London Report - Professional Enhancement Activities (Part 3)

Social and Communicational Perspective

In this last part, i talk about our London trip in a social and communicational perspective. I also talk about marketing because in tourism, this is probably one of the main fields of study so i thought that it was important to relate. For those who haven't read the first two parts, you can always check the directions given in the footnote.


There are over 14 million inhabitants in London and most of them are mostly foreigners: there are communities of all nationalities there. This particularity of the city, makes it unique in the world: as everyone is out of their natural environment, there is (even before a Hello) a particular empathy with a stranger! After all, most people living or working in London are all on a land that isn't theirs and that’s what makes people much more open to talk or help a tourist. And, truth be told, the English are very friendly and helpful too. We grew up thinking that one of the main characteristics of the British is that they were cold people! It was a myth caught busted!

In an ever increasing world of global communication and trading, it is now more important than ever to learn how to interact and deal with people from all over the world. I think we’ve learned a few lessons here.

Privacy and civic implications

One thing that stroke me was that there is CCTV everywhere. Being one of the biggest cities in the world, everyone is filmed all the time: any illegal activity in a public place is easily recorded. Yes, it is an affront to privacy, and in Portugal i think it would never be approved. 

But how else, if not with strong restrictive laws, sacrificing some liberties, could so many people live in the same place? We prefer to think that the English are organized. That they strongly suggest t hat we align to the right on escalators; that the queue is sacred (old Portuguese custom of going to see friends who arrived early and get into the queue); that they feel outraged when a pedestrian or a bicycle violates a red, or that the bus driver simply will not start unless the ticket is showed.

Do you know how many horns we eared during our stay? Yes! Whenever our group tried to walk the street outside the crosswalk!

Marketing Perspective

London’s unique culture and international business environment, allowed us to be exposed to many different cultures and many different strategies, giving us the opportunity to gain a good grasp on how English people work on one of the World's leading commercial and touristic regions.

In today's segmented market environment, it has become increasingly more necessary to find new ways of reaching the public for the effective promotion of any product. And Londoners are experts on doing that.

One thing that the British do efficiently is to focus on a target market and then direct their products to that given audience. In terms of tourism, we can easily find all sorts of programs directed to everyone: young and old, rich or with a smaller wallet, for people who are looking for cultural experiences or for those who just want to get fun. I found it very interesting when we were looking for information on Stonehenge, at a nearby hotel tourist agency, the fact that they had three or four programs ready for the same place that varied in terms of cost. And the way that this information was presented was so professional and, on the other way, in such a nice way that we felt immediate interest.

London is so touristy that the busiest avenues have painted on the asphalt the phrase "Look to your left / right", so that visitors stay tuned and do not look the wrong way. The traditional double-decker buses illustrate the peculiar urban London’s landscape. It’s very interesting to go upstairs and watch the back-and-forth of the streets. Another peculiarity are London taxis, which maintains the  the Old English style, and many are used as advertising media.

Prices in London

London is such a big market, that of course, the cost of living is very high. Why? Simply because there is a huge demand for everything! There’s a lot of people, and a lot of people need a lot of things! I have the feeling that any little thing that is inaugurated in a tiny corner of a busy street makes money! It's just a gigantic market, with all that entails: high demand, high prices, high profits.

Conclusion

I really recommend these field trips for everyone who wants to have a good experience abroad, to improve their English knowledge and to discover London’s attractions.

Our expectations were fulfilled! After the trip i also noticed some personal changes. With the experience, i felt much more confidant and independent. The face-to-face with Londoners enabled us not only to practice and improve our English but also to improve our communication skills and knowledge. Indeed we learned a lot about how to deal with problems and find solutions quickly in order to satisfy our daily needs. As a consequence, we also improved our team spirit.

We got a better picture of the importance to understand how to identify a target audience, develop brand awareness and implement various advertising and promotional campaigns.

Overall, a fantastic trip and we all can't wait to go back. Some of us fully intend to return sometime this year (and the next) and dig a little deeper into the city. Funny how one's priorities change with just one trip!


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This article is composed by 3 parts:
Part 1/3 - The Planning
Part 2/3 - Cultural Perspective
Part 3/3 - Social, Communicational and Marketing Perspective


Miguel Silva
Triénio 2009/2012