I have posted earlier about travel in Seoul, South Korea. You might wonder what exactly brought me there in the first place. I stumbled across “an advertised as” luxury FAM (Familiarization) trip to South Korea, a place I had never visited.
Familiarization tours (FAMS) are trips in which journalists, tour operators or travel agents experience the region first-hand.
I decided to go as part of this particular FAM as the offer seemed just too good to pass up. Beware, if something seems to good to pass up, it is!
Having never heard of the company who was sponsoring this trip, I called and spoke with the agency’s manager directly. They talked a good talk. They claimed to specialize in Asia and offered different FAM trips once to twice a month. They confirmed that we would be not-only be staying at five-star hotels but that indeed all air, meals, gratuities and sightseeing admissions would be included for just under a thousand dollars.
The land-package was for only 6 nights, which I knew would be a bit of an issue for me as I usually need a few days to adjust to the time change. But this deal persuaded me to leave my comfort zone.
I talked my daughter into accompanying me and a few weeks later we left.
We arrived in Seoul very late at night the only connection possible from Los Angeles. As promised, we were met at Incheon International Airport by the tour company’s driver. He didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Korean.
The van we were in so desperately needed shock absorbers that we felt every bump for an hour and a half. We had no idea that the Seoul airport was located so far from the city. We kept asking “Are we there, yet?” like little kids the whole trip. He kept answering us in Korean but neither of us understood a word the other was trying to say.
But we finally arrived and the COEX Intercontinental was very nice. Our driver took us and our luggage to the reception desk. The front desk clerk gave us our keys, breakfast coupons and a note telling us to be in the lobby at 8 a.m. to meet our guide.
Exhausted, we went to our room The rooms were exceptionally clean, spacious and very adequate. The furnishings were nothing special, but the room didn’t lack for anything either.
The COEX hotel breakfast buffet was unbelievable and seemed to have everything and more: bagels and smoked salmon, dim sum, made-to-order omelets, miso soup, sushi, pancakes, cereal, crepes and steak–it was all there.
Unfortunately, the hotel turned out to be the only high-end feature of our trip. This trip was pitched as a luxury FAM, but the semi-luxurious features ended there. Our tour group was small: 7 of us, plus our guide and driver.
Though our guide was very nice and knowledgeable about Korea, the tour itself was horrendous.
The bus we were on was old and worn. The daily itineraries were very poorly paced and very poorly planned. We spent extremely long periods of time on the bus and often found ourselves taken from one part of town to another part and then back again.
The waste of time and fuel would be upsetting under any conditions, but what added injury to insult was Seoul’s traffic, some of the worst in the world. It makes driving in Los Angeles traffic look like child’s play.
Our tour was not expertly planned. Though our guide was sweet, she could not think outside of the box at all. She planned our itinerary around our meals, which were bad at best. The touristy nature of the itinerary was shocking as we are a group of professional travel planners and travel writers who know better.
I was flabbergasted that they would take us to such overt tourist traps such as [give a specific example or two here]. Somewhere there was a huge disconnect between our expectations as travel professionals and the way we were treated.
Sure, we saw the Royal Palace, the Folk Village, the National Museum and we shopped in the Dongdaemun Market and Itaewon to name a few places. But we were also taken to the Amethyst Factory, which was not even a glorified show-room where they tried to sell us jewels at “very special prices.”
We were also shown the government-authorized “Ginseng Factory,” which turned out to be just another storefront selling the same ginseng available on every street corner.
But nothing topped our cooking school experience at Seoul’s Kimchi School.
Kimchi is served everywhere in Korea. It’s a fermented dish consisting of a main vegetable flavored with a variety of spices and seasonings. The most popular version is made with cabbage. Chili pepper and salt seems to be the most popular spices, but you’ll find lots of others like ginger, scallions, garlic, etc. There are hundreds of types of kimchi and it is said to be very healthy. The Koreans are very proud of it and take it very seriously.
As for me, I ate enough kimchi and rice to last the rest of my life that week. But that may be the fault of our guide as she pre-arranged every meal and every meal was some type of kimchi dish: beef and kimchi, chicken and kimchi, seafood and kimchi.
The Kimchi School is located in a large commercial building. We waited in a large foyer where pictures of kimchi hang everywhere. Our group was taken into one of several rooms where prearranged ingredients were laid out in front of us. A staff member from the so-called cooking school gave us gloves and instructed us how to make kimchi from the ingredients. Five minutes later, we were done. We were given the option of taking our kimchi with us or we could donate it. Bizarrely, the one thing we couldn’t do was eat it there!
I love to cook. In fact I have taken many cooking lessons during my life, but never have I taken a class where you aren’t even offered a sample of the food or a glass of water.
After our “lesson,” we were taken to an exhibit of traditional Korean Wedding Costumes that we were encouraged to try on ourselves. Very bizarre. I failed to be entertained by dressing up in costumes and modeling them in front of a mirror. To add insult to injury, I believe these costumes were created for non-Koreans as Koreans are of smaller stature overall than Westerners. If these costumes weren’t made for Westerners, there would be no way that anyone would have been able to fit in the costumes.
Finally, our group rebelled and demanded that we actually see something significant. We paid a lot for it, but we spent our last day at the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, a trip that truly deserves it’s own future blog.
The lesson of this experience is that if you opt to go with an organized tour, make sure you do your homework about the tour company and the guide you will be assigned. Make sure you know if the Escorted Tours will be Budget, First Class, Deluxe or Luxury. Make sure you ask questions!
Not having to get directions or make parking arrangements if you’re visiting several spots can be great. Having your day mapped out, pre-planned and pre-paid can make a lot of sense, but it’s essential to be smarter about it than I was.
Find out as much detail as you can, even about the less-obvious things. For example, will there be pre-paid meals at fine restaurants where you get to choose your meal or will you be taken to a different tourist-class place and served same horrible meal at every lunch and dinner?
Find out what entertainment is included. If the guide suggests a show not on theitinerary for an added price, find out exactly what it is before you agree to go. Do not feel the need to go along with everyone else like we did. Keep in mind, the guides often get kickbacks to take you to local tourist trap shows.
Make sure your itinerary has a good balance between unscheduled and scheduled time. Know what tips are actually included in the costs.
Although gratuities were supposed to be included in our trip, my guess is that the porters, hotel staff, waiters and drivers did not see one red cent.
The moral of this story is that I would never put my client in the hands of that particular tour group, even if it turned out to be the only way for them to see Korea.
Be careful and do your homework. We travel professionals can only give you first-hand advice if we have had first-hand experience.
Always ask your travel professional if they have personally been to the place you want to visit. If not, have they actually sent any clients with this company before? Do not be their experiement! If they personally sent clients’ to that hotel, find out the feedback the provided.
Always remember, forewarned is forearmed, and you get what you pay for!