By: Catherine Hamel
Who likes to be surprised? Few people, actually. I mean few adult people.
Who likes to be surprised? Few people, actually. I mean few adult people.
In fact, surprises are often synonymous with frustration, embarrassment and vulnerability. Few people like to be taken by surprise or be caught off guard. Surprises are usually staged and they rarely free of charge, except when they are bad surprises. In some ways, I would say that we often deserve the surprises we get.
When it comes to tourism, being oblivious, unprepared and unaware may be a convenient (if not practical) way of not being badly surprised and therefore disappointed. If you don't expect anything positive from a trip, there is a good chance you will not be disillusioned. On the other hand, if something nice happens unexpectedly, then you have a good reason to rejoice, depending on your levels of positivism and ingenuity.
Being constantly surprised – badly or nicely - is a stressing and tiring process for travelers who eventually need to feel they are in control of their actions and emotions. In some cases, surprises may even convey the notion of risk, failure and disaster. It is indeed wrong to assume that tourists need disorientation and amazement to really enjoy their travelling experience while they usually prefer the comfort of familiarity. In fact, tourists do not like challenging situations whether it is emotionally or physically.
For this reason, it may not be a good idea to brand a destination with superlative taglines or inflated adjectives such as ‘amazing [destination]’, ‘incredible [destination]’, infinite [destination], etc. It is even worse to lure travelers with promises of unlimited extraordinary adventures and recurrent wonders. Does anybody want to travel to wonderland and feel on a roller-coaster 24 hours a day?
During a discussion on Korea branding, someone suggested the tagline “Korea - The Land of Unlimited Surprises", with mitigated success. Sure, Korea is an endless source of fascination and astonishment. Everything in Korea is changing, moving, evolving and progressing, at least in the South of the Peninsula. The Land of the Morning Calm seems to have no limits and no doubts and this is probably the reason why it keeps growing in spite of the global turmoil over the last years. Nonetheless, I must confess it is sometimes difficult for me to keep on track, in Korea as anywhere else. May be I am just getting old …
So, instead of complaining about my age, I’d rather focus on the nice surprises I had in November and December last year. Not that I had not expected them …
In November, the weather in Seoul was surprisingly warm and nobody complained about this. The Korean central government declared an emergency period for energy usage from Dec. 5 to the end of February 2012 since the electricity demand in winter has been higher than in the middle of summer for the past several years in Korea. As a consequence, Seoul Metroplitan Government has decided that store owners caught for excessive lighting on outdoor billboards and heating of their buildings would face fines of up to 3 million won ($2,622), as part of nationwide efforts to save energy during the winter season. It is also mandatory for more than 15,000 buildings in the city that use larger amounts of electricity to maintain indoor temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius.
In a city where mini dresses and micro-shorts have become a common sight in spite of freezing temperatures, one should not be surprised to see a lingerie défilé during a business event. However, some people expressed different opinion about this kind of entertainment. See the discussion on Korea Business Central Sex and business in Korea - a returning fashion?
In December, I tried AREX, the railway line linking Seoul station with Gimpo Airport and Incheon International Airport in about half an hour. It is cheap (less than 4 US$), fast and quiet comfy.
In December, I tried AREX, the railway line linking Seoul station with Gimpo Airport and Incheon International Airport in about half an hour. It is cheap (less than 4 US$), fast and quiet comfy.
From October to December, I gave a series of presentations on sustainable tourism to the 20 participants of the 2011 ASEAN + project, a capacity-building project hosted by the UNWTO ST-EP Foundation and sponsored by the Korean Government, aimed to promote cross-cultural exchange and tourism cooperation. I really enjoyed sharing thoughts, laughs and sam-gyeop-sal (tree-layers of fat bbq) with my South-east Asian (and Mongolian) friends, which is actually not surprising ...
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| 2011 Korea ASEAN + project |
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| Samgyeopsal pork BBQ |
And by the way, I wish a fantastic year 2012 (and Year of Dragon) to all of you, whoever you are and wherever you are! Yes, a year full of good surprises ...
