Why I REFUSED The Kerala Blog Express.

Missed opportunity? I received the confirmation email from the selection committee that I was one of the winners of their annual Kerala Blog Express, a two week tour of Kerala India which started a year ago. Basically a bus full of bloggers and vloggers (influencers) from around the world who would tour the state of Kerala under the guidance of Kerala Tourism.

Back in the later part of 2015 I had entered my name into the Kerala Blog Express contest and asked all of my fans to go vote for me, as part of the selection process was to accumulate the most votes, combined by the choice of the selection judges. It turned out that while most of the entrants barely received 30-40 votes, I had amassed a couple thousand votes and it’s for this reason I’m making this post. My fans deserved to know why they didn’t get daily updates via Social Media (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), blog posts or vlogs (videos).  After-all, I had promised to take them along on the trip with me.

On entering the contest, I spent days going through videos, travel guides, blog posts.. basically any info I could find about Kerala as my excitement level was at an all-time HIGH! I’m sure you can imagine how elated I was when I opened the notification email saying that a spot on the bus was reserved for me. The natural beauty, culture, food (especially the spices and exotic fruits and vegetables), people and the fact that I can trace back my roots to India (my mom side of the family).. could this be a sort of homecoming for me?

The FOOD! I remember my sister saying to me “you’ll be in heaven“, when I told her that I’d be going to India. As I’ve mentioned many times on CaribbeanPot.com, the food of the Caribbean (especially the southern Caribbean) is heavily influenced by the Indian indentured laborers who were brought to the region after slavery was abolished, to supplement the labor shortage in the fields. I would be seeing first-hand where ‘our’ food came from and maybe I’d be able to document how it evolved over the years in the Caribbean. Yea I was EXCITED!

Chronological list of events!

• when I entered the contest it was stated that 90% or $1000 (whichever was the cheapest) of our airfare would be covered. Basically we had to purchase our flights and at the end of the trip we would be reimbursed. Hotel, transfers, tours.. everything else would be covered by them.
• there was a lack of information (more on this shortly) on the entry page, so I emailed to ask about the possible travel dates and was told that it would be later March (2016)
• the confirmation email stated that I had 4 days to decided if I’m still interested, I had to be in Kerala for Feb 14 (I believe) and to respond with a copy of my passport. Plus if I needed an invitation letter from them to apply for my visa, they would provide one.
• I responded with the copy of my passport. Looking back that was a dumb move.. at NO time during my correspondence with Kerala Blog Express did they respond with a NAME (of the person in charge or at least working their support emails).. even when I asked (later on) who was I speaking with they refused to address my concern. So they could not tell me their name, but had the most important document I own – my passport!
• I followed up that email with an email asking for confirmation/help as to exactly what expenses were covered (double checking) and if I could get the letter to apply for the visa.
• few days later I got an email from them stating that the passport I sent to them would expire while I was on the trip. I immediately responded saying ok.. I’ll go renew it first thing Monday morning (their email came on a Friday evening).
• I then went and hurriedly renewed my passport
• I received another email saying that we will give you 3 days to provide your new passport or we will give your spot to another person. I responded and told them I had already applied for the new passport and I can provide the receipt to prove so. I also asked that they provide the invitation letter they promised to help in securing the Visa for travel to India.
• I spoke with the Indian embassy and was told that since my current passport was still valid I could apply for the visa (since it takes a couple weeks to process the visa application).
• A few days later I received another email from KBE saying that if I don’t provide the new passport in 24 hrs I would forfeit my spot. I’m not sure how it’s done in India, but I cannot demand that the Canadian Passport Office give me an immediate passport. There is a process. I explained again that I applied for the new passport as soon as I was made aware by KBE that it would expire and offered to provide proof of doing so. I again asked for the invitation letter to apply for the visa.
• We cannot give you an invitation letter if your passport is not valid! AND.. we’re now giving your spot to another blogger (if we don’t hear back from you immediately).
• I then received another email asking for the new passport and had I applied for the necessary Visa.
• I  responded saying that they are free to do so, especially since I’m not interested any longer.

Let me now take a moment to explain why I said no thanks!

Lack of transparency!

The entire process gave a somewhat ‘shady” feel to it. Not even a name to the people/person I was speaking with, even when I asked. No information unless you asked and even then the answers lacked any substance. I mean, how difficult is it to send an invitation letter with the email they sent to confirm that I was selected? What other possible use would we have for a letter saying we won a competition and would be hosted by Tourism Kerala during mentioned dates? It’s as if they never want to give any proof of what the trip was about… something official that we could hold them to!

Lack Of Information and Deceit!

Just about every piece of pertaining info was never made readily available. I had to ask about dates of travel (they even gave me the wrong travel dates at first), if there would be people to meet us at the airport, what days/nights will hotel be provided (in the event I wanted to come in a day early to make sure I made the trip from Canada on time). Even after they contacted me to say I was selected, there was never an official announcement on their website or facebook fan page. I was in contact with several other applicants and they were surprised that winners were chosen and they didn’t have the professional courtesy to let all who applied know. BUT even worse.. when I re-checked the page with information concerning what costs were covered, the airfare part was changed. It now said 80% and/or $900.

Imagine running a contest and not even providing the dates of travel to the people competing? So we should be willing to drop whatever we’re doing and get on a plane when you say! Says a lot when every week after they announced the contest we keep seeing changes to their official website (they were never prepared).

Lack Of Respect.

I was quick to point out to whomever I was speaking with (via email), I connect with over 1 million fans every month and I’m 99% sure none of the other applicants could boast such a strong audience, so speaking to me like they were doing me a favor was not appreciated. But it goes beyond that.. it’s too common that NO ONE takes bloggers and vloggers seriously! No respect for what we bring to the table and the amount of work which goes into a blog post, video and other areas we use to ‘promote” THEM! PLUS.. as influencers, we’re pretty much telling our audience that we stand behind what we write (we endorse them)!

Benefit To Me?

I was very excited at the opportunity to travel and explore Kerala as I mentioned at the top, but… It would cost me $1600 and almost 38 hrs in travel time from Toronto to get to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. This meant that I would be out of pocket $700 (plus incidental costs). I know the value of my time, my audience/reach and basically what my work is worth. Why would I want to spend money to promote Kerala?  A couple years back we were hosted by the Mayor and City of Seoul and they covered EVERYTHING! We didn’t have to purchase our tickets then be (hopefully) compensated at the end of the trip. EVERYTHING was covered, with personalized 5 star effort.. not only for me, but plus one! I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Tourism Boards in the Caribbean with similar positive experiences.

• Seoul Tourism are professionals and treat their guests in a very appreciative manner. Even when we were leaving Seoul and our luggage was overweight (due to the gifts we received) they covered the expenses to ensure we were not out-of-pocket for anything during our ENTIRE trip.

I’m sure the people who were part of this year’s Kerala Blog Express had a great time and I want to be clear that this post was not fueled by ‘ego’! I simply felt it necessary to inform my fans who support/supported me, to understand my decision to say NO to Kerala Blog Express! I also want to be clear that I did inform KBE that I would be making this post and gave them the opportunity to address the concerns I mentioned above. No answer from them!

I refuse to accept unprofessional treatment and lack of respect for what I do. Not only did they fail on many levels on how they handled my case, but their marketing team needs to look at how they use or tap into the reach of influencers like myself and MORE important how they use social media (and buzz) to make this KBE event even more effective and alluring. If Tourism Kerala reads this.. we can certainly discuss how your PR team could improve on how they do things, especially since I know you spent $$ on a Twitter marketing campaign. Additionally why do a BUS when you can’t even cover the full cost of airfare for participants? Maybe it should be a mini-van!

They could have easily said, “listen, it seems that getting you here this year is not going to work with the current timelines, but we can host you next year if you wish, giving you much more time to prepare everything necessary”.