Friday, June 27, 2008

Travel 1,000 miles to go bowling!

Yesterday I was planning our family vacation and looked up the website of a city we’ll be passing through to see what there is there to see or do. So I was pleased to find a page that says, "Things to See and Do."

The first listing on the page? Bowling.
Yech.

I have nothing against bowling. But there are bowling alleys everywhere, and I was kind of looking for something more special.

Reading through the rest of that page, I found drag racing (not my cup of tea, but again not the sort of thing one travels a long way to see), marinas and movie theatres. Zzzzzzz. In between were a few listings for farmers' markets and galleries, but only two of them had writeups relating to local foods or regional art forms - the sorts of things that make for worthwhile stops.

You had to read down a long way before you found the really interesting stuff, like the specialty music venues, the Wharf sector, an interpretation centre for local native culture, and the lodges, tours and cruises that really make that area special.

Why was this such a problem? Because most web surfers have no patience. Most would click away long before they got to the good stuff. And why was this material presented in such a stupid, boring way? Because the chamber of commerce put their listings in alphabetical order!

Perhaps they never heard of thinking like the customer – or just putting your best foot forward. New Management Wanted – and a little more creativity.

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