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Annoying Lists
The Travel Critic · October 5, 1999

The other day someone asked what makes me crabby. Lots of things tick me off, from the pitiful amount of personal space in economy class to the extra charges that get tacked onto your bill when you rent a car.

But if I had to narrow it down, I'd say it's the lists.

The travel industry is full of lists that do absolutely nothing except confuse and mislead travelers. Hotel chains release lists of "top travel destinations" in which every location, coincidentally, has one of their properties. Cruise lines publish lists of "most popular ports of call" - and they happen to conveniently serve all of them.

The Connecticut Office of Tourism, for example, recently released a list of "Top Viewing Spots and Top Scenic Roads lists for Connecticut's Foliage Season." Never mind that there aren't really any good spots this year because of the drought that's been plaguing the Northeast. Topping the chart is Haystack Mountain State Park, followed by Macedonia Brook State Park and Mohawk State Forest. Nice places, I'm sure, but the state of Connecticut and its tourism industry will benefit from the distribution of the list in many ways, not the least of which is financially.

"Of course these lists are deceiving," says Ed Shaw, a veteran media consultant in Lighthouse Point, Fla. As a former public relations executive in the motion picture business, he remembers a common ploy for publicity: Issuing a list of the Top 10 stars in Hollywood - "and six of them were clients of mine, of course."

The travel industry is no different. Everyone from the most reputable travel magazine to the lowliest supplier uses lists to lure "the average schmuck into going to that destination or patronizing that advertiser," says Shaw. "There really ought to be more disclosure."

Indeed, there should be. Ann Waigand, who edits the "Educated Traveler," a bimonthly newsletter about special-interest travel, says lists that mention advertisers or clients are an easy way of duping travelers, which is why she offers an unusual disclaimer with her lists. "We even go so far as to publish the advertising-supported pages in a different color in the newsletter," she says.

By and large, however, the standards for these rankings range from so-so to downright awful. Visit Florida, a public-private organization that promotes Florida tourism, just released a list of "2000 Reasons to Visit the Sunshine State." Great tie-in with the millennium there, but how did it come up with the reasons?

"We had many sources, including brochures, guidebooks and other printed material," explains spokesman Doug Luciani. "You didn't have to be a member of Visit Florida, but many of the reasons do come from members."

Not everyone is as forthcoming. For years, the glossy travel magazines have been publishing so-called "reader surveys" with the top destinations, airlines and cruise lines. I can't help but wonder if when editors whittle down the list of nominees, they sort out the advertisers from the non-advertisers.

The lower down the journalistic food chain you go, the worse it gets. At most travel trade publications - widely read and believed by travel agents - you usually don't stand a chance of making one of its lists unless you're shelling out big advertising bucks.

So why am I so upset about lists? Perhaps Judy Rosenberg, a psychologist in Beverly Hills, Calif., sums up my sentiments the best. "You've got two things going on here," she says. "There's the lowering of resistance through mass public opinion. And there's the influence of mass media and advertisers on travelers. Combine the two together and what you come up with is followers."

I'm skeptical of a magazine pretending to know what the top destinations in the United States are. I think anyone who thinks they have a lock on the best airlines is full of hot air, since strictly speaking, there are no good airlines. But most of all, I wish they'd do us all a favor and end the lists.

Enough, already.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.