05 February 2006
Freeloaders
In recent years I've only said 'yes' to Shangri-La hotels, to Korea, to Taiwan, to Hong Kong, to Quebec, to New Zealand, and to British Columbia, because since I frequently review restaurants that are amongst the best in Asia, I don't drink much, my waistline could do with a break, and I couldn't care less about schmoozing with other journalists or editors, I don't see a point unless there's going to be progress towards getting some stories researched and written, or, at least, I can get to put some faces to email addresses. Occasionally I'll attend if I've had some help from a tourism board and I know that the PR person will gain from being able to add another successfully netted journalist to her list. Having spend ten years on the other side of this relationship, I have some sympathy for them (or, at least, for the few good ones).
Therein lies part of the problem with some of these events, and when one is coming up that I actually am going to attend I've often sat round with other journalists I know and we've predicted who will show up. There's a small group of professional freeloaders you'd probably be able to join if you wanted to, who can be found at almost any event of this kind without actually ever delivering any column inches or any air time to the inviting organisation, or indeed every likely to. In many cases tourism bureaux are deeply entrenched parts of civil service bureaucracies with little entrepreneurial imagination, bringing a bean-counting mentality to the whole procedure. The larger the number of attending journalists, the better, and the quality of the outlet, the reach, the actual chances of a story ever being published on the destination in question, is not to the point.
So there's a species of interstitial parasite that gets into this crack, and who can be found at almost all of these events without exception, giving yet another reason not to attend. One woman in particular once cornered me at a Korean event (I had my back pressed against the wall at the end) demanding to know who I wrote for and complaining bitterly that the Koreans never seemed to take anyone overseas. She claimed to write for a local paper, but when more details came out it turned out that it was for the section that any reader can contribute to. There was mention of a website somewhere. In short, nothing.
One night this week I went to an event jointly hosted by the HKTB and HKETO, and to my great surprise she wasn't there, but then the HKTB is certainly a bit smarter than average at this kind of thing. The event was an 'appreciation' dinner for journalists and others who had given coverage or other support during the year. I typically pass through Hong Kong twice a year, and rarely fail to write a story or two as a result, and as I like and appreciate the efforts of my contact in the HKTB Toronto office who is as helpful as can be, I have to be out of the country to refuse an invitation. There was one appalling freeloader there, however, heard telling someone from the Cantonese opera troupe that briefly performed during dinner that she had a travel website.
Go on! Put one up right now and you can get some free dinners.
Sometimes there are editors working for local media who are well worth avoiding, too, and one of the pitfalls is never knowing whether you'll be sat next to one of them or not. I wasn't, but one tracked me down, all gushing about what a delight it was to see me. Such are the times we live in.
I managed to find a table with some more interesting people from local radio, but who were grumbling a bit because the pre-dinner presentations went on just a bit too long. There were statistics about how Hong Kong arrival numbers have reached new heights, but without mentioning that this is due to more than four million arrivals from mainland China (although apparently Canadian numbers are at an all time high, too). The total revenue from mainland visitors was also given, and a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggested their average total spend was only about US$200 per head, which won't get the economy very far, and may be part of the reason that there's a big tourism promotion happening in 2006. I've been to Hong Kong about 50 times, I think, and I'm still very fond of the place, so I wish it well.
Another essential aspect of these events is the prize draw and/or the 'goody' bags, designed to increase the attendance of journalists and travel agents (who are often also present at these things) and this is another reason the freeloaders rush in. At the Quebec event I won a pair of woolly socks and a jumper that didn't fit me. But the goody bags almost always include a logo-laden shoulder bag or briefcase, very useful for keeping stocks of the brochures, maps, background reading, press kits, etc., from each destination visited, and the HKTB goody bag was no exception. Actually it can replace the New Zealand one I currently use to carry my books to Chinese lessons.
I did have a two-minute chat about possible future stories, and I did sit next to some pleasant radio people. So that for me, was the benefit of four hours spent away from the keyboard.
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