Do Holiday Disaster Stories Put You Off Travelling?
The media can escalate holiday disasters and make them sound a lot more scary and intense to give them a better story. I was on a cruise ship and a fellow passenger was poorly and it affected her mental health medication. She caused some disruptions on the ship and was asked to leave at the next port of call. Unfortunately her mental health has deteriorated and she tried to swim back to the ship thinking it had sailed away without her. Luckily she was picked up by local life boat.
However within an hour there was lots of different stories about what had happened and by the next day there were various versions including she had been pushed from the ship and the ship just left her which of course were all untrue. It was quite funny, reading how the media were portraying this story and it made me realise not to always believe what is in the press.
Would a Holiday Disaster Story stop you visiting a Destination?
A couple of weeks ago when I was researching an All Inclusive holiday to the Hurghada resort in Egypt there was a story in the press about a couple who suddenly died in a 5 star hotel. Everyone was telling me I shouldn’t book a holiday to there incase the same thing happened. However I didn’t let this put me off. Yes, I didn’t book to the exact hotel that this happened but it hasn’t stopped me from visiting the resort in itself.
Incident : Couple found dead in hotel resort, allegations of e-coli poisoning
The story has escalated in the media and many people are commenting on TV programs and social media saying no one should visit the whole resort, this is so bad everyone should boycott etc. I personally think this is a little extreme. There is still not a definite answer to what happened to this couple and although it is a tragic incident it should not have to effect the whole of the Hurghada tourist industry. And to be honest I think other hotels are going to be scared of this happening again that I might actually be visiting at the best possible time as every business is going to be extra cautious.
Do peoples bad experiences put you off?
I listen to what people say about their holiday experiences and I am interested to hear the bad as well as the good but just because someone has had a bad holiday doesn’t mean you are going too.
I look at the reviews on trip advisor and yes if all of them were saying the food was really bad and we all got sick I would not book a trip there but if there were only a few stories about people getting sick it might just made me think about it. For example, I personally know people who have said they got sick on holiday and blamed it on the food and of course it was nothing to do with the 10 pints, 5 sangrias and 3 double vodkas they had had!! I listen to peoples views but I don’t take everyone of them on board and I like to make my own mind up about a place.
To be fair I have been a little reluctant of booking a holiday to Egypt for some years as I have read so many bad stories about people getting sick at All Inclusive resorts but I have bitten the bullet and finally booked a trip to see it for myself. I might come back and in a few months I will be writing about how to never visit Egypt but then again I might love it. I was also put off going to India and on cruises for the same reasons and now I absolutely love India and Cruising and I can’t believe it took me so long to go.
I do not let the media tell me where I should and should not visit, the only site I will trust for this is the UK.Gov site if they are saying a destination is unsafe to visit then I listen.
What do you think please let me know would a story in the media put you off going somewhere?
