Author and travel writer Paul Theroux had a very simple way of describing people who travel. He divided them into tourists and travelers, saying, “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”
Listen to the article here
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Of course, he said this, long before social media turned travel into a mass team sport. But I wonder what the writer, who by the way has published a new book “Burma Sahib”, would think of the many jargons we have in the travel industry that we have invented in recent years to describe all the different types of people who travel.
Recently articletitled “Travel Jargon Explained: A Guide to Common Travel Trends and Terms,” lists 33 industry jargons to describe the 1.3 billion of us who will travel in 2023 – the number is according to Statista.
One of the most common terms is “bleisure” which, if I’m honest, I’ve been doing all my life. Imagine how terribly messed up life would be if it was all business when you went abroad. My best travel experiences have been around business and events – if I’m being honest (again), business and events are just an excuse for me to go on vacation. I mean, why do you think Web in Travel was launched in Africa?
And I bet that even the most conscientious and hard-working business leaders must have many pleasant moments in their travels – in which case, we can add a new term, “b-pleasure”.
Another term on the list is “coolcation”, which means “jetting off to a cold place to try to fight the extreme heat of the moment. Thanks to climate change, we may see even more of these in the future,” says l article.
I would say that the original “coolcationers” were the colonialists who, after establishing themselves as new rulers in the tropics, sought elevated areas to escape the tropical heat of the plains. Think of Penang Hill and Cameron Highlands in Malaya or Maymyo, now known as Pyin Oo Lwin, in Burma; or Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka – the original “coolcation” destinations.
Penang Club: Founded in 1868, it’s like going back in time.
Speaking of colonial days, I walked into the Penang Club for the first time today – what did I expect? Founded in 1868, this club is among a series of similar institutions around the world, established by the British, during the glory days of the Empire.
It was like stepping back in time, when I could imagine sahibs and mensahibs sipping their gin by the sea. I saw a few Caucasian faces, no doubt, long time residents of Penang and their friends, and indeed, I was told that there is a group of people who travel the world to visit clubs like this.
Could you call this “colonialism”? Or is it another type of wellness-related tourism, known in places like Samui?
Back to the present – a hotelier friend of mine from Penang told me that lately, he has been receiving a new type of Chinese guest. In fact, during the recent Lunar New Year, almost 30% of their guests came from this tribe. They are all influenced by the Chinese social media phenomenon, “Little Red Book”, and they only stay one night in one place, and move like grasshoppers to the next patch. This is so that they can hit as many hotels as possible in their places so that their friends will exclaim: “My, how many hotels have you booked?”
I’ll call this “Little-Red-Bookism”, unless you can think of a better term?
The counter-trend to this is “slow tourism” – “having a deeper and more meaningful approach to local culture, people and traditions that aims to respect, appreciate and preserve the locality”. These slow travelers must be responsible for the longer stays that sites like Airbnb and Booking.com see.
I have met many of these slow travelers on my work around the world and the only thing they have in common is that they are very relaxed and laid-back people, and they always seem to have slept well – which would lead to the other jargon of ” sleep tourism” or “sleepcation”. It starts slowly, then it goes to sleep.
However, this same week, the BBC reported that “Instagram fans have ruined special posts.” He quoted a Welsh speleologist Anthony Taylor who said that after a YouTube videos of old cars dumped in the Gwynedd quarry has had over six million views, an influx of social media photo seekers has flooded the site and left so much rubbish and graffiti behind that the entire historic site has been totally ruined.
“When you got to the end, it was just a sea of boats, inflatables everywhere,” he said. “It’s just disgusting, really sad and disheartening.”
There is no sleeping this – this is “trash tourism”, and we do not want to have it anywhere, be it in the caves of Wales or in the temples of Bali.
Have a great trip wherever you go, I’m sure there’s a term for it in my new travel industry jargon compilation book.
