IL Postcard

The Woman Who Can't be Bribed

Date: 06/20/2007

International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Have you ever been bribed?

I have, frequently. I'll explain more in a moment, but first a quick introduction. My name is Georgina Adams, and I'm the editor of IL's new e-letter, The Untourist.

The Untourist is a travel newsletter unlike any other. To give you ideas about some amazing places to visit, for sure--but also to make you laugh, gasp, and squirm. Maybe even scandalize you.

And after some reports, you might be saying: "I'd never go there even if you gave me a free trip!"

In other words, no "rosy fingers of dawn" nonsense. No puffery about restaurants, hotels, or destinations.

What you'll get is the truth about travel and travelers. A no-holds-barred look at the real world out there. If a place is worth going to, you'll hear about it. If somewhere doesn't live up to expectations, you'll hear about that, too.

And you'll also hear about countless curiosities that don't find their way into mainstream travel publications.

I get the impression that IL readers are seasoned travelers. That you're unlikely to be outraged when I point you toward things such as a museum in Thailand that displays pickled murderers. Or a festival in Japan that celebrates the phallus. Or churchgoers in Vietnam who have adopted Lenin as their spirit guide. Or a mixed bathing spa in Germany where it's compulsory to remove your clothes. (And I mean every last stitch.)

I'll share these stories and more with readers of The Untourist.

Now, I need to be up-front with you here. Georgina Adams is an assumed name. This isn't because I'm on the run from police, creditors, immigration officials, or the taxman. Or indeed, naked Germans. Rather it's because I'll be traveling incognito for The Untourist.

I don't want any special favors. And if hoteliers and restaurateurs can't see me coming, they can't give me a false impression of their establishment. "Who's Georgina Adams? Oh, nobody special…just another tourist nonentity."

[ Ed. note: If you think you can handle Georgina's scandalous and brutal reports…join The Untourist (it's free) right now by clicking here.]

You see, I've traveled the globe for more years than I care to remember. (Adding it up, I've visited more than 60 countries, some many times over.) I've also authored a number of books as well as hundreds of travel articles. This isn't to boast, but to explain why I get inundated with offers of what the travel trade calls "hospitality."

You might call it bribery and corruption.

You see, ordinary tourists have nothing like the experiences many travel journalists have. Once some people in the hospitality business hear my real name, they know I'm high-profile. They assume that like many other writers, I can be bought with "special favors."

Free hotel stays. Free meals. Free everything. On one occasion in a hotel in Greece, my room was stocked with an open bar. Even the champagne was constantly replenished.

The unspoken deal between hosts and many writers and editors is this: In return for free hospitality, their travel publications will give the establishment a glowing review.

So what if half the rooms in the mythical Hotel Pondicherry Palace need refurbishing and look onto a litter-strewn empty lot? The writer has been gifted the suite overlooking the ocean. If he or she wants a return stay sometime, you'll read something like: "The Pondicherry Palace is bliss for romantic couples. The views rightly belong to Paradise and you'll love waking to the sound of whispering waves."

Is this fair to the reader? I don't think so. On the strength of the writer's overblown review, you could find yourself paying more than $200 per night for stained carpets and waking to a most unromantic view of beggars rifling through the hotel trash cans. And the writer wouldn't dream of warning you not to stroll on the beach too early. Fishermen and their families using the ocean as a toilet might not fit your idea of paradise.

To give you more of an idea of how this corrupt system works, here's an e-mail I got last month:

"The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino (Las Vegas) will be hosting a press trip for top-tier travel, food and wine, and consumer publications. If you are interested in participating and currently freelance for these types of publications, we are very interested in discussing your availability. Trip will include travel, room and meals, and entertainment associated with the itinerary."

As you know, International Living doesn't write about the States. However, I've passed the invite to a colleague who sometimes freelances for other publications. Knowing Steenie Harvey is a subversive who enjoys the occasional gamble, I suspect she'd write about hanging out with losers around some $3 downtown blackjack table. She wouldn't do what the hosts expect--which is gushing about the Venetian and fine dining.

Only today, I got an e-mail from the general manager of a group of eco-hotels in India. He wanted to draw my attention to two new hotels added to the group…and invite me to stay in one or both for free on my next trip to India.

You may think I'm crazy to pass up such opportunities, and maybe I am. But I hate the travel industry's conspiracy to delude readers that everywhere in the world is perfect…worth seeing…worth spending your hard-earned dollars on.

So, here's my promise to you: Everything you'll hear about in upcoming issues of The Untourist won't involve any free "hospitality." You--and the travel trade--may not always like what you'll read, but you can expect complete and unvarnished honesty.

Sign up today to join The Untourist--it's free.

Georgina Adams
The Untourist, International Living