Dec 5, 2007
In this holiday season, is it acceptable for travel writers to salivate over trips costing several thousands of dollars a day per person?
What is it about travel journalists that they rush to write up all the absurdly-expensive travel facilities offered to a tiny number of near-billionaires? Why do they breathlessly report about pancakes with caviar selling for $700, or hotel suites costing $4,000 a night? Are they, and the publications they represent, the current-day equivalent of the court of Louis XIV? Or are they really rather ridiculous in their uncritical preoccupation with the expenditures of rich playboys?
Usually in this blog I quote from recent issues of the travel section of The New York Times for examples of this envious adoration of riches. But that malady isn't limited to the Times. In this weekend's edition of USA Today (November 30), in Section D dealing with "Destinations and Diversions," the editors head their page one coverage with the description of a pub tour costing $10,500 per person. Sharing page-one honors is another article talking about a worldwide, three-week scavenger hunt costing $9,900 for airfare and accommodations (and no other expenses) alone. Turn to page 2 of the same issue and you find a recommendation for the Oberoi Vanyavilas near Jaipur, India, charging $872 a night for a double room. Turn to page 3 and you find a lengthy description of the San Ysidro Ranch in the San Ynez mountains of California, where room rates start at $795.
Now I have no objection to people enjoying themselves, or even splurging on a mildly expensive accommodation. But there comes a time when over-spending for transitory pleasures becomes nothing short of vulgar in a world where so many people are in need. The holiday expenditures recommended by a New York Times or a USA Today could finance operations for hundreds of children suffering from cleft palates ($250 pays for one such operation in an underdeveloped country; see The Smile Train). The monies charged for an around-the-world trip in luxury style would finance a year's college education for a young person without funds.
In a holiday season where we are supposed to pay heed to human suffering, is it right to salivate over the vulgar excesses of super-rich tourists?
Write and read comments about this post.
Usually in this blog I quote from recent issues of the travel section of The New York Times for examples of this envious adoration of riches. But that malady isn't limited to the Times. In this weekend's edition of USA Today (November 30), in Section D dealing with "Destinations and Diversions," the editors head their page one coverage with the description of a pub tour costing $10,500 per person. Sharing page-one honors is another article talking about a worldwide, three-week scavenger hunt costing $9,900 for airfare and accommodations (and no other expenses) alone. Turn to page 2 of the same issue and you find a recommendation for the Oberoi Vanyavilas near Jaipur, India, charging $872 a night for a double room. Turn to page 3 and you find a lengthy description of the San Ysidro Ranch in the San Ynez mountains of California, where room rates start at $795.
Now I have no objection to people enjoying themselves, or even splurging on a mildly expensive accommodation. But there comes a time when over-spending for transitory pleasures becomes nothing short of vulgar in a world where so many people are in need. The holiday expenditures recommended by a New York Times or a USA Today could finance operations for hundreds of children suffering from cleft palates ($250 pays for one such operation in an underdeveloped country; see The Smile Train). The monies charged for an around-the-world trip in luxury style would finance a year's college education for a young person without funds.
In a holiday season where we are supposed to pay heed to human suffering, is it right to salivate over the vulgar excesses of super-rich tourists?
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: fat cats
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
