Just today the U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel to Toronto. Really? Are we Canadians that scary? I mean we have a reputation for apologizing, for heaven’s sake. The advisory comes with the approach of the G8 Summit in Toronto. Warnings of protests that can “become violent and unpredictable” may just scare away the very tourists that make our city so great in the Summer.
As many of you know, I traveled to the Philippines last month. Before going about the only thing I knew was that it was located somewhere in Asia. Ignorant was an understatement. But moments after sharing with friends, family and blog readers that I would be heading down to deliver seminars on Social Media I was barraged with concerned emails. I was told of kidnappings, beheadings and crime against Westerners. In fact, the Canadian government issued warnings against travel in certain regions of the county. I was shaking in my proverbial boots. I emailed the organizer of the conference no less than 3 separate times stating my concerns. With great patience, the organizer ensured me that there wouldn’t be any problems.
I spent 3 of the most incredible weeks of my life in the Philippines (just check out the video I put together). 3 weeks that I would have missed out on had I listened to the fear mongering. There was no fighting, there were no crimes that I saw – it was the opposite of what I let myself believe. The Philippines was brimming with some of the warmest and most accommodating people I have ever met in all my travels.
Many places have undeserved reputations. Top of my list would be Jamaica, Trinidad and (of course) the Philippines. They have not done a good job branding their countries outside of their country. Small and isolated incidences have over-ridden the realities of their greatness. This is sad to me.
I hope, at the very least, this post will encourage event planners, destination planners, corporate incentive planners, etc to consider countries they’ve heard not-so-good-things about. Just maybe you’ll receive the gift of an incredible experience that many choose to bypass. If anyone wants to learn more about the countries I’ve mentioned, I’m happy to speak about them or put your hand in the hand of a local who can help you. And heck, come to Toronto while you’re at it.
[on READY2SPARK] warning . beware . don’t go! – http://www.ready2spark.com/2010/06/warni… #eventprofs
Toronto on the US State Department's watch list? That is the DUMBEST thing I have every heard.
I am SO SICK of this administration. Pick on Toronto, NOW YOU GOT ME MAD (whoops, I apologize)!
LOL – I'm hoping our friends to the South of us will forego the warnings. Unfortunately our Prime Minister did little to offset concerns.
so much of the news today seems to make people afraid to travel. I wish the news showed more positive stories.
So true. I hope that with some good branding efforts combined with good word of mouth, many of these misunderstood countries can gain the recognition they deserve.
Trinidad has never done a good job at branding itself as a tourism destination, but we've never really been a tourist destination – witness how few hotel rooms we have.
I think we have done a very good job branding/selling our primary resource though – without going into any discussion on whether or not it's a good idea to tie our economy to that particular industry in the long run.
Also not sure I agree that Jamaica hasn't done a good job branding itself. To me, Jamaica is the Caribbean the rest of the world sees. That's a pretty strong brand.
Thanks so much for weighing in, Marc. It's refreshing and very interesting to hear a Trini-perspective on this topic.
I would absolutely agree that Jamaica has the most brand awareness in the Caribbean. But unfortunately the most well known does not automatically equate to positive associations. The North American media chooses to splash images of drugs (Dudus), kidnappings, high murder rates, etc. These image have been increasingly smoking out the positives of the island for many years now.
Shortly after coming back from EventologyTT 2009, I was approached by a large North American incentive travel contact who wanted to know if I knew anyone in Turks & Caicos that they could talk to about a corporate incentive event for a Fortune 100 company. I tried to sway them to think of Jamaica or Trinidad for this event and they shot me down immediately saying that based on both country's reputations there's no way they'd hold their event there. This was such a shame to me. Both countries are very different from one another – but both share beautiful people, progressive industry and breathtaking scenery.
I was hoping from posting this story that event and conference planners would take a second look at regions they might not have heard great things about…because they might just find it's a dream destination 🙂
Thank you again for your insights. I think they're really helpful in rounding out the story from all angles.