The Proud Junketeer: From Jamaica to China and Back

I just spent five opulent days -- all expenses paid -- in China, courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton, Cathay Pacific, and Dragon Air. Because I blog. With traditional media outlets disappearing, luxury brands are retooling their PR strategies to target online writers. While the timing was a coincidence, the connection is real: the Ritz-Carlton's first online-only press trip departed the day after Conde Nast announced it was folding Gourmet. And new media outlets, like, oh, say, Thrillist, are sponsoring junkets of their own, putting more media types in the air but drawing more attention to the practice: a mini-scandal broke last week when it was reported that two freelance writers who attended the e-mail newsletter's recent JetMystery trip were contractually barred by their clients from accepting such freebies. As always, a media scandal begets media introspection.

Last month I received an e-mail from a Ritz-Carlton PR person, subject: “China?”

I resisted responding “Yes! OMFG YES!!!” without reading the e-mail, bloggers not being much for research and all. The Ritz-Carlton was planning its first “online only press group”: Cathay Pacific was flying four online writers from New York to Hong Kong in business class, then Dragon Air would fly the group to Guangzhou on its new service between those cities, then it was three nights at the Ritz-Carlton Guangzhou and one in its new Shenzhen hotel before returning. Did I have any interest?

“Yes! OMFG YES!!!”

The first full night in China was, well, dinner: while most meals featured exotic Cantonese cuisine, this evening’s meal was a delicious five-course affair with wine pairings at the Ritz-Carlton Guangzhou’s Italian restaurant, Limoni. Afterwards I returned to my room and found my worn underwear, which I’d dropped on the closet floor, folded for me. Too stuffed to sleep, I retreated to the hotel’s Churchill Bar intending to write postcards, sip Perrier, and digest. As I saddled up, the bartender, whom I’d been introduced to briefly, approached. “Mr. Everson, I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk. Do you like Scotch?”

Apparently I do.

Bruce, who grew up in a rural Hunan village but is now a Scotch aficionado, then guided me through a tasting of the rarer offerings of the bar’s 100 malt whiskies and cognacs.

How’d that compare to the JetMystery extravaganza, which took place six days later?

Thrillist, JetBlue and other sponsors invited 150 media types to “the most colossally mind-melting three-day destination party ever conceived” at an undisclosed location, instructing them only to “arrive At JFK’s Terminal 5 at 6 AM and bring your passport.”

According to Guest of a Guest’s Carson Griffith, who went on the junket, once the travelers got to the gate, a large banner and a steel drum band made it clear they were going to Jamaica.

Some highlights from Griffith’s recap of the first day on the JetMystery trip:

● Thrillist’s CEO kicked off the excursion by yelling “Let’s get weird!”
● The gift bags guests received on the flight to Jamaica included condoms from Trojan, one of JetMystery’s sponsors, which “more than a few” recipients tested out that weekend.
● Several JetMystery attendees ended night one of the trip by skinny dipping.

“Other than the basics of travel—airports, airlines, hotel, etc.—and the fact that they were both junkets, the two trips felt completely different,” said Ami Kealoha, managing editor of Cool Hunting, who went on both the trip to China and Jamaica. “Everything about China was more personal and more focused on culture. JetMystery felt more like summer camp with activities like going on zip lines, buffet meals, and riding in big buses.”

Griffith summed up the JetMystery as “A bona fide shitshow, but in the absolute best way possible.”

Apparently the trips had one other similarity—both stayed true to their sponsors’ brands.