Host:Guest relationships (or, stupid insensitive tourists!)

One of the topics we teach our MSc Responsible Tourism Management students concerns the relationships between hosts and guests in destinations. Based on social anthropology, students gain an understanding of the misunderstandings that can arise when two very different cultures come into contact with one another. The purpose is of course to see how we can develop a more responsible and sensitive approach to tourism development, particularly in developing destinations.

I really wish that we had access to this photo essay when we were teaching the other weekend - it really puts all our work into some kind of perspective! So click on the link, sit back and be amazed. I still don't know whether to laugh or cry!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/5005019/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers.html

National Trust for Scotland to close some properties

Sad news from Edinburgh the other day, with NTS announcing that it is closing some of its properties, reducing opening hours and cutting services at others. The Trust has been reviewing its operations for some time and this move appears to reflect both the higher costs of conserving, presenting and managing the properties and also the difficulties the organisation has been facing in generating sufficient revenue to fund its activities.

What is interesting is the fact that this move has been made at a time when commentators are predicting a bumper year for UK tourism, with the weak pound keeping Brits at home as well as making us more competitive to the European and US markets.

Heritage properties such as those managed by the Trust represent an important part of our tourism product, and if we as a nation cannot secure the funds necessary to keep them open on a regular basis, the experience of many will certainly be diminished.