Group Tour Blogs

By David Hoekman

I returned Saturday from a press trip in the state of Sonora, Mexico. It was my first sojourn into Mexico, and I loved it all: the friendly and hospitable people, the tasty food and the warm and sunny weather.

The trip highlighted the Spanish colonial town of Alamos and Guaymas, on the Sea of Cortez.

But the trip’s starting point was Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora.

As we left the airport in a spiffy 20-passenger bus, it was announced there would be a surprise before we arrived at our hotel. Now, after an early start and three flights, a surprise was not something I was looking forward to. As Holiday Inn used to say, “The best surprise is no surprise.”

The surprise turned out to be a stop at the architecturally stunning Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS (built in 2009) to view a special exhibition, “Art and Body: A Look Into the Collection of the Museo Tamayo.”

Museo Tamayo is a large museum in Mexico City devoted to the art of Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991) and other modern and contemporary masters. The museum is expanding, so part of its collection is on the road in Sonora. 

Which means we travel journalists had the privilege of seeing extraordinary works by artists such at Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Francis Bacon, Francisco Toledo and, of course, Tamayo.

According to the exhibition’s English brochure, the artists whose works comprise “Art and Body” reflected on the physical, existential, spiritual and political expressions of the human body, as well as its interaction with the environment and its circumstances. “Hence, the human condition is the central theme of this exhibition,” the brochure says.

Ruben Guillermo Matiella Villaescusa, the director general of the Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS, said the museum was the biggest and most important museum in western Mexico.

“We have some very big names,” he said. “This is a unique collection. We are really excited to show people the culture of Mexico.”

“Art and Body” runs through April 23 at Museum of Art of Sonora-MUSAS.

Our museum visit was pleasant surprise — the first of many in Sonora, Mexico.

By Aaron Ogg

On Monday I’m heading to the lovely Northwoods region in central Wisconsin on a five-day media research tour with heavy emphasis on winter activities — you know, the kind that don’t involve sitting on a couch in a warm living room watching football. 

I’m a native Michigander, so I’m no stranger to snow, but I’m averse nonetheless. It’s cold, it’s hard to walk and drive in and it makes my clothes wet. Need I say more? Oh, and it causes auto accidents, so it’s also a malicious form of precipitation.

As the father of a toddler, I forced myself outside a couple of days ago to expose my son to the elements for a prolonged period of time. We bundled him up, pulled him on a sled and threw chunks of snow (snowballs?) in his general direction. I’m told this is an important and often enjoyable experience, but I’ve yet to see actual proof.

What I do have proof of is his sizable discontent (right).

I know, buddy. I know.

Clearly I’m one of snow’s biggest critics, but I refuse to let personal bias color my journalistic integrity. Therefore, I’m diving into this wintry experience without reservation. I’m even going to buy a new hat!

In fact, I plan to do something I’ve yet to do in 30 soft, pampered years on this planet: Strap on a pair of skis.

Until now I’ve willfully avoided skiing, even with the understanding that it may preclude me from certain circles of high society. This is a sacrifice I’ve been willing to make.

Well, consider this my formal announcement to the upper echelon of the social elite. I’m ready to join you now. As soon as I repeatedly extract my face from piles of snow, that is. 

On second thought, how about I just meet you all back at the lodge for cocktails?

In all sincerity, I’m looking forward to this. If my journalism career has taught me one thing, it’s that I have no clue what I really enjoy until I actually try it.

Maybe I've been wrong about you, snow. We shall see.

By David Hoekman

Tim Schneider of Schneider Publishing recently published “Life Cycle of a Volunteer.” He identified three stages in the life cycle of a person who volunteers to serve in association leadership positions. Those stages are the eager recruit, the productive board member and dialed in or burned out.

The posting prompted me to think about the life cycle of group tours.

Each departure of a tour has a life cycle — simply because each tour has a beginning, middle and end. The first day the passengers are polite strangers. As the tour progresses, the personalities of the passengers come through and everyone gets to know each other. Friendships are forged. By the end of the tour, the passengers’ shared experiences have molded them into something like a big family.

The tour operator hopes the majority of the members of this “family” had a good time and will sign up for another tour.

Tours themselves also have a life cycle. A tour that sold out quickly for several years in a row suddenly fails to generate any interest — or gradually contracts.

Or maybe a new tour sells like gangbusters the first time it’s in the brochure. A second coach is added. This tour is shaping up to be a winner. Except it turns out to be a one-time wonder. After that first spectacular departure, there is nary a nibble.

Tour operators can extend the life cycle of a tour by spicing it up. They seek out and include new attractions and new activities. They keep their ear to the ground. They make connections at regional and national trade shows.

Sometimes it pays to key in on a famous person when revising a tour. That’s what historian and operator Shebby Lee, owner of Shebby Lee Tours, based in Rapid City, S.D., did with a western North Dakota tour. She built a new tour, Teddy Roosevelt’s Dakota.

“The key is looking at something differently,” Lee told me. “By putting a theme on it and emphasizing Roosevelt’s part in all the places that we are going to visit, it just makes it more interesting.”

One of Lee’s other creative ideas was to put together a tour encompassing the eastern half of North Dakota and South Dakota. She calls it East Dakota.

What are some of the ways you have used to extend the life cycle of a tour?

By Amanda Black (who else?)

The idea for this blog post started with a joke…I’m watching over the editorial department today since the rest of the members are off-site and working hard. Rick is representing the magazine at the American Bus Association conference in Grapevine, Texas. Aaron’s in North Carolina learning more about SEO and Dave had to step in to help out his elderly dad.

So the joke yesterday was that I’d figure out a way to get some cats on the website, and that’s just what I am doing. I’m the resident expert on all things cute, and cats are my favorite. They own the Internet after all. If you don’t believe me, just check out ICanHasCheezeburger.com.

But seriously, there is a cat museum out there—in San Francisco, which got its start in 2010. The Cat Museum of San Francisco doesn’t have a permanent home, but it does stage exhibitions at various venues throughout the City by the Bay. Plans for the next venue have not been finalized to host the spring exhibition, but the museum plans to launch “Cats on the Seven Seas” in honor of the upcoming America’s Cup races. Bookmark http://www.catmuseumsf.org/exhibit.html for more details about the upcoming exhibit.

Lloret de Mar in Spain also has a cat museum — Casa de Los Gatos Museo. Located in a seaside town an hour from Barcelona, the museum grew from the personal collection of Vera Novoselova and Alexandr Gvozdev. Its large collection includes porcelain, ceramic, art and plenty of other charming objets d’chat.

Other cat museums are located in Moscow and Malaysia. Then, of course, there’s the Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West. It’s home to a large colony of cats, descended from the six-toed cat the author received as a gift from a ship’s captain. 

P.S. That's my cat Charlie in the picture. I'm sure he's delighted to be on the Internet again. 

By Amanda Black

Hello and welcome to a new year!

The Global Culinary Tour has been rather quiet lately. As usual, I fell into the trap of spending my time and energy getting ready for the holidays. I spent the last few weeks shopping, wrapping, cleaning, cooking, driving and basically doing everything but writing. But of course food is a vital part of holiday traditions, so I did spend some time in the culinary realm. I spent two days cooking Christmas dinner for the extended family and hours cleaning it up, and it took an hour to eat. Of course it was worth it. We had some traditional favorites around the table, and everything tasted great.

Now it's a new year, and of course we're all thinking about eating healthier. After reaching the low point of candy for lunch one day, it won't take much to get healthier. At least the peanut butter cups had some protein right? I suspect there are a lot of other passengers in this boat with me.

I’m looking forward to another year or blogging about culinary travel trends. Where do you think we’ll go?

In these early days of January, it’s hard to say. But I’m looking forward to the journey.