Turism

Some tourists prefer to travel in groups, with their holiday planned in advance for them, on what are known as .package tours.. However, the advantages of planning your holiday yourself are considerable. You are free to choose exactly where and when you want to go, how you want to travel, and how long you want to stay. You can avoid the large resorts, whereas holidaymakers on package tours are often trapped among crowds of other tourists. You can eat the food of the region at reasonable prices in local restaurants, while they are served with "international" dishes and chips with everything.

Moreover, although most people return from package holidays reasonably satisfied, this is not always the case. Take the nightmare experience of a Frenchman who went on a package to the Caribbean. The hotel in the small port was overbooked and he had to wander round the streets looking for a bed and breakfast place. While doing this he was arrested by the police for vagrancy. He was taken to court, where he told the magistrate it was the hotel.s fault, but the magistrate was the hotel manager.s brother and he charged the tourist with making false accusations.

He was sent to prison for eight days, by which time his return flight had left. He did not have enough money left for a return ticket so he went to a post office to send a telegram to his family in France asking for money. He was arrested even before he could send it and charged with illegal immigration, as he could now no longer be considered a tourist, having missed his flight. He now needed a work permit in order to stay, which he of course did not have. He was fined 500 dollars for this offence, and another 500 dollars when he again blamed the hotel. All things considered, a package holidays is no guarantee of satisfaction. I think I'd rather plan my holiday independently, or stay at home.