Ed, doing a decent impression of Cliff Richard, boards the bus and heads off on a European tour.  It is a typical bus tour, with alcohol flowing freely, partying, laughter and the contemplations of the local economic benefits of package deal tourism. But will he actually see any of Europe with all the Aussies getting in the way?

Last December I had the pleasure of jumping aboard my first package deal bus tour across western Europe with a few mates. Although I didn’t go with Contiki, I was expecting the Contiki cliché, a whole load of perpetually inebriated, perpetually fornicating and perpetually culturally-challenged post-adolescents. I was not surprised in this regard. I was surprised however, by the make-up of the group. I was expecting a few Yanks, some Aussies, a few Poms and the odd Kiwi in there for good measure. Rather, I holidayed with one Pom, one South African, one Kiwi, one Columbian, an Argentinian and 45 other Australians so it ended up being like a holiday with the Kerrigans, just not at Bonnie Doon. Nothing says cultural cringe like an utterly pissed Aussie bogan yelling “Bellisimo, that’s-a spicy meat-a ball” at bewildered Italian restaurant patrons.

Having said that, I had an absolute blast. The package was relatively inexpensive, the accommodation 5 star in comparison to my usual backpacker style tastes (with the possible exception of the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam – I encourage you to take their “eco-tour”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv3KqZUY_qc) , food was bearable when included in the package and mind-blowing when I sourced it myself and I got a taste of all the major western European nations in 18 days. Of course, the trip was not without hiccups. The previously mentioned bogan managed to persuade our Dutch bus driver to take a swing at him which missed - he punched out a window, required hospitalisation and was subsequently fired. However, this bogan didn’t interrupt our sight seeing as he spent the days not wandering the Vatican or the Louvre but at the hotel recovering from a hangover. I’m sure he could have gotten boozed for 18 days straight at home – pubs are pubs the world over. 

Other highlights included being pulled over in Florence by two particularly well groomed blokes who required a 200-odd euro fee to allow our bus to continue driving through the city, apparently this is commonplace and is split between the local mafia and government authorities. I also enjoyed some fine mornings on the bus with splitting headaches and nausea from the previous night, but it came with the territory, no-one could complain about this. Overall however, the sightseeing was fantastic as the winter cold had cleared the crowds away and most tourist spots were easily accessible, despite many of them undergoing restoration during the low season.

Arriving at my friends’ house in Stuttgart afterward, for Christmas, I was intrigued by the phenomenon of the package deal tourism trip and the impact it has on regional economies (simultaneously understanding why the rest of the population thinks economists are the most boring people on the planet). Typically, the average tourist will spend on accommodation, food and beverages, transportation, shopping and entertainment whilst on holidays. The degree to which this expenditure is injected into an economy is reliant upon how directly the tourist interacts with it. In the case of my tour, I paid a lump sum in Brisbane, of which a portion was taken by my travel agent. This money went to the tour operator’s office in London, where it was directed toward the various hotels and hostels we stayed at, to the various restaurants and the activities that were included. These businesses would take a reduced margin due to the bulk of travellers flowing through them, as opposed to the typical tourist who makes arrangements privately.

Of course, the wages of the bus driver and guide reside mostly with their country of origin, as do most of the costs of transport. Despite this, we were able to directly interact with local businesses in our spare time, shopping, going to clubs and bars of our choosing and eating out. However, the general nature of these trips is to stay on the road most travelled. Hence regional towns, with names like Bietingheim-Bissingen or Sant‘Urbano as opposed to Rome or Paris are left on the wayside by this enormous flow of young, cashed up tourists. Our bus typically followed the Autobahns, Autostrada and Autoroutes of Europe, with little deviation. As a result, I am a connoisseur of the European roadhouse, and have directed much of my tourism dollar into big brand chains. As a side note, European servos are not quite the same as the typical BP/Shell-Cafe-McDonalds combination that dots the major highways of Australia. Whilst here, the most exciting foodstuffs you might be able to track down are mint patties and a chiko roll, I stumbled upon a roadhouse filled with exotic smoked meats, pancettas and prosciutto crudo, sopressata, foie gras, Epoisses Cheese and more bits and pieces I can’t remember how to pronounce or spell.

To the credit of the operator running my tour, we weren’t put up in chain hotels, but rather, locally owned affairs, which meant that a larger proportion of our dollar was directed into each city or town we visited. On the whole, there are many examples throughout the world of package tourism deals, which, unlike mine, virtually bypass the entirety of a local economy. By the late 1980’s Japanese investors owned at least 70% of land marked for development in the Gold Coast, as well as many of the major hotel chains on the famous strip of sand. Japanese tourists would often organise a comprehensive package in Japan, and would stay at Japanese owned hotels, be guided to authorised stores for shopping and dining, the owners of which would provide a kickback to operators from profits. Further, tourists would visit attractions and do activities organised by the tourism company in Japan or with other businesses paying commissions to the Japanese tourism bodies. Hence, flows of tourism revenue to the Australian economy were primarily limited to wages and the profits of some stores and activity operators. There are indications that a similar trend is occurring in the burgeoning Chinese tourism market. 

Culturally and linguistically distinct tourists in general are susceptible to this mode of tourism, and the English speaking world is especially prone to it, given the intellectual laziness brought on by the status of English as the world’s lingua franca - little attention payed to understanding other languages. A prime example of this is the English invasion of Spain’s Costa del Sol during the summer months of June-August. Tourism is worth 12% of the Spanish GDP, around $110b US, and much of it is supported by the hypnotic appeal of warm, sun drenched beaches to the sodden, miserable English stuck in the freezing northern wastes of Europe. The English descend in hordes to the resort towns of Malaga, Cadiz and all the towns in between, flying low cost carriers to destinations compartmentalised from the local population through English-owned tourism operators operating English-owned hotels, restaurants and bars. Whilst the initial foreign investment in tourist facilities delivers a short term boost to the Spanish economy, the long term returns are less evident, as a substantial minority of the tourist income returns from whence it came, in the form of profits to foreign owners.

I have not discussed the fact that the isolation of tourists from interaction with the local economy creates a breeding ground for rorting and graft, as has been seen on the Gold Coast in recent years, where Japanese and Chinese tourists have been shuffled into specified shops to pay exorbitant prices for goods that the independent tourist or customer would pay far less for. There is cause for concern for the potential exploitation of developing nations. In the case of Europe, this includes the continuously flourishing tourism market in the Balkan nations, which includes, amongst others, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Albania. Such economies should be assisted to develop a solid tourism infrastructure of their own. There is nothing illegal or untoward about foreign investment in tourist trade, indeed it can help open up new markets for the country, however it does lead to a higher leakage of tourism revenue out of the country. 

However, this form of tourism is most depressing to me due to the lack of cultural experience this sort of tourism provides. On my tour, I have been ignored by Parisians, shielded blonde, blue eyed female friends from the advances of leather coated Roman lotharios, regarded with neither friendliness nor hostility by the Swiss, been yelled at by an outraged Berliner, and ridden bikes across canals and through the bracing, pot-smoke filled streets of Amsterdam’s red light district. I had a brilliant time, but to really experience the soul of other countries, it is best to do your own exploring, on your own time, and well off the beaten track.

 ~Edward Dent