Guidebooks

By: Jess Johnson

Guidebooks allow tourists to read about a destination before, during, and after traveling to it. While containing many benefits to the lost, curious traveler, they may also have some drawbacks.

Some benefits to guidebooks are that they provide the reader with an extensive report on certain landmarks or destination places. They point out the “must go to” places as well as the places to avoid. For someone seeking an adventure, they may also tell you where you can find certain types of adventures.

On the flip side, the drawbacks can be very serious. For one, guidebook writers may be encouraging “readers to wander onto dangerous terrain” (Carlton, 2011, p. 2). While they offer insight to places beyond the initial destination, some of these places may be dangerous. Despite authors warnings, people can and do get hurt on these excursions. They may also provide the traveler with a misinformed idea of what the culture is like where they are visiting. The reason for this is because “[writers’] reports more closely resemble marketing and advertising, rather than objective reporting” (Mitchell, 2003, para. 3). The writers make money off the guidebooks they sell, no matter how accurate it may be. A third issue with guidebooks, that goes along with misrepresentation, is how it portrays sexes. Women are often sexualized in order to sell the trip. They are passive and decorative, whereas the men are active (Travel industry, 2009). The authenticity of the place is then lost between the over-sexualized image of the people in it.

Guidebooks can be great tools for people to reference when visiting somewhere they are not familiar with, but people must be careful with how the guidebook is presenting the destination, and then use their judgement to determine if it is worth the trek.