Six Ways Travel Can be Helped by the Recession

Tom Swick: Contemplating and celebrating the world of travel

02.09.09 | 10:06 AM ET

Tough economic periods famously create a greater appreciation of the basics. We forego frills and, in the process, discover lost values. Travel, while itself a luxury that some people might drop, could nevertheless benefit from the crisis if ...

... hotels stop trying to be destinations. Sometimes—especially these times—you just want a place to lay your head. But more and more lodgings pretend to be all-purpose resorts. They think that if they put in a spa—even if it’s a glorified steam room—they can charge you $200 a night. And treat you like a peasant. The genius Ian Schrager discovered that you can get people to overpay for ridiculously small rooms if you paint everything white and make the lobby a scene. Countless others have tried to follow his lead, and the result has been a paucity of buzzless, reasonably priced alternatives as well as the worldwide practice of couch-surfing. In these lean times the new model hotelier should not be Mr. Schrager but Dr. Charles Henn, whose Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok offers basic rooms, an Art Deco lobby, a pool and garden, a superb restaurant and a library of signed books written by guests. In other words, character instead of attitude. And the rates are so low (as evidenced by the library) that even writers can afford to stay there.

... chefs stop trying to be celebrities (unless, of course, they also write). Too much fame doesn’t necessarily ruin the food, but it does raise the prices. A lot of toque-heads are no longer content to stick with the simple stuff (despite the best efforts of Jane and Michael Stern); they want to put their signature on a dish. Eating out has become a kind of name-dropping—“We went to Johnny V’s last night”—but it’s also become wallet-emptying. Happily, there are many more alternatives to fine dining than there are to fine lodging, which suggests the need for a new concept: ethnic hotels.

... cruise ships start shrinking. Nothing needs downsizing more than this industry. Granted, it makes perfect economic sense for a cruise line to build another Porky of the Seas. But that’s the only sense it makes. Five thousand people together on a ship use up an awful lot of fuel, create a tremendous amount of garbage and often overwhelm the towns they stop in. The new ships are modern-day Trojan horses, lording over their destinations like wondrous gifts but in the long run wreaking havoc. 

... travel books become big. This genre hasn’t been popular since the ‘80s when publishers came out with travel series, and non-travel magazines, like Granta and Rolling Stone, published travel essays. After that, people started traveling more and reading less. Maybe, with mounting unemployment, these trends will reverse. And what’s good for travel writers is good for travel (even if it’s only the vicarious sort).

... people discover their own backyards. For some, travel has become a competitive sport as they try to impress with tales of the obscure—“We had the most amazing time in Szekelyudvarhely”—and dismiss every place else as tame or passé. Of the 25 stories in “The Best American Travel Writing 2008,” one was set in the United States. Perhaps now, out of necessity, the homegrown will become as prized by travelers as it is by foodies.

... we can stop having to take off our shoes. This is a wonderful country, but it’s also about the only one in which you have to remove your footwear to board a plane. Personal appearance often takes a hit in a recession, so perhaps the good folks at TSA can discontinue this ridiculous practice in deference to travelers with holes in their socks.

What did I miss?


Tom Swick

Tom Swick is the author of two books: a travel memoir, Unquiet Days: At Home in Poland, and a collection of travel stories, A Way to See the World: From Texas to Transylvania with a Maverick Traveler. He was the travel editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for 19 years, and his work has been included in "The Best American Travel Writing" 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008.


3 Comments for Six Ways Travel Can be Helped by the Recession

mmo 02.09.09 | 6:52 PM ET

I guess the “sizzle” sells though…and as practical as the rooms are people might get the more expensive ones just for the “spa” and lobby area. Good read.

Beebe Bahrami 02.13.09 | 8:49 AM ET

What a refreshing and accurate take on the current state of being as well as prospects for rich travel. Thank you!

I also confess, as a travel writer with a forthcoming travel book on sacred sites and pilgrim routes in Spain (The Spiritual Traveler Spain, Paulist Press, May 2009) and who has been on the ground for the past 4 months, traveling the old fashioned way—on foot, by local bus, staying in weekly rentals or family run little hotels, speaking the language as best I can, and taking those inviting, umapped footpath…—there is a lot of fertile territory for the person who wants to turn base metal to gold. Inexpensive travel like this also often opens up greater, life-changing adventures, giving new perspectives about who we want to be, a nice angle for a recession. So, let´s put on our walking shoes!

And for those who are staying closer to home, there is always that wonderful, rich world of armchair travel…

Thanks, Tom, for another insightful article.

Beebe

Zach Shtogren 02.16.09 | 9:39 PM ET

Hi, Tom, can we change that to “cruise ships start sinking”?

I think it’s a grand time for travel. The road is about the only thing that makes any sense right now. While there’s no money to be made, Americans should could try out this whole life thing.

PS, what are you doing here?

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