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Jonker Street in Melaka, Malaysia is a visual extravagaza that also doubles as a destination for avid shoppers and food lovers
Whenever the words familiarisation trips (colloquially shortened to “fam trips”) are mentioned, thoughts automatically seem to go to tour operators or travel agents who want to know enough about a location in order to pitch it to potential customers.
However, in the context of the rising global penchant for cultural and even pop-cultural tourism, familiarisation tours aren’t just for agents, but they also help participants gain a better understanding of the location through its history, traditions, culture, and cuisine.
In this feature, we point out several reasons why fam trips can be an integral part of tourism promotion, particularly in the context of cultural and heritage tourism.
It is our hope that this article serves to guide the thinking of tourism boards and other organisations seeking to promote their home countries or specific locations to the world at large.
The live Tangkuban Perahu crater in Bandung, Indonesia serves as a living ecology lesson that fascinates both local and foreign travellers
First up, what exactly are familiarisation trips?
In the process of doing the research for this feature, I’ve noticed that many experts skip defining the term, and I find this annoying because not everyone is clued in on what it means.
So let me put it simply here: a familiarisation trip / fam trip is defined as a promotional activity on the part of a tourism board, airline, hospitality provider, or cruise firm wherein travel and tourism professionals are invited to tour a specific destination in order to boost the location’s image, expose it to a wider or more diverse market, and increase traffic into the area.
Fam trips are, indeed, a great way to give participants first-hand experience of what a location has to offer, essentially immersing them directly into its culture, traditions, and attractions.
Regardless of whether participants are travel agents and tour operators, travel media and influencers, or even tourism officials and diplomats, fam trips should be treated as a valuable platform for learning beyond mere familiarisation.
Attendees at ITE HCMC 2025 were encouraged to try their hand at the age-old craft of silk painting in Ho Chih Minh City
Broadening horizons through hands-on experience
One of the more memorable attractions offered to media and influencers covering ITE HCMC 2025 was a series of on-site workshops teaching a variety of traditional crafts from silk painting to baking banh mi from scratch.
Indeed, while fam trips serve as an expression of national pride for organisers, they can serve as a way of broadening personal horizons for participants.
As a report from The Tourist Space puts it: “Those who are visiting can see the inspirational impact [such experiences] have, the excitement of returning home to share the news of what they have learned and how they visualise ways in which they could implement similar practices within their own destinations.”
That said, fam trips offer an insight into a location’s history, intrinsic practices and traditions, and the trajectory of its socio-cultural as well as economic development.
By doing so, participants get first-hand information on what strategies helped draw travellers into the area, what prompts them to stay and/or return, and how the community has benefitted from tourism over time.
The tunnels and old camps in Cu Chi, a community to the northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, tell travellers the grim story of how the people survived throughout the war years
Beyond the beauty of locations
At the same time, fam trips aren’t just a way for countries to show off beauty spots, but they also serve as living lectures on their history, including the darker side of it.
Case in point: Vietnam has never shied away from bringing fam tour groups into areas like the Cu Chi Tunnels on the northwestern outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City in order to learn how ordinary people fared throughout the Vietnam War.
At Cu Chi, tour participants are led through jungle paths to the actual tunnels used throughout the war, the ones that led to bunkers that served as strongholds and safe houses for the locals, as well as those that were laid as traps against the enemy.
Such tours are also offered outside of Asia, with visitors making their way to Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco and the Holocaust Memorials in Europe.
These serve as a physical reminder of the savage impact that criminal activity and war have on nations, and serve as visual and psychological warnings to those in the present day of the consequences that these will have on society if they happen again.
For diplomats taken on a fam tour to these locations, they serve as food for thought to help steer their thinking towards more peaceable relations with their global neighbours.
For the media, on the other hand, it helps to create a more holistic view of a destination, allowing for a more objective tone when presenting it to the public.
The Pier-2 Arts Centre in Kaohsiung’s Asia New Bay Area is an industrial area that is now a hub for the city’s creatives
Before you go…
Prior to taking part in a familiarisation trip, I find that it pays to be prepared for it well beforehand.
In which case, here are several tips that could help you along:
- Do your research By this, I would like you to take a really good look at your destination: know its history and geography, get to know key attractions and how these have appealed to both local and foreign travellers; even go as far as what specialities are intrinsic to the area;
- Know the people Be sure you know who your point person for the fam trip, along with any relevant contacts you can get in touch with for vital information, interviews, or even emergencies;
- Know what to ask This is especially applicable to members of the media and influencers on such trips and is related to the first two points. Knowing the area and the key people involved will help you ask the right questions. This is particularly helpful if the fam trip is held in conjunction with or immediately after a key event such as a travel trade convention or a major exposition;
- Prepare yourself As in all cases, be sure to dress appropriately for the climate and culture of the area you’re visiting. Be sure to behave in a circumspect manner and be mindful of your surroundings. Likewise, be proactive and advise your host organisations of any physical conditions you may have which could impact the trip both for yourself and everyone else.
While fam trips are work trips in a very technical sense, knowing the terrain so to speak will enable you to enjoy the experience and come away with a better understanding of the world around you.
The post How fam trips help travel agents and media promote cultural tourism globally appeared first on Travel Daily Media.
Source: traveldailymedia
