These past 10 days have had me thinking about guiding and the integral part it plays in delivering high quality, responsible travel experiences.
I’ve stopped in a few large European cities on this trip – big hitters in tourism terms – and a negative observation in some of them, rather conversely, is what sparked this train of thought. In the Old Towns of Prague and Bratislava, the ‘anti-tourist, tourist’ (I know, I know!) in me was aggravated by the sight of huge groups of visitors following an individual with a microphone strapped to their face and holding a sign aloft.
The signs identified them as being from mega-cruise companies, whose business models are deliberately structured to put nothing into local economics, trapping all the spend on board. The tour leaders mostly appeared to be cruise crew members, rather than guides with any kind of local connection, and the unnaturally huge tour groups completely dominated the space at the expense of locals. This, in my ever so humble opinion, is everything that is wrong with tourism.
I always favour escaping the crowds and seeking out the less-obvious highlights and places in-between. Whilst we enjoyed our time in Prague, we failed miserably at achieving this. It was our first stop, we had done little real planning, we had no guide and we so we were unintentionally swept up in that mass-tourism stream. At Letna Park we did, at last, break from the heavy crowds, and enjoyed magnificent views of the city, sitting shoulder to shoulder with a few locals-in-the-know, enjoying a beer in the afternoon sun.
We made a better go of things in Vienna, in the company of our friend Adrian, – a super-cool, laid-back guy, whose company we love, and who really enjoyed showing us his home city. Adrian isn’t a guide (far from it, he’s a PT instructor!), but has lived in Vienna for around a decade. He kindly gave up his time to show us some of the highlights, both obvious and less so. We jumped on trams and the metro, ate in small restaurants, and took in the backstreets and lesser-known routes. We were well aware that Vienna – a fairly commerce-focused city – would have felt much less enjoyable to navigate without Adrian’s input. It also reminded us how much skill is involved in dedicated, local guiding, and how undervalued this can be. The best local guides are able to take the experience one step even further than Adrian’s personal tour, giving visitors a beautifully nuanced and insightful glimpse into a destination’s culture and history.
Enter stage right, Lucian Clinciu: our local guide in Brasov. Sarah and I knew very little about Brasov before we got there, other than that we wanted to enjoy some of the region’s wilderness and walk in the Carpathian Mountains. Lucian listened to what we were hoping for from our stay and soon had us rearranging our plans slightly away from central Brasov to stay in the nearby village of Șirnea, a good step aside from the usual tourism path.
We spent two days exploring the Old Town of Brasov and Park National Piatra Craiului. The autumn colours were magical, and Lucian took us to local villages, including to a church during a service, always taking care to ensure that we were welcome and knew what to expect. He spoke eloquently and eagerly about the region’s people, culture and history, as well as the impact of tourism (good and bad) and the climate crisis. Throughout our walk, Lucian collected plastic waste that he found; his actions – small gestures, not just words – encouraging others to do the same.
In the two days we spent with him, he introduced us to all of Romania through his narrative and knowledge – we travelled far wider than our physical location, both in geography and time. He carried us back to his experiences during the country’s communist era, his childhood, his time carrying out conscripted military service, and the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu. He shone light on the slow transition from communism to democracy – a process that, in some ways, Romanians are still contending with today.
Each evening, Lucian stayed with us at our small, homely farmstay (idyllic, since you ask!), chatting with us and effortlessly facilitating a flow of conversation with our utterly delightful host, Marioara (we speak no Romanian, and she spoke no English!) and the other Romanian families at the table.
Great guides do so much more than provide a brief history lesson, or act as a simple translator. They don’t just show you a highlight, a landmark sight, or drag you dryly through a history book. They are the conduit to the place you are visiting. We often talk about guides ‘opening doors’, and it’s easy to settle on their ability to communicate locally and stop there, but it is so much broader than that.
They are part of a destination’s narrative on a day-to-day basis, so have an up-to-the-minute outlook alongside personal experience of a place’s past; they can accurately share how much a waterline has risen or fallen, and the impact this is having on the community. Guides can help us experience a destination in the way that it should be: from a local stakeholders perspective. Great guiding is a two way conversation, and they feed back what they learn to their local community, too, to improve the experience for all involved.
Guides wear many hats. At times, they are front line on the climate crisis, as activist, steward, interpreter and witness. They are the key to helping us travel responsibly, through their selection of routes, restaurants and places of interest. They can sensitively introduce us to local traditions and cultures, and their intimate knowledge about the local landscape provides essential context for the conscientious traveller.
At Selective Asia, our trips are built with our guides at their centre, wherever possible. Without our guides, and their ability to unwrap a destination and open doors (metaphorically speaking), our clients’ experiences would be much less rewarding. My experience with Lucian, in a destination I knew nothing about, only led to reinforce the importance of this for me.
Guides – especially the great ones – naturally charge a price which matches their (frankly priceless) skills, but can you really afford to travel without one?
We spent 6 months this year travelling across central and South America on buses. We found local guides through things like ‘Tours for Tips’ etc. they were amazing – always local, knew loads of social/cultural/political stuff and always knew where the best food and drink could be found. They ranged from students to retired teachers and lots in between – really enjoying following your trip.
Great tips Heather, thanks for sharing. It’s lovely to have you on board! 🚂