| Jennifer Merin With increased accessibility and reliance on online resources for information, the travel brochure might soon become a thing of the past. But for the time being, those handsomely designed booklets published by tourist bureaus and tour operators are still worthy travel planning tools.
Travel brochures are filled excellent suggestions about how you can explore local lifestyle and make the most of cultural offerings and shopping opportunities. They’re filled with lots of well-organized and useful information about your destination’s accommodations, eateries and attractions. And they’re outfitted with the sort of alluring photos that encourage you to fantasize about escaping into them right away.
That’s the point. Travel brochures are cover-to-cover sales pitches. They’re designed to make you think that if you don’t go there, you’re missing the whole spectacular show.
So, what you have to remember when you’re scouring a travel brochure to help you choose your destination and/or decide what you’re going to do once you get there, is that travel brochures are never objective.
Are they accurate? Yes, they are for the most part. Well-respected tourist boards and tour operators don’t want to risk their reputations by misrepresenting their ’products.’ Reputation -- and word of mouth recommendations -- account for a lot of business in the travel trade. But that doesn’t mean that brochure writers won’t glamorize a given destination -- at least somewhat -- to convince you that it’s the ideal place with the most satisfying travel experience for you.
What’s the difference between glamorizing and misrepresentation? It’s really a matter of degree, and of language.
Travel brochures have their own language. It‘s called brochure speak, and it‘s a way of using words to redecorate a shoddy hotel room or put a nicer view on the other side of a window frame, pump some fresh air into a steamy tour bus and perhaps stretch a five-minute stop at an architectural wonder into a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity.
How can brochures do all they without misrepresenting something along the way? Brochure speak. Plain and simple.
So, if you’re looking at travel brochures for guidance -- or browsing travel provider Websites on the Internet, too, for that matter -- learning how to interpret oft-used brochure speak terminology can make the difference between your having a dream vacation or a travel nightmare. If you want to make the most of what travel brochures (and Websites) have offer, without being fooled by them, you’d best learn to decipher some of their euphemisms and read between the lines.
One thing that will help, for starters, is to get as many brochures as possible and compare them for both language and prices. If anything seems obscure or confusing, contact the tourist board or travel provider to ask for clarification. This may be a bit time-consuming, but if you love travel, savor the moments of research. You’re pre-experiencing the destination as you learn about it and pick up tips about to expect when you get there.
Here, beginning with hotel language, is some terminology that can be confusing. Be on the look out for these watch words:
“Confirmed Reservation” means only that the hotel has accepted a booking for a certain category of room on a specific date for a specific duration. The room will be held only until a specified time -- usually 6 p.m. -- before being released, unless it is prepaid or late arrival is specifically requested when booking.
“Guaranteed Room” usually requires pre-payment or at least a credit card number at the time of booking. The room will be held, and you will be charged whether you show up or not.
“Double Room” has several different meanings. In the United States, it may mean a room for two with one double or king size bed, or it may mean a room with two doubled beds that can sleep a family of three or four. In Europe, it usually has two single beds. Ask before booking.
Hotel room rates may or may not include meals, but here the language is fairly specific:
“Continental Plan” covers your room plus a light breakfast, usually a bread basked with toast, croissants and/or sweet rolls, plus hot beverage and juice. Sometimes hotels also offer cold cereal, milk, fresh fruit and yogurt.
“European Plan” covers room only in the United States. In Europe, it usually indicates that you will have a breakfast buffet with cereals, eggs, breads and sweet rolls, cheese and cold cuts, fresh fruits and juice, yogurt and hot beverages.
“American Plan” covers your room, plus three means from unlimited menu choices.
“Modified American Plan” covers your room plus two meals, usually breakfast and dinner, with limited menu choices.
With regard to interpreting ratings for hotel rooms and service, “first class” doesn’t always indicate the top level of service -- as it does with airlines reservations, for example. When booking a hotel, if you want the top level of service and are willing to pay for it, avoid disappointment by asking whether your selected destination has “five star” or “deluxe” hotels that are ranked above “first class” for their service, and whether those hotels have “premium” or “premiere status” floors or rooms.
As for air travel, terminology pertaining to routing may not be clear, even if you’re traveling first class.
“Non-stop” means that the plane flies from point A to point B with no scheduled stops -- not even for refueling. This is the fastest and most desirable routing, unless you have a reason for wanting to stop en route.
“Direct flight” indicates that the plane will stop at least once -- or perhaps twice or three times -- en route from point A to point B. The direct flight may even require a change of aircraft or of airline, although it shows the same flight number for the entire journey. A direct flight differs from a “connecting flight” only in that if a direct flight requires a plane change, it will guarantee your connection -- often at an adjoining or nearby gate. With “connecting flights,” you may have to scramble from one end of the airport to the other, and if your originating flight is late, you may miss the connection altogether.
That said, direct flights, although they guarantee connections, can be quite time consuming. Before signing up for one of them -- even as part of a tour package -- make sure you know the specifics and can go with their flow.
Language used to describe ground transportation has a particularly wide range of euphemisms, especially when applied to group bus tours. Consider these:
“Air conditioned” sometimes means open windows.
“Afternoon at Leisure” indicates that you’re left entirely to your own devices. Tour operators have nothing planned for you, but are willing to arrange for “Available Activities” -- which means there are optional tours to be booked for additional fees. There’s nothing inherently wrong with tour operators offering “extras,” except when a tour is described -- in its brochure -- as all inclusive.
Know, too, what the words used to describe itineraries mean:
A “Visit” is a stop of sufficient duration your you to get off the bus to explore a site. Visits may include local guide services, or not. Local guide services may indicate the presence of a knowledgeable site interpreter or a handout with some information, or a free map. Check what your tour operator provides before booking.
“View” usually means a brief stop, one that’s perhaps long enough for a quick photo from the bus or the side of the road, while “See” really means that you’re simply passing a place. It’s a drive by. The bus doesn’t stop, so keep you eyes peeled.
Once you’ve compared the brochures and deciphered the brochure speak, and are ready to book your trip, always make sure that the specifics you’ve selected be included in your contract. That requires some knowledge of contract speak -- but that’s a whole different column.
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COPYRIGHT 2010 JENNIFER MERIN
Copyright 2010 Jennifer Merin
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