Post by DIzzIE on Sept 28, 2003 13:59:37 GMT -5
The Tourist Bag:
By: DIzzIE [c]opyleft 2003
The Meal: Selling tourists gift bags with useful information about the city/other goodies like tickets to upcoming shows and events.
Ingredients: The gift bag should contain exactly what it says. Go to the airport stands full of tourist flyers, maps, and so forth and take a good portion of everything. Place several flyers into each bag. Well, a bag full of shit might sell, but a bag that has free tickets to an upcoming concert or theatre production, along with food discounts, might just sell better at a better price . Hence, using your favorite desktop publishing package, proceed to draft a letter to the tourist from the local Theater, Tourist Bureau, American Consulate, etc. The letter should welcome the tourist to the country, mention a few renowned landmarks, and then proceed to cordially extend an invitation to attend the ____ at the ____ on ___ (for example: As You Like It at the Sydney Opera House on 25 September – 25 November). After the invitation, your letter should say that all the tourist has to do is bring the coupons to the box office on any of the days during which the event is being to receive guaranteed tickets. At the bottom of the letter, design two official looking ‘Admit 1’ coupons, complete with logo, arbitrary numbers, etc. If you wish to go the extra mile, design food coupons for various restaurants as well.
Feeding the Pigeon: Sell the tourist bag to pigeons at airports, train stations, etc. If you wish, setup a small table, with the contents of a sample tourist bag laid out, placing emphasis on the free tickets and meal coupons. Having written “a $120 value!” or lower/higher appraisal depending on your location, proceed to write ‘just $40’ (once again, you may wish to start lower/higher, depending on how business goes). If people ask about the price, proceed to explain how in order to boost tourism revenue the ___ Tourist Bureau is now offering special deals.
Crumbs: Ideally, all coupons/showtimes should be a few days in advance of the date you are selling, allowing you to sell bags for a couple days before disappearing from the current station, and reappearing in a few weeks at another locale. After a few rounds the scheme should be aborted, due to the fact that enough pigeons would have tried the fake tickets to no avail, and some would have gotten sufficiently upset to contact the authorities. If you sell only 10 bags a day, for 3 days, that is a nice $1200 of pocket change. Repeated in two weeks at the train station across town, that’s now $2400…
Small permutations exist of course. At times you’ll see folks outside of tourist hotspots selling folders rather than bags, the free tickets letter may say ‘call this number to reserve your seats.’ Others may even offer a free trip around the city tomorrow morning, pointing out tourist attractions, and simply ask for a small $20 fee in advance to cover gas/complimentary lunch/tickets…
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Standard Disclaimer: It is understood that the above is written for educational/informational/theoretical/entertainment purpose only. The poster does not accept any responsibility for any actions you may take and does not condone any activity which goes against the law.
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By: DIzzIE [c]opyleft 2003
The Meal: Selling tourists gift bags with useful information about the city/other goodies like tickets to upcoming shows and events.
Ingredients: The gift bag should contain exactly what it says. Go to the airport stands full of tourist flyers, maps, and so forth and take a good portion of everything. Place several flyers into each bag. Well, a bag full of shit might sell, but a bag that has free tickets to an upcoming concert or theatre production, along with food discounts, might just sell better at a better price . Hence, using your favorite desktop publishing package, proceed to draft a letter to the tourist from the local Theater, Tourist Bureau, American Consulate, etc. The letter should welcome the tourist to the country, mention a few renowned landmarks, and then proceed to cordially extend an invitation to attend the ____ at the ____ on ___ (for example: As You Like It at the Sydney Opera House on 25 September – 25 November). After the invitation, your letter should say that all the tourist has to do is bring the coupons to the box office on any of the days during which the event is being to receive guaranteed tickets. At the bottom of the letter, design two official looking ‘Admit 1’ coupons, complete with logo, arbitrary numbers, etc. If you wish to go the extra mile, design food coupons for various restaurants as well.
Feeding the Pigeon: Sell the tourist bag to pigeons at airports, train stations, etc. If you wish, setup a small table, with the contents of a sample tourist bag laid out, placing emphasis on the free tickets and meal coupons. Having written “a $120 value!” or lower/higher appraisal depending on your location, proceed to write ‘just $40’ (once again, you may wish to start lower/higher, depending on how business goes). If people ask about the price, proceed to explain how in order to boost tourism revenue the ___ Tourist Bureau is now offering special deals.
Crumbs: Ideally, all coupons/showtimes should be a few days in advance of the date you are selling, allowing you to sell bags for a couple days before disappearing from the current station, and reappearing in a few weeks at another locale. After a few rounds the scheme should be aborted, due to the fact that enough pigeons would have tried the fake tickets to no avail, and some would have gotten sufficiently upset to contact the authorities. If you sell only 10 bags a day, for 3 days, that is a nice $1200 of pocket change. Repeated in two weeks at the train station across town, that’s now $2400…
Small permutations exist of course. At times you’ll see folks outside of tourist hotspots selling folders rather than bags, the free tickets letter may say ‘call this number to reserve your seats.’ Others may even offer a free trip around the city tomorrow morning, pointing out tourist attractions, and simply ask for a small $20 fee in advance to cover gas/complimentary lunch/tickets…
-
Standard Disclaimer: It is understood that the above is written for educational/informational/theoretical/entertainment purpose only. The poster does not accept any responsibility for any actions you may take and does not condone any activity which goes against the law.
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