Having attended this year's Los Angeles Times Travel Show, at which Arthur Frommer was a featured speaker, I was intrigued to see Richard Turen's column about his book [Reality Check: "Arthur Frommer's timeless wisdom," Feb. 28].
I'm sad to say, he is past his prime in more ways than one. I was disappointed by the poorly worded, mispronounced stories with which he regaled the innocent and attentive mass audience.
For example, his comments about river cruising: "Unless you're older than I am, you'll be bored stiff on a river cruise."
While I can appreciate he's entitled to his opinion, for an industry spokesperson like himself to make such a broad categorization and without putting it into any context is unprofessional.
While some might agree that a river cruise is boring to them, we're finding that many people are looking for a slower-paced and more relaxing vacation experience, and I wonder if Arthur might label all those thousands of travelers filling up river cruise ships as boring people, too.
He went on to completely dis the hotel industry. Again, he has grounds to suggest home rentals and apartment rentals are an ideal alternative for certain travelers, but his outright condemnation of staying at hotels was misplaced.
In today's world, many travelers don't want to cook on vacation, after all, or rent a bed in someone else's home or apartment.
Sure, it's a great option for some travelers, but it would seem the dramatic increase in worldwide hotels paints a different picture.
I remember listening to him years ago, and (in the interest of transparency) we even had him as a presenter at our own agency's consumer travel shows a decade or so ago. He's a talented speaker and certainly has some interesting things to share, as you point out.
Dan Ilves
TravelStore
Los Angeles
Please send letters for publication to Travel Weekly, attn: Letters Editor, 100 Lighting Way, Secaucus, N.J., 07094, or email them to [email protected]. Travel Weekly reserves the right to edit all letters for length and to conform to our style and standards.