Mei Muller

The analogy with cycling in Amsterdam is perfect. It immediately clarifies why the 78 responses are not enough. We need to fix this, quickly.

Flight search engines and price comparison tools tell us that local events impact stays, but the question remains: do these platforms truly give us an unprecedented advantage or do they just digitize what our elders already knew through experience? Historically, my patients, their parents, and grandparents knew well that Oktoberfest in Munich or the Cologne Carnival drove up prices. They planned accordingly, often booking through local contacts or by phone months in advance, which has always been best practice. Today’s tools only transform this practical knowledge into algorithms, but the ability to anticipate is not new; it has long depended on traditional planning and networks. Waiting for an algorithm to “reveal” price hikes for the Paris Olympics is not new, it’s just another way to look at a historical phenomenon.

Flight search engines that "materialize" the impact of local events are easy to say when you forget who really bears the cost of these events.
Here, in Senegal, a festival does not just change the price of a plane ticket or hotel, but also the price of small snacks or local transportation for residents.
For the small business owner who depends on their daily clientele, a sudden influx can make prices unaffordable or resources scarce, without the search engine signaling it.
The distribution of impacts is what matters, not just the overall view for the tourist who can afford to flex their schedule.

The idea that a simple image on a guide cover could “standardize” an entire first trip to the American Southwest, automatically including lesser-known places, is far from our planning reality.
Here in France, to find hidden gems like The Wave, a preliminary search is essential, not just a visual impulse.
We spend hours on specialized travel forums, browsing blogs, consulting local guides to find precise information and necessary permits.
It’s an active and voluntary approach, much more than a simple linear reaction to a beautiful photo in a book, which in itself does not guarantee discovering authentic places.

Exactly, papers are the nerve of the war for everyone, regardless of age. We see that young people going on a PVT in Canada face the same administrative hassles for the visa as families preparing a round-the-world trip. We need to look into the actual delays for renewing ID cards, which can go up to three months in some town halls; that is a real source of stress for everyone.