits of "Hand Made" lace for the ladylike ladies, mass-produced prints and watercolours for the artistically-leaning and Bruges chocolates for everyone. Now it’s "Been there, seen it done it AND got the "T" shirt!"
The King of trumps...close to lots of places
Now, if Bruges were in the depths of Outer Siberia it would have very few tourists and a very small tourism industry. That may seem a crazy statement, but the availability of people-capable-of-spending is critical to the equation. There are places all over the world with just as much, perhaps more, potential than Bruges - they just haven’t been able to hack it...yet. Prague is a classic example. It was always just as glorious, but inaccessible. As soon as it became "Close" twelve million tourists a year. There are many, many more glorious destinations just waiting for the tourism spotlight to shine on them. Bruges was just lucky. The spotlight shone there first, and it’s stayed...why? Because Bruges has played its ace trump very, very well.
The Ace of trumps...looking after the tourism asset.
Managing the tourism asset is critical in the equation, there are so many people to be pleased and needs to be satisfied that it is very difficult to steer a course that provides a sustainable flow of tourists ...and money! Even if you have all the trump cards, you can still screw it up - bigtime. Just imagine Bruges after the first 50 years of mass tourism. It could have a multi-national in every prime site. McDonalds, all the Espresso Bongo’s, Holiday Inns and many more. Yes, they’re there, but they’re either outside of the city heart, or they’re tasteful and attractive - and they’re not there in force. Bruges could be full up with tourist coaches and open-top busses - resulting in traffic chaos. It’s not, they’re kept outside, and cars are provided a big underground car park within walking distance of the centre. Why have the burghers of Bruges taken an up-market attitude to tourism developement? Because they’re not stupid, and they want up-market tourists providing up-market money for their own homegrown entrepreneurs. Many a tourist city could take a leaf out of Bruges’ tourism development attitude.
So, the tourists get a quality experience, the locals get quality money and quality opportunities
Back to Sunday afternoon 1959 and we’re bowling along back to Ostend. "Sing Something Simple" is on the BBC radio and we’re all joining in "Goodnight Irene, Goodnight". And it will be.
Sunday was delightful always, and to be perfectly honest, a dream Sunday for me has still got to be a nice breakfast, a bit of a wander, lunch and then an afternoon to Bruges. We’d usually go to Sluis first, chance to shepherd the passengers into the "Chosen" souvenir shop to stock up on much-needed little dolls, lace and Delft, little musical windmills that lit up, snaps with traditional locals, buy some Advocaat or Cherry Brandy (enormous delicacies in those days), stroll down the canal, see the windmill, board the coach, off to Bruges - the first and only "Venice of the North".
The customers loved Bruges, they always did and they always will. Yes of course, it’s a World Heritage site, yes of course it’s got loads of churches, museums and wonderful art treasures, yes of course it’s got stunning architecture created during its colourful historic past, but it’s got much, much more than all that. In my view, Bruges has got nearly every trump in the tourism suite and, over the years, it’s played them all extraordinarily well.
The two to the 8 of Bruges trumps...are "Special Interests",
In the travel industry "Special Interest Travel" is seen as a powerful magnet for tourists and a real money-spinner. Even to the extent that people are paid to sit around and create special interests where none exist, - think of darts festivals for instance - another example of a tourism consultant making money for his clients.
This is how it works... find a particular place where you only get gingham mice - sell trips to see them to the "Gingham Mice Lovers" brigades around the world. Niche product, niche market in today’s jargon - the nicher the better! Result... the "Gingham Mice" fancier not only gets a trip for his money but also they get to follow their addiction too...and they’ll pay more for it. It all gets a bit dodgy when you make your own gingham mice - but hey-ho that’s tourism for you - "Quality tourism" it’s called, quantity money it makes. Bruges has got lots of Special Interests, at least enough to count from 2 to 7 trumps. Just look at the list of potential clients - History buffs (you don’t get more Middle-Aged-Important than Bruges), religious pilgrims (the Holy Blood in the church of the same name is said to liquify every 10 years), lacemakers (a growth industry), beer drinkers (seriously, there’s one cafe in Bruges with over 200 types of beer), architecture enthusiasts (Just look at the Step-Gables) , art lovers (there’s even a Michelangelo Madonna and Child here), antique hunters (Bruges’ antique shops are stuffed with expensive old things and the flea markets are incredible), even chocoholics (believe me, there are more chocolate shops per square metre in Bruges than anywhere else in the world, if there aren’t Bruges chocolate-making courses for bored housewives in their hundreds now, you can bet your life there will be). Enough? Enough to ensure a steady flow of quality money, that’s for sure.
The nine of trumps is...visible history,
People like looking at history. Although learning about history is generally a complete No No, the general public love history facts and stories and they like to be where it happened. Often not to feel or look or indeed see, but to pick up stories and take pictures, go home and retail them to their friends. Also one of the greatest facets of tourism is right there at the top of Dr Maslow’s "Heirarchy of Needs" - self actualisation. This translates to the following statement "We went for a trip to Bruges, it’s very historic you know - would you like to see the pictures we took - bet you didn’t know we were into history did you - we loved it!". This actualises the speaker in his or her own mind as a lover of all things historic. Lovely - one step up. Also, visible history, in particular the sort that Bruges has, creates a fairytale atmosphere - just like the films - with knights and fair damsels and alchemists and witches and things. Except you’re in it, that fairytale world, just where it all happened. As all the theme parks have discovered, fairytale worlds draw in the clients.
The ten of trumps...Bruges is quaint, walkable and compact.
You can pack a great deal into half a day in Bruges. You can see the canals (can’t miss them in fact), you can walk over romantic bridges, you can see boats in the water, you can see delightful outdoor cafe’s with colourful awnings, you can bump along cobbled streets. You can get it all in a very reasonable period of time without missing a lot of the superficial stuff. That’s very satisfying to the tourist. "Been there, seen it, done it" and back onto the coach. Bruges "Drill-down" potential means that there can always be more, too, if you want to look deeper on a second or twenty-second visit.
The Jack of trumps...there are a lot of things to do in Bruges
This fulfils two very important tourism-industry needs - a) provide the tourist with a fully-satisfying visit - a real experience that they can go home and tell their friends about, and b) provide earning opportunities for the locals. So, in Bruges you can take a canal boat trip (with commentaries in numerous languages), you can tour by horse drawn carriage where you’ll get blanketed-up and trotted about, you can visit lace-making factories staffed with dinky old ladies who must have been damsels in those olden days - and who’ll sell you lace with a fervour, you’ll have opportunities to see and hear the Carillon bells. Enough. Until the next time.
The Queen of trumps...There are plenty of things to buy.
Tourists, generally, want more than snaps as proof of their visit. They need souvenirs too. Yet another opportunity for self-actualisation here. So, you’ll find the whole range of Bruges souvenir-tat readily available on each and every tourist-street corner. Plenty of Manneke Pis’s for the "Bucket and Spade Brigade", nice bits of "Hand Made" lace for the ladylike ladies, mass-produced prints and watercolours for the artistically-leaning and Bruges chocolates for everyone. Now it’s "Been there, seen it done it AND got the "T" shirt!"
The King of trumps...close to lots of places
Now, if Bruges were in the depths of Outer Siberia it would have very few tourists and a very small tourism industry. That may seem a crazy statement, but the availability of people-capable-of-spending is critical to the equation. There are places all over the world with just as much, perhaps more, potential than Bruges - they just haven’t been able to hack it...yet. Prague is a classic example. It was always just as glorious, but inaccessible. As soon as it became "Close" twelve million tourists a year. There are many, many more glorious destinations just waiting for the tourism spotlight to shine on them. Bruges was just lucky. The spotlight shone there first, and it’s stayed...why? Because Bruges has played its ace trump very, very well.
The Ace of trumps...looking after the tourism asset.
Managing the tourism asset is critical in the equation, there are so many people to be pleased and needs to be satisfied that it is very difficult to steer a course that provides a sustainable flow of tourists ...and money! Even if you have all the trump cards, you can still screw it up - bigtime. Just imagine Bruges after the first 50 years of mass tourism. It could have a multi-national in every prime site. McDonalds, all the Espresso Bongo’s, Holiday Inns and many more. Yes, they’re there, but they’re either outside of the city heart, or they’re tasteful and attractive - and they’re not there in force. Bruges could be full up with tourist coaches and open-top busses - resulting in traffic chaos. It’s not, they’re kept outside, and cars are provided a big underground car park within walking distance of the centre. Why have the burghers of Bruges taken an up-market attitude to tourism developement? Because they’re not stupid, and they want up-market tourists providing up-market money for their own homegrown entrepreneurs. Many a tourist city could take a leaf out of Bruges’ tourism development attitude.
So, the tourists get a quality experience, the locals get quality money and quality opportunities
Back to Sunday afternoon 1959 and we’re bowling along back to Ostend. "Sing Something Simple" is on the BBC radio and we’re all joining in "Goodnight Irene, Goodnight". And it will be.
Some explanation is needed
My name is Valere Tjolle, well actually 't jolle. In other words 'The Jolle'. So what is a 'Jolle' - it's a Yawl, or Jolly Boat, built for speed and manouvrability.
Jump in my craft, and we'll see where we go!
Jump in my craft, and we'll see where we go!
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