TOUTS
What is a tout?
A person who frequents heavily touristed areas and presents himself as a tour guide (particularly towards those who do not speak the local language). In a similar fashion a tout would be someone who, acting upon his own initiative, loads or unloads the baggage from a bus, then demands payment for his services from the passengers. Some touts operate in holiday areas on behalf of local bars, restaurant or hotels, being paid to direct tourists towards certain establishments.
Definition from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tout
Touts are a fairly common breed in popular tourist areas all over the world. I have dealt with my fair share during my years of travel, and from my experience the most persistent and annoying ones have been in Jamaica and Mali, West Africa. If you have ever been on a cruise to the Caribbean, Mexico or South America, I’m sure that you may have encountered some touts in the arrival area in some of the more popular ports of call. Typically these touts specialize in tour guide services. In Ochos Rios, Jamaica, they may ask you “Hey mon, I tek you for tour of Dunn’s River Falls for swimming and picnic and afterwards I tek you to Nyabinghi session. We can smoke a bit of the collie weed, mek your head feel nice huh? Irie… I give you best price mon, No Problem. “
Some touts offer a full spectrum of services including sightseeing (they will ask to be your tour guide), hotel accommodations, recreational drugs and if the prospects are men, the services of a prostitute or a lady of the night. The passenger loading zone of airports and ferry terminals are popular venues of touts who specialize in accommodation services. Typically this type of tout represents several hotels and receives a small commission for any customer he delivers. The full service touts are far more widespread as it doesn’t pay to put all your eggs in one basket - if the tourist doesn’t need a hotel, he still may need a guide for a city tour. If a tout snags on to a generous patron (customer), they can make some good monies. Some touts who pay their dues eventually may go mainstream and become legitimate tour guides or licensed tour operators.
A little caution about dealing with touts - Buyer Beware. Many are scam artists or conmen trying to fleece you from your hard earned vacation money. Then again, some touts are honest, hard working people who just want to make enough monies to feed their families.
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