Richard Mellor
There are millions of people working in the travel industry around the world from tour guides, hoteliers, hostel owners and travel agents to guidebook writers and more. Each month we interview one lucky person about their travel experiences and the future of travel industry.
Richard Mellor is a public relations officer for The Travel PR Company (www.travelpr.co.uk) and has worked in the travel industry for nearly five years.
What does your job entail? I represent various travel companies – mine are mostly operators in the adventure sector – and try and get them editorial coverage. I also co-manage The Travel PR Company’s online offerings, which include a lively blog, popular Twitter page and ever-bulging YouTube channel.
Do you prefer travelling by foot, car, bus, plane or train? Foot – I particularly love padding across cities on foot, as it seems a great way to get a sense of a place’s atmosphere. And you can be your own boss. Public trains are also great for encountering people.
Do you think GPS, international roaming and the internet has improved the travelling experience or spoilt it? I think it’s improved it; people can navigate and communicate and explore with much greater ability – yet, if you really want total, human-less wilderness, there’s still plenty of it. While it is slightly depressing to see a London tourist head-down and checking their iPhone email every five minutes, consider twit-trips, where you visit a destination and let yourself be guided by online residents. That makes for very innovative, interactive travel experience.
With the above technologies, what do you think the future of guidebooks and independent travel is? Online! It’s obviously very convenient in a logistical sense to neatly have your guidebook, tour itinerary, hotel receipts on a phone, rather than have to juggle paperwork as you wobble along. That said, there is something satisfactorily chunky about a paper guidebook, and I still prefer those for now. They’re useful for killing mosquitoes too.
What is your favorite destination? I have a strong feeling it’s Cuba despite having never been there! I’m going in autumn. But, sticking to those I have visited, two cities stand out: Fes, in Morocco, for its time-lost atmosphere and the sounds, sights, smells and generally uninhibited mayhem of its incredibly dense medina, and San Francisco, for its calmness, its unpretentious trendiness, and its beauty – everywhere you look there seems to be a stunning view.
The next ‘hot’ destination is… This year, it must be Sri Lanka – prices are very low as tourism tries to recover from the twin blows of the Tsunami and the Civil War, and, having been scarcely visited in years, the re-opening national parks will feel very wild. Nicaragua looks set to be the next big Latin American destination – there’s been a lot of trendy hotel investment there recently. Looking ahead, Nepal looks set for a huge push in 2011, while, following on from the success of Colombia, countries like Burma, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau could yet see a boom if they can engineer some political stability.
What do you never travel without? A second wallet with just a tiny amount of cash. That way, if someone tries to mug the dumb tourist, I just give them that one and don’t lose out too much. Thankfully I’ve never had to use it – perhaps I’m just too cynical?
Why do you travel? Life seems a waste if I don’t! There are so, so many places out there – with people to meet, and cultures to see – and I’ve only been to the tiniest fraction of them. And I like the idea that perhaps one day I’ll find somewhere too perfect and that can be my home.
If you know of someone we could interview (a great tour guide you know, the cute guy at your hostel or a fantastic travel agent) let us know! Email us at magazine@saexplorers.org
Category: Meet the Experts
